When I was younger I walked to work in the big city and there was a great coffee shop on the way and every single day I bought a $4 extra large soy chai latte.

When I was younger I walked to work in the big city and there was a great coffee shop on the way and every single day I bought a $4 extra large soy chai latte. It was fantastic and an exclusive secret recipe to that non-chain shop. Back then a normal coffee cost $1, so this was a splurge. Inflation adjusted that would be $6-7 these days. I regret nothing, though I did feel uncomfortable sometimes spending so much. My next job there was no comparable coffee shop and I was driving to work. So I reconstructed by experimenting with spices until I exactly duplicated the original. Then I made the base in batches and would have some all week long, a week's worth was $3 in fairly pricey spices in bulk and $3 in soy, so $1.20 a day. I later dropped soy from my diet and got more interested in espresso, cappuccino and cafe au lait with various non-dairy non-soy whiteners. By this time I had a $30 espresso machine and a grinder. I've replaced both a couple times. Sometimes I try a commercial coffee, but my own is better. And I'm OK with one big coffee a day, more than that I get too wired and can't think as well. Cost now is around 50 cents a day including everything such as prorated equipment costs. $5 lattes from a store every day is fine if you can afford it. But it does add up. And some folks that buy such things also treat themselves to lots of other things that they don't prepare themselves, whether avocado toast, movies, cable TV, delivered water, on demand fashion, always having the very latest iPhone, car leasing, or whatever. Being aware of these costs and keeping track of them can help. If one is not investing well for retirement then they should start looking at all these little expenses, not just the big expenses. I'm very well off now and can afford to buy all the $5 lattes I want but I don't buy any lattes at all these days. When I was poor I bought a lot of them. There's not really a connection between the two but there could be for some.