You ever thing about day to day activities as a lifetime? My guess is no and I'd like to think there is a reason why. We don't really want to know. Some things we do in life are documented, like student loans, car payments and health insurance. Some we just pay, month in and month out for years. Have you ever thought about those items?
Take buying lunch in a deli. Over the past twenty years I would say, on average, I have bought lunch in a deli three times a week. Obviously prices have changed over the years, so let's give a nice low estimate, say $6. That comes to just shy of $19,000 and a little less than a grand a year.
What about cell phones? When I started paying for mine, it was $70 a month, now it's $110. I've had a cell phone for about seven years, so splitting the difference, we'll say $90 a month for 84 months. $7500+ to talk on the phone. A little over $1000 a year. Add Internet and TV and it's probably in the neighborhood of $15,000 over the last seven years or $2000+ a year.
All you non-cooks out there. Look at your Con Ed gas bill. Even the pilot light and service is costing you $30+ a month. Which equals between $350-400 a year for something you don't use. Just think, that could buy you somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred specialty pizza slices or almost fifty more if you you like it plain. Prefer Chinese food, that's almost a meal a weekend.
What about going out to eat. Whether it be for entertainment or for nourishment. I'm going to say, even if you go to your local pub, even without a drink, after tax and tip, you're good for $12. Do that once a week and it's $600. What if you just don't cook and that is what you do seven nights a week. That's well over $4000 a year. The average single person probably wouldn't spend $84 a week on groceries anyway. When I was cooking every night I was good for about $45-60 depending on what I was making.
Then there is drinking. This is the grandaddy of them all. One day I was thinking about this and started thinking about all the time I've stayed home over the years since I started drinking compared to the amount of drinks per night out. I figured, I'd low ball my guess and while factoring inflation and the cost of drinks, that I'd take today's prices and figure one drink a day since I've turned 21. Come July, I will have been drinking legally for twenty years. Figuring the average beer around $4 now, I multiplied that by 365.25, then by 20. So the low ball number is $29,000 spent over those years. Now the reality is that this is a ludicrous number. I regularly spend between $50-80 a night and back in the cheaper days I was good for between $30-40. So we'll take an average of the times and it comes to $50 a night. Factor in at least a 25% tip and now you have about $63. Divide that by seven days and you get $9. That is probably a lot closer to reality. So using the same formula it yields $66,000.
So the next time you raise a glass, if you're like me, think about it. Those twenty years of drinking could have paid for your lunches, your dinners, your phone, your cable, your TV and your Con Ed for nine years. Not only that, your liver wouldn't resemble Fudgie the Whale on Meth! I'll raise a glass or 365 to that.
Take buying lunch in a deli. Over the past twenty years I would say, on average, I have bought lunch in a deli three times a week. Obviously prices have changed over the years, so let's give a nice low estimate, say $6. That comes to just shy of $19,000 and a little less than a grand a year.
What about cell phones? When I started paying for mine, it was $70 a month, now it's $110. I've had a cell phone for about seven years, so splitting the difference, we'll say $90 a month for 84 months. $7500+ to talk on the phone. A little over $1000 a year. Add Internet and TV and it's probably in the neighborhood of $15,000 over the last seven years or $2000+ a year.
All you non-cooks out there. Look at your Con Ed gas bill. Even the pilot light and service is costing you $30+ a month. Which equals between $350-400 a year for something you don't use. Just think, that could buy you somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred specialty pizza slices or almost fifty more if you you like it plain. Prefer Chinese food, that's almost a meal a weekend.
What about going out to eat. Whether it be for entertainment or for nourishment. I'm going to say, even if you go to your local pub, even without a drink, after tax and tip, you're good for $12. Do that once a week and it's $600. What if you just don't cook and that is what you do seven nights a week. That's well over $4000 a year. The average single person probably wouldn't spend $84 a week on groceries anyway. When I was cooking every night I was good for about $45-60 depending on what I was making.
Then there is drinking. This is the grandaddy of them all. One day I was thinking about this and started thinking about all the time I've stayed home over the years since I started drinking compared to the amount of drinks per night out. I figured, I'd low ball my guess and while factoring inflation and the cost of drinks, that I'd take today's prices and figure one drink a day since I've turned 21. Come July, I will have been drinking legally for twenty years. Figuring the average beer around $4 now, I multiplied that by 365.25, then by 20. So the low ball number is $29,000 spent over those years. Now the reality is that this is a ludicrous number. I regularly spend between $50-80 a night and back in the cheaper days I was good for between $30-40. So we'll take an average of the times and it comes to $50 a night. Factor in at least a 25% tip and now you have about $63. Divide that by seven days and you get $9. That is probably a lot closer to reality. So using the same formula it yields $66,000.
So the next time you raise a glass, if you're like me, think about it. Those twenty years of drinking could have paid for your lunches, your dinners, your phone, your cable, your TV and your Con Ed for nine years. Not only that, your liver wouldn't resemble Fudgie the Whale on Meth! I'll raise a glass or 365 to that.
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