I’ve come to the sad realization that with just one week of work in the 2015 calendar year under my belt, I’ve visited Starbucks no fewer than 4 times (or was it 6?) and spent no less than $30. In fact, I”m sure it was quite a bit more, since I had my son with me twice, and that ups the bill considerably. Let’s see, 52 weeks in a year times $30 a week equals $1560.00 . That’s quite a bit to spend on coffee drinks and pastries.
Still, I have a good job, and if I really want to spend $1560.00 per year on something I can, but this? At the end of the year what will I have to show for that investment? My first response is “nothing,” but that’s not true. I’ll have the effects of a year’s worth of sugary, fatty drinks and pastries settling into my ever aging body. I don’t need that. I don’t want that. So why is it so hard to resist?
Now this isn’t an anti-Starbucks post. I love Starbucks. Too much. That’s my point. If I could handle it I wouldn’t have to go cold-turkey, but I can’t. For me, Starbucks is like some giant lab experiment and I’m the rat. I cheerfully get in line and hand over my hard earned money in exchange for items that I know are not beneficial to my health. Then I consume those items happily, temporarily satisfied until I begin to crave the next fix. Sometimes that craving hits the very same day, and yes, sometimes I give in to it the very same day. Too much is too much.
Unlike the lab rat, I have a choice. I can voluntarily leave the experiment. I have options. But damn, I love my Starbucks. I crave it. I don’t care about the money! I don’t care about the health issues! I just want my frappucino!
Oops, sorry. That just kind of came out. I can handle this. I can come up with better alternatives. I’ve done it before and I can do it again. Starting today I will avoid Starbucks. That extra $30 per week might just come in handy, and I know I’ll feel better after the first couple of days. I may even stop shaking as I drive by, after a few weeks anyway.
Now I’m going to brew a pot of tea to take in my thermos and fix myself some toast for breakfast. There was life before Starbucks, and there is life after it.
BulgingButtons 
January 12, 2015 at 6:57 am
I can’t buy potato chips. Talk about the lab rat experience! Sometimes I can feel my brain lighting up when I eat them. Must be like illegal drugs…
January 12, 2015 at 9:47 am
I know, right? Thank goodness it isn’t something more harmful.
January 12, 2015 at 10:14 am
hmmm… I CANNOT eat them. It is harmful to me. I’m very sodium sensitive.
January 13, 2015 at 7:28 am
I know how you feel. Mostly. It’s super hard to give up something that gives you so much satisfaction that you dont even think about the financial cost. I sttuggle with it all the time. But you are right, you can do it! And you will forget about it and feel better! Good luck!
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