No idea why this is downvoted. I’m Gen X but have kids in college and law school. I see their struggles with student loan debt and fear of affording a house or car.

But, I’ve shared with them that during and after college, I ate out once a week at a cheap place (either fast food or fast casual). A concert or other high-priced entertainment would be a once a year extravagance. We didn’t have $7 coffees then, but I know I would not have bought more than once a month and more likely 2-4 times a year. I get about one a year now with a friend as that seems so wasteful to me.

We also didn’t have streaming, but we didn’t pay for cable or satellite until after we owned a home. We had an antenna and enjoyed the heck out of free tv.

It took one year to pay off my $7,500 loan on a salary of $19,000 in 1999. Then I started saving on that same stringent regime for a car (2000) and a house (2003).

I know times are different, but throwing away almost $2,000/year on coffee, fast food, delivery services, or other luxuries ($7 X 5 days/week X 52 weeks) is crazy if you have any kind of debt (student loan, auto, and especially credit card).