Thursday, April 7, 2011

Two Packs A Day

Aimee and I quit smoking (for the last time) about 9 years ago. Like many other reformed smokers, we sometimes smugly wonder how some people can tolerate a habit which easily costs them $150 per month. That money could be spent on so many better things.

Today, I realized how incredibly funny we are. Even though we don’t smoke, we’ve hardly put that extra (combined) $300 per month to good use. Really, we just developed a different but equally (or more) expensive habit. Coffee.

The weight of realization hit me today when I purchased my 16oz Saturday morning latte with an extra shot. After tip the total came to $4.98. Aimee and I each purchase three or four coffees per week.

I wondered why we haven’t purchased an espresso machine. We’d save money the first month. It isn’t as though we’re saving time driving the wrong direction to the coffee shop, waiting in line to order and pay, and then waiting in line for our coffee. If anything, that’s a net loss too. What other reasons would we have for continuing to frequent the local coffee shop? The only thing I can come up with is that we don’t want the responsibility of trying to service ourselves. We’re too specific and nitpicky about our orders. There’s too much of a chance we’d screw up our own orders, and then we’d have to start our days feeling inadequate. Perhaps we’ll leave coffee making to the professionals.

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