# What do you do with your extra $10/$20 a day? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2018, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411 "2018-12-20T07:18:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/1 "2018-12-20T07:18:25Z")
I don’t mean to rag on smokers, Starbucks lovers or anything else you may buy daily, but since I don’t have a buy something daily habit, I sometimes tell myself I have an extra $10/$20 a day to spend and splurge a little on lunch, $15 instead of $5 or have two donuts instead of one. What do you do with your “extra” money? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/2 "2018-12-20T07:37:10Z")
My WHAT?? At this awful spending time of the year? If I actually had that privilege of an extra five bucks, maybe rent a movie. That happened in 2015, last time I recall. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/3 "2018-12-20T07:47:35Z")
No smoking, very few Starbucks, and for me I brought lunch to work instead of eating in the cafeteria, where I probably would have eaten too much at 4x the cost of bringing lunch. Plus I could spend the time at my desk reading the Dope. What did I do with it? Put it in my retirement account (post-tax) where it let me retire without money worries. Not the only reason for this, but the general philosophy of saving instead of spending uselessly really paid off. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/4 "2018-12-20T12:16:56Z")
Never smoked, never learned to like coffee, pretty much never drink alcohol - and pretty much never have extra $$$. Life always seems to find a way to suck up any extra cash I might have. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/5 "2018-12-20T13:23:10Z")
Just because this is the Dope -------- hookers and blow. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/6 "2018-12-20T13:27:30Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I don’t mean to rag on smokers, Starbucks lovers or anything else you may buy daily, but since I don’t have a buy something daily habit, I sometimes tell myself I have an extra $10/$20 a day to spend and splurge a little on lunch, $15 instead of $5 or have two donuts instead of one. > > What do you do with your “extra” money? Seems like you have a “buy lunch on a daily basis” habit. Bring lunch from home and save extra money. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/7 "2018-12-20T13:35:58Z")
A pack of cigs is about 7 euro here, which is close to what I use on food per day. So I guess not smoking means I get to eat. Which is great since if I try to go without food I get these terrible withdrawal symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/8 "2018-12-20T14:32:44Z")
I definitely indulge in splurges, but not daily ones. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/9 "2018-12-20T14:39:42Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > … > What do you do with your “extra” money? I’m saving up money for a down payment on a new vehicle. Occasionally if I notice a little breathing room in the checking account, that gets moved into the Down Payment bucket. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/10 "2018-12-20T14:51:42Z")
I have a 7-eleven coffee refill habit, which costs me $2 a day. The remainder is spent on food and/or library books, which our local libraries sell for 25 to 50 cents each. I get to support the library and good reads on the cheap Makes me feel really good. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/11 "2018-12-20T14:54:09Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Seems like you have a “buy lunch on a daily basis” habit. Bring lunch from home and save extra money. Yeah, the OP doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t have ‘extra money’. I have a ‘budget’. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/12 "2018-12-20T15:01:17Z")
Screw cigarettes. I don’t have alimony or child support. That saves me way more money. What do I spend it on? I don’t, I put it in the bank where I can lose all of it with one medical problem. God bless America. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/13 "2018-12-20T15:05:40Z")
The OP makes sense to me. My sister and brother-in-law _do_ have a daily habit of Starbucks. I asked them once what the cost was: about $7.00 for both of them. I have no idea how they would answer the OP but my answer would be “save it.” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/14 "2018-12-20T15:13:47Z")
Save it. Retiring at 60 will make it worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/15 "2018-12-20T16:34:14Z")
I don’t really have any daily spending habits, other than I’ve learned that I tend to forget my lunch stuff if I take it, so I buy my lunch most days. It’s rarely so high, but for the sake of argument, let’s say I spend $10 every day. So if I decided to bring my lunch, I imagine that money not being spent would just remain in the checking account and end up spent on something else. It’s nice to think that I’d save it, but I know that it would fall in the category of checking money not spent, and would probably contribute to a greater sense of financial well being, but that’s about it. Now if I got an extra $140 per paycheck ($10 a day = $3650/yr = $140 bi-weekly), then I imagine I’d actually allocate more to savings as a result, since it would be more of a matter of just adding to the amount that gets added to the savings account direct deposit. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/16 "2018-12-20T17:15:08Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > A pack of cigs is about 7 euro here, which is close to what I use on food per day. So I guess not smoking means I get to eat. Which is great since if I try to go without food I get these terrible withdrawal symptoms. Give it time. Eventually you’ll get over the withdrawal ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/17 "2018-12-20T17:39:31Z")
LOL. I wish I had $100 left over every paycheck! 😛 After I posted, I thought the way I worded it would be confusing. I don’t eat out every day, but since I’m single, it’s sometimes cheaper to spend $5-10 for a meal (I usually only eat lunch), versus going to the market and letting what I bought go to waste because I forgot about it. I usually cook only on the weekends and when possible freeze what I make. Plus, being Asian, having rice (ideally fresh) with my meal is almost a must and since it takes about an hour to cook a fresh pot (have to let it rest after cooking), I don’t want to do it daily. When I want to splurge a little, I justify it by telling myself that it’s okay because I don’t have a daily habit that would cost me $10-$20 every day. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/18 "2018-12-20T18:49:11Z")
I don’t think of it as “extra” money, since it’s not money I would have spent in the first place. Not for nothing, my budget is so tight that I couldn’t even dream of an extra $5-10 per day in it. Also not for nothing, I thank the FSM every day that I never took up smoking (of tobacco, that is), chewing, etc. And Starbucks coffee is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/19 "2018-12-20T18:54:51Z")
Money? Who has money?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411/20 "2018-12-20T19:22:55Z")
I quit smoking a quarter century ago. At the time I was spending $30-35 per week on cigarettes. Back then I was getting an American Airlines email weekly that gave their specials. A little over a year after I quit one special was a trip to London. Mr. Middon said, “Let’s go. We can use the money we saved by you not buying smokes anymore.” Never done anything like that again, but we had a great time in London. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-your-extra-10-20-a-day/826411.md?page=2)