3422: The Starbucks Predicament by Lauren Keys of Trip Of A Lifestyle on Conscious Consumption

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[00:00:52] Marvel Television's Wonder Man. All eight episodes now streaming. Only on Disney+. This is Optimal Health Daily, the Starbucks predicament by Lauren Keyes of tripofalifestyle.com. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Hello and welcome back to our weekly bonus episode. This is where I share an episode from another podcast in our network, an article that can also improve your life in some way. And today's comes from Optimal Finance Daily. You can find that show wherever you're listening to this.

[00:01:21] So with that, here's Diana reading for you and her commentary as we optimize your life. The Starbucks predicament by Lauren Keyes of tripofalifestyle.com. When we moved back to Florida following our honeymoon in 2015, I felt rejuvenated and ready to get back into the workforce.

[00:01:46] I spent about two months interviewing for different positions around town before landing a pretty good gig at a local web marketing startup. At my previous job, I never felt like an outcast or anything, but I also didn't have the best relationship with all of the women there. Since I was the most recent hire among my new, mostly female office mates, I was eager to try and fit in. So when I was invited to join them on an afternoon walk to get Starbucks around the corner, I quickly accepted.

[00:02:15] What I didn't realize was just how frequent these trips would be and how much buying even a tall iced coffee would add up. But I also didn't want to give up the opportunity to bond and vent during these coffee breaks. Welcome to my Starbucks predicament. Noticing the growing coffee trend. The Starbucks runs were weekly, sometimes twice a week if a meeting didn't go well. And I was buying a drink every time, along with my coworkers.

[00:02:44] Luckily, this job came with a pay increase compared to my last. So we all made enough money that a coffee from Starbucks didn't really feel like a luxury, even though it most certainly was. After all, at the office, we had a Keurig, several K-cup flavors, and a variety of creamers, including non-dairy milk, to make a free cup of coffee anytime we wanted. We even had diet sodas and teas in the office fridge if we wanted a different kind of afternoon pick-me-up. What we really wanted, though, was to take a break outside the office.

[00:03:13] Grabbing a drink from the kitchen just wasn't the same as physically leaving the building and enjoying a little sunshine on the seven-minute walk to Starbucks. Did I want companionship, caffeine, or both? I made a lot of internal excuses about increased stress, a need to fit in, and the low cost of my drink, which I believed for a few months. I needed the caffeine to get through the afternoon. I needed a break from the fluorescent lights and blue screens.

[00:03:42] I needed to tell my coworkers about the latest email exchange I had with a target. I also needed my coworkers to like me, and I was worried that I wouldn't be invited if I didn't join in on the consumption. So my Starbucks habit continued, and I dutifully accompanied my coworkers whenever the need struck. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to actually recognize the wastefulness and address it because Stephen and I don't really track our spending in excruciating detail.

[00:04:11] We prefer to focus on the big picture by looking at our change in net worth once a month, and honestly, this one expense didn't have a noticeable effect on that number. But I slowly became more aware of my excessive spending by noticing how often I had to load my Starbucks account with another $20. Spending that doesn't impact your budget. Why worry? You may think I'm a crazy person for feeling my spending habit growing out of control, even while I certainly wasn't wrecking our finances.

[00:04:42] I mean, after all, it was just coffee. But my internal spending sensor wasn't broken. It was working perfectly for how I've tuned in over the years. Our goal since graduating college has been to save more and spend less in an effort to reach financial independence at a young age. We see the value of our efforts every month when our net worth graph increases, and that motivation keeps us plowing down the path to freedom.

[00:05:07] While I certainly could have kept spending what I was at Starbucks without totally derailing our long-term financial goals, it didn't feel as good once I thought about the irony of this bad habit. I was spending money as a way to mentally escape from work when I could have been using it to slowly buy freedom from that work in the first place. I decided to try to cut back on my Starbucks consumption, but something still loomed over me.

[00:05:34] Would my co-worker still include me if I stopped ordering? No order turned out to be no problem. Even though I bought coffee a lot less frequently, I still walked with my co-workers to the corner Starbucks every week, and our friendship continued uninterrupted. Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time I've experienced this phenomenon, albeit for different reasons. Stephen and I almost never drink alcohol, mostly because we just don't like it all that much,

[00:06:02] although it certainly saves money and calories too. At times, it can feel a little awkward to constantly say, no thanks, or I'll just have water, but it's never really impacted our relationships with friends and family. True friendship shouldn't have an obligation or a price tag attached to it, so don't feel pressured to spend more money than you want just to enjoy those relationships. Our favorite low-cost activities to do with friends and family include going on walks,

[00:06:28] not just to Starbucks, watching movies, playing games, and even sharing home-cooked meals together. It's normal to be a little nervous about eschewing, wasteful, and unnecessary spending in the face of social pressure, hence my Starbucks predicament. But it felt so much better to just enjoy the time with my coworkers without the guilt of feeling like I have to buy something to validate being with them. Be brave and try it for yourself next time.

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[00:07:51] Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. If you've ever blasted synth beats from your boom box or burn CDs for your besties, this one's for you.

[00:08:17] As people get older, much like their music tastes, their health needs change. AG1 is the simple daily health drink designed to deliver over 75 essential daily nutrients and pre and probiotics to support energy, digestion and mood. So you can make the most out of every decade. And dance break. Learn more at drinkag1.com. I love how Lauren experimented with her assumptions in this simple Starbucks story.

[00:08:44] What she really wanted was a walk, a break and a chat with work friends. But like many of us and our desire to be included, she seems to think at the beginning of the story that she couldn't have this without partaking in the consumerism part of the Starbucks run. The solution? She just tried it and saw that her assumptions were wrong, that she didn't feel left out at all. Human connection is incredibly important. And I see many people fear the loss of friendships if they cut back on spending.

[00:09:14] I would encourage you here to think of yourself more as a trailblazer for human connection and get a bit more creative with how you get this need met. While your co-workers might invite you for a Starbucks run, why don't you invite them to take a walk with you to the park next to your office and enjoy some homemade baked goods you brought in? While your friends might invite you out to dinner, why don't you invite them over to your place for a potluck and game of catchphrase?

[00:09:42] When I decided that I wanted to spend less money during socializing, I took it upon myself to be proactive, creative, and resourceful in dreaming up fun ways to spend time with the people I love. By taking the initiative and inviting people to join me, I made it really easy for them to say yes. Frugality isn't a death sentence for your relationships. It could actually be the key to creativity and spending time together.

[00:10:09] That'll do it for today and another installment of Optimal Finance Daily. Have a happy Thursday. Thank you for being here every day and listening. And I'll see you in the Friday show tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.