Topic: Is some certain lifestyle a waste of money and time ? - page 9. (Read 1399 times)

Here is what happens to my friends and me and I am sure this is a reflection on different financial values and life attitude in general. Well, I don't drink any alchohol while a few friends of mine love drinking very much. They would gather to have dinner/drink almost every day(at least four times a week). I am often invited but due to my no-drinking habit, I usually turn the invitation down. We are all family men but they are a few years older than me. Their children are much older than my kid so probably they don't need their fathers' attention and time. I always put my family first so this is also one of the reasons I don't join them that frequently. Financially, every gathering meal/drinking is not cheap because it involves a lot of drinks and dishes. The average cost of such dinner/drinking is equivalent to 1/5 the average monthly income in the city where we live. So every month, the cost for these "gatherings" consumes all the income that a man can earn for months. This is considered a huge waste of money in many people's eyes cause most people don't earn much. Although I don't drink, occasionally I will treat them and pay the bills for the guesture of friendliness. Do you think my friends' lifestyle is a waste of money and time ? How much do you spend on such gatherings on average ? Please let me know.

If that's what they can afford to spend, maybe they're not all dependent on their monthly salary and they've got something else as a source of their money.
Because if you do gatherings most often, that's certainly hitting their budget and incomes but if it doesn't look affecting much to them then that's nothing to worry about.
But such a lifestyle shouldn't be copied by you or by anyone here, we all know how tough life is these days and we need to be frugal with how we spend our hard-earned money. Yes, it's fine to celebrate occasionally but you don't have to be showy to your friends or relatives just to be said that you're elegant or sort of a rich person. Most rich people are even living frugally and only spend on things that truly matter to them and not on fancy dinners and celebrations.

Do you think my friends' lifestyle is a waste of money and time ? How much do you spend on such gatherings on average ? Please let me know.

If the cost of dinner/drinking is equivalent to 1/5 average monthly income, I think your friends will broke after a week, how it's possible your friends can have a dinner/drinking for at least 16x times in a month, they are should in debt.

You can friend with them, but it doesn't mean you need to follow anything that your friends are doing, you need to independent and only do what you want to do. For me having a dinner/drinking for 4x times in a week is really wasting money, I will not follow their habit.

Whatever we do, of course, can have an impact on finances, for example, wanting to style like a celebrity, of course, we need capital, lifestyle affects finances, but do we have to follow all the trending things, of course, it will make us tired and finances can become disrupted, so we have to go into debt or sell asset.

I think the point is that, psychologically speaking we all need to make some money one way or another and need to spend it as well. If we all lived a very frugal life, meaning like if we all worked and earned an income, come to a small studio apartment, live on rice and ramen and pasta, drink only water, use public transport, never go outside, never eat meat or anything, do not spend money on coffee or Netflix or Disney plus or anything, just have a bad old second hand bought pc, and use neighbors internet, if we all lived that life, I guarantee you that you will be able to save a ton of money.

However, I would also guarantee you that 99% of the world would become crazy as well, and I mean certified locked up levels of crazy.

Is it a waste of time and money? From a financial point of view, yes rather than no. The time and money spent by your friends could have been put to better use. For example, spend this time on self-education, and the money - on investing in bitcoin (is it possible to give a different recommendation on a forum dedicated to BTC? ).

On the other hand, life is not limited to just making money all the time and you need to enjoy it. If it doesn't interfere with everything else and doesn't hurt the budget, then why not attend these gatherings like your friends.

Actually there is nothing wrong when we get together with friends to have fun and release fatigue after we work all the time. But that doesn't mean we can do it all the time, especially if it requires a lot of money to do that fun. I personally too if I follow my own ego and don't think about my future I will do it even crazier than what the OP told me. But I thought again, I'll be able to use the money for something I need more than I spent it overnight.
I don't have a large income to do these things, so when I do it often, I will be confused about meeting my daily needs. It's like I'm complicating my life. But if you do it once a month at least, maybe it won't be too much of a problem as a form of self-esteem for what I do throughout the month.

Lifestyle is a choice, anyone can choose the kind of lifestyle he or she want to leave on. Either good or bad. But such lifestyle is a total waste of money and precious time.
Having a friend who spend so much of his time and money in something that will not profit you is very bad. Myself for example, i use to have a friend in back in school who use to spend his money on women. He used his school fees to go to club and hang out a lot with multiple girls. To cut the whole story short, he is now a school dropout. He wasted most of his time on women instead of studying and wasted his money too.
Some certain lifestyle doesn't worth investing your time and money.

If they are having fun and have finances that can manage the spendings then it's not waste of time. Suppressing desire is no good, however restriction is necessary. Such lifestyles can cause a hole in your pocket if not managed properly.


I'm stay home person and have few friends. Usually under $20/month, I live in cheap country and in dry state but we have other beverages 

Saw this from a meme. but it basically means that time wasted having fun is no wasted time at all. Which is so true on a lot of levels. Considering how the world has become so cynical these days you can't say anything anymore without getting cancelled on twitter. Might as well live the life you love, and love the life you live yeah?

Of course this doesn't for heinous things like serial murdering but I don't really need to clarify that, but yeah, regardless of how much your lifestyle costs you in lump sum, or how much it takes of your time, by all means own and enjoy it! We only live once, make the most out of it by doing what you want the most, not conforming to whatever society tells you too.

How much do you spend on such gatherings on average ? Please let me know.

It is okay to drink once a month as long as you just spend a few dollars on it because it is good for your health, but that doesn't mean that you will spend so much and also do it on a weekly basis. Before, when my salary was $300, I still drank for fun, and there's nothing wrong with that, but only once a month, and sometimes nothing because I was short. As long as you ain't spending so much, then it's okay, but if it will affect your family, then it is not good.

If the cost of dinner/drinking is equivalent to 1/5 average monthly income, I think your friends will broke after a week, how it's possible your friends can have a dinner/drinking for at least 16x times in a month, they are should in debt.

You can friend with them, but it doesn't mean you need to follow anything that your friends are doing, you need to independent and only do what you want to do. For me having a dinner/drinking for 4x times in a week is really wasting money, I will not follow their habit.