Have you ever thought about how much money you spend on that daily cup of coffee (or tea, or Irish coffee perhaps? I don’t judge!) Have you ever had that nagging little voice in the back of your head tell you that maybe today is not the best day to splurge on something that you’ll only get to enjoy from the time you get into the car until you find that perfect parking spot at the gym, the mall, work or wherever you NEED that cup to survive!
I have to tell you that I think about it all the time. Where I live it is so much easier now to avoid spending money on that pink drink from Starbucks, or that XL Tim Hortons that you pick up at the drive-thru. But I will tell you something, the very thing people are constantly trying to avoid admitting; that cup of coffee or whatever it is WORTH IT.
Sure, if I really wanted to track my budget I could. I can tell you now and I am not at all ashamed to admit it that I spend about 20 dollars a week, getting coffee from somewhere other than that Keurig that we got for Christmas a few years ago. Of course, I have a ton a little k-cups to put in and all I must do is press start. I absolutely order coffee from certain companies online, and I sure do have that amazing coffee that I bought from San Juan back in January. But you know what I don’t have at home. The ability to get that same warmth and giddy feeling of excitement you get when you can’t wait to have your favorite thing.
Do you know how many plane tickets I could buy with that type of spending? One single trip plane ticket to my favorite place in the world right now costs $258 dollars. That’s ONE single trip. I can enjoy almost 55 coffees for that price if I never wanted to return home.
Do you know what I cannot stand to hear? When people ask, “do you know what you can buy with that type of money?”, yes, I do. I can buy anything I want. I have a job and a steady career; I make my own money and dang it I am proud of it! I don’t know how many of you caught the sneaky tweet that one bank posted this week about millennials and their spending habits, and if we only saved up instead of indulging on things like avocado toast and indulgent coffees. I have one thing to say to that: that cup of coffee today, tomorrow, and the next forever days after that (Yes, I know that isn’t a thing); is going to make me happy. I am a firm believer that you should not consider what people say about you and your choices to make yourself happy. If it’s that coffee, that yoga class, that comic book, that Fortnite dance you just need to have; buy it. Why should you give up the things that make you happy for fear of how other people may judge you?
Yes, I could save up and buy that plane ticket, and then save up for that hotel, and that rental car, and whatever else. But the truth is that what makes me happy right now, is being able to stop at my local coffee shop and order a Mermaid. I want that blue “sea glass” topping, with the whipped cream spilling out of the top, the white chocolate and coconut blueberry flavor that makes my taste buds feel like I’m sipping on my own little bit of magic.
And that is ok. Please do not ever think that just because someone else is judging you for your choice to be happy is not “acceptable”. So go ahead and get that perfect Instagram photo of that drink, or whatever else in the world you choose to have that you just cannot go without, it isn’t hurting anyone!