It is almost impossible to count your losses, if you win and you also withdraw your losses and then deposit again and also count all the money that you spend on lottery tickets and also count the small amounts that you win.... but with a great deal of effort, it might be possible.
If you are going to do that, then you should also calculate the amount of money that you spend on other things, like Fast food / Movies / Streaming services / cigarettes / Alcohol ... etc. The total amount will also astonish you, because it is an expenditure over a long period.
What a wild thought, right? It's like throwing a wide-angle lens on our bread flow, catching all the ins and outs. The big picture of finance isn't just about marking where the dough comes from, but also noting its disappearing act. This, I reckon, hits the nail on the head of your argument.
On the flip side, the grind to keep tabs on every nickel and dime can feel like climbing Everest, more so when we're talking about those knee-jerk spends or the losses from dicey bets or scratch-offs. Yet, if played smart, this whirlwind of numbers could spin out some eye-opening patterns and turn on the light towards major bread-winning. It's walking the thin line, somewhere between being penny-wise and having a blast.
As for tallying up the bucks blown on other stuff, the sticker shock of that total is well worth the mental gymnastics. The aim isn't to slide into a guilt-trip, but rather to switch on the awareness bulb. As the old saying goes, knowledge is the big boss. Getting the hang of our spend habits puts us in the driver's seat of our finance vehicle, allowing us to hit the gas towards our goals.
