It is an interesting phenomena, because it's a relatively expensive product for what it is, but it's also an experience. Even though my wife and I do quite wel

It is an interesting phenomena, because it's a relatively expensive product for what it is, but it's also an experience. Even though my wife and I do quite well financially (and save plenty for ourselves, our kids college, etc), I noticed we were spending "too much" on espressos and lattes. Not too much for our financial situation, but too much for my comfort level at least. So, we bought a $600 espresso machine, which basically paid for itself in less than a year. Not to mention the time savings from going to get coffee. I was fully offering to make my wife's Latte every morning, although no pressure if she still preferred to pick one up. I figured if I stopped buying them it would still be decent savings. She wasn't all that keen on me making them for her... at least at first. The most surprising part though is that the lattes are actually better. I started out just trying to save a bit of money and naively assumed that somebody making hundreds of lattes per day would be far better at it than me, and maybe they can be, but perhaps due to the speed demand they cut corners. The consistency is off too, sometimes when I buy a latte it's very good and other times it's not. At home, I can (now) make it perfect every single time and it only takes 5 minutes including cleanup. Of course, I've discovered some other great things along the way like "steamed in" cinnamon and/or tumeric or adding baileys to lattes on the weekend or eggnog to lattes during the holidays. There is a bit of a ritual/experience to picking up coffee, and you lose that, but you gain a whole new ritual of making your perfect coffee for yourself... and even if you still pickup once in a while, you're still saving in the long run.