<p>I always thought people spend way too much time focusing on the price difference for a gallon of gas myself. Sure, they vary a little, but on what used to be my way to/from work (on my current way I pass no gas stations) I would see 6 different gas stations, and I’ve never seen gas between them vary by more than 6 cents a gallon (and yes, I’ve been paying attention), filling up 3 times a month (as I was then, roughly) I’d save about $2.70 a month going to the cheapest one, if it was always 6 cents cheaper (though it wasn’t always 6 cents cheaper). Not worth thinking about in my opinion.</p>
<p>I also don’t really see $6 for lunch a day as a big problem… If you’re literally making minimum wage, sure, you should be careful of it. But if you’re making, say, $12/hr, then the difference between that and making your lunch every day is pretty negligible. I’d say myself I’m more inclined to try to save on rent and use that money on food, and I realize that not everyone is the same, but seriously, you can’t do a whole lot cheaper than $6 (with an appropriate amount of meat and vegetables) making a meal yourself. </p>
<p>Myself, I think rent is probably one of the biggest wastes a lot of people make. I know a guy who spends $1200/month on rent, for himself alone, here in the same city (and same part of the city - I live maybe 20 minutes walk from him) where I have a very nice place for $500 a month. That’s just $700 a month that doesn’t need to be spent. Two of my friends, one just bought brand new $26,000 car and the other a brand new $32,000 car, when a used $6000 car does just as good a job at getting you from A to B. My roommate has lots of expensive clothes, spends probably a few hundred a month on clothes, when clothes from Mejier (which we unfortunately don’t have here - but there are equivalent stores) keep you just as warm for a fraction of the cost. </p>
<p>Chasing nickles and dimes seems silly to me. I have my expenditures that may seem wasteful (mainly food and drink) but these are far less wasteful and far more beneficial to my quality of life then these other silly expensive things. </p>