[mastazi]

> I've never bought (pun intended) the argument that dining out in any form (including coffee) even comes close to these other items.

Well it's easy to know if that argument holds true or not... just track your expenses. It holds true for me.[1] Once I started WFH during COVID my weekly expenses got in much better shape.

[1] Edit: combined lunch + coffee + snacks during the work week were equivalent to about 15% of my rent (and rent is high where I live). I did not include weekend dining out with friends/family in that figure, or it would have been even higher. (The reason is that during the work week I always get food or coffee from the same merchants so it was easier to track, but during weekend it varies more).

Edit 2: solution was to pack lunch/snacks, and use the office coffee maker. Packed lunch is less than half of the previous amount, and office coffee is free. Now the figure is about 5% of my rent.

Edit 3: a positive side effect is that my snacks started consisting more of things like an apple or an orange, rather than the crappy processed-food sugary snacks I was buying at the cafe.