No doubt, living below your means is key. There’s no disagreement here. First of all, I would NEVER spend $200 on shirt and pants. Not even close. Sometimes I go to the outlet stores, and head straight for the sale rack, and still leave empty handed shaking my head at how overpriced the name brand stuff is.
I own three pairs of jeans, for which I paid a combined total of fifty dollars. They look sharp, and unless I gain or lose a bunch of weight, I don’t see any need to buy more for several years. Also, I haven’t paid a dime in credit card interest in about ten years.
All I am saying is that I believe most people have a “too much house” or “too much car” problem more than they have a “latte factor” problem. I agree that you should watch the little expenses that do add up, but sometimes it’s putting a bandaid on a fractured leg. People can go around patting themselves on the back for making coffee at the office instead of going to Starbucks, but their mortgage is 45% of their gross income. I don’t care how many Lattes you skip, you need surgery, not a bandaid.
