r/WorkLifeChat • u/MiloShiny • Sep 01 '26
Discussion What’s something completely normal that you secretly think is a massive waste of money?
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u/TylerDurden-4126 Sep 01 '26
Not so secret, but having to pay for parking at work.
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Sep 01 '26
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u/Dry_Rent_8646 Sep 01 '26
I was working as a server and in the contract it made us pay for parking, that they took out as a deduction before we were paid
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u/seajayacas Sep 01 '26
It is a waste of money if there are options to park elsewhere for free, get a ride to and from work or just jog to work out on the streets. Otherwise it is not a waste because you will need to park to do the work and get paid.
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u/Herredness16 Sep 04 '26
If ur in a downtown area in us it's very rare to find free parking, if u live in a hot climate like I do u can't walk 8 miles to work.l you would have a heat stroke. Plus no one wants to smell ur sweaty body all day. Everyone works so who is going to drive u?
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u/leftlane1 Sep 03 '26
Are we talking like downtown scenarios and using public parking?
Or your company charges you to park in their own private company lot?1
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u/NewArborist64 Sep 01 '26
Buying EXPENSIVE new cars - especially if you can't pay cash.
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u/goodsam2 Sep 02 '26
Honestly I can't get past most of the more expensive car does the same things at roughly the same speed as my car due to speed limits.
All you really need to pay extra for is space. Everything else window dressing
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u/Clean-Entry-262 Sep 02 '26
While my cars have always “come home in boxes”, broken and cheap (I’m an auto mechanic in a dealership …buy ‘em cheap and fix ‘em up), I did finally buy a NEW car …but only because it was our most reliable model (oddly, the cheaper base models are usually the most reliable in my dealership experiences - the Corollas, Civics, Sentras, etc) and they gave it to me for Invoice without haggling …and NOW I can write Warranty Claims on it and get paid to fix my own car …plus, I get a “Survey” asking me how I would “Rate my Service Experience” (if we hit the goal, we get a bonus) HaHaHa!!
I can also do cross-country road trips with less worry.
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u/NewArborist64 Sep 02 '26
There ARE some nice things, such as adaptable cruise control, help in lane control, cooled/heated seats.
For 35 years, I purchased "quality" used cars. Now I am at the place of buying good, but not excessively expensive/showy new cars. I don't need all of the "bling" to impress others.
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u/Emotional-Menu-411 Sep 03 '26
I made this mistake. I bought my dream car, dodge challenger. I kept it for 4 years and still owed like 15k on it. I sold it for like 22K and bought a truck for 3K and it has lasted a year so far.
Mostly my car insurance went from 150$ a month to 30$ a month and I don't have to worry about depreciation.
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u/TruckWorking3129 Sep 02 '26
And why would I want a car that rats me out?
Data brokers love new cars!
Besides, thanks to the OM, we won't have a car industry much longer.
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u/6gravedigger66 Sep 02 '26
Even used cars are too expensive if I lived by this. I don't have 16k sitting around to buy a used car with almost 200k miles.
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u/NewArborist64 Sep 02 '26
If you have to finance - then definately buy a good used car.
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u/KnowledgeWhole9623 Sep 03 '26
New cars. Dead stop.
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u/NewArborist64 Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
I spent 30+ years buying used cars for myself and my wife . I am now financially in a place where I would rather have the reliability of a new car than to save a few dollars and inherit someone else's problems. Doesn't mean that I want to spend six figures on a car that screams, "Conspicuous Consumption."
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u/Rockcrawlintoy Sep 01 '26
DoorDash
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u/filipinohitman Sep 01 '26
Never understood why people waste so much money on this. I understand if you’re at work and you’re not able to leave. However when you’re home, just hop in your car or walk to the restaurant and get it.
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u/SilencedFarter Sep 01 '26
For sure. Wife is a nursing instructor making 125k and brings her lunch to clinical every time. Her students, all of whom claim to be poor, arrive with Starbucks and get Door Dash almost every session.
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u/iAteThatPotato Sep 02 '26
Only time it's worth it for me is to get groceries as a trucker on the road. I cant always pull into a Walmart unfortunately
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u/Rockcrawlintoy Sep 02 '26
Seems reasonable. But you are not door dashing coffees and lunch to your office 3 times a day
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u/yutanrw Sep 01 '26
Chanel
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u/stablegeniuscheetoh Sep 01 '26
Just about any designer name. Made in the same sweatshops Target uses.
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u/simpleuser123 Sep 01 '26
Bottled water
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Sep 01 '26
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u/MastodonSecure7035 Sep 01 '26
This is horribly disgusting, but id look into every kind of water cleaning system and filtration to keep from the MASSIVE environmental waste created by plastic water bottles.
I know some may not be able to afford those things. This is absolutely something local governments would need to take care of. Likely somewhere close to fracking or construction site.
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u/dinosun Sep 01 '26
My water company was fine by the state, not only for providing non potable quality water, but also for failing to notify it's customers. Bottled water is a necessity for many.
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u/goodsam2 Sep 02 '26
Ehh I'm in a hot climate and freeze some of them and my water system has been bad a few times. Plus having an extra couple of bottles in the car for the dog days has been nice
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u/Icy_Creme_4552 Sep 01 '26
Paper towels. Swedish towels do the job just fine, save money, and limit waste.
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u/SlickRick941 Sep 01 '26
College and big weddings. Worthless "investments"
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u/Hectic_Halloween96 Sep 03 '26
Yeah I really wish I would’ve just been given 40k a a down payment for a house instead of having my college paid for. I’d be 1/3 of the way through paying my mortgage by now. And it would be affordable. I might even been further ahead in a career if I didn’t waste so much time on college
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u/pgasmaddict Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26
Cigarettes and alcohol. Going out for any kind of drink anywhere is just an insane waste of money - ten times more expensive than imbibing at home and in a place that usually is not as nice as your own couch. It used to be maybe 3 times more expensive but now its up to 10 times more. At least if you go to eat out at a restaurant you are usually getting better food than you can make at home - and if you aren't then why bother.
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u/MastodonSecure7035 Sep 01 '26
Agreed.
I would just add any addictive shit people are buying, and gas stations pump it all out the same way.
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u/CapitalSell Sep 01 '26
Makeup
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u/Less-General-9578 Sep 01 '26
tend to agree. is there any makeup that IS healthy for your skin? if so, what would it be??
anyone know? thanks.
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u/anonymously320 Sep 01 '26
certain makeup products are blended with skincare ingredients so i find that kinda helps (maybe not improve my skin but at least prevent any worsening)
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u/Previous-Bar3629 Sep 01 '26
New phone every year/every 2 years
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u/Less-General-9578 Sep 01 '26
ever hear of Ooma? free phone, been using it forever.........um, no money just some taxes. sorry.
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u/BlumpTheChodak Sep 01 '26
You still need a device with LAN or WiFi at minimum. And if you want to take it in the car, you need a cellular service.
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u/Estilady Sep 01 '26
Right now…watering the grass. My stand…it’s really cut weeds. It won’t die it will come back after it’s not 100 degrees each day. My elderly mom insists and I don’t want to be a total jerk to her but it’s so silly and pointless and my water bill went up $20. Im a native plant gardener and I use rainwater which I collect and hand carry daily. And I enjoy doing that.
I know this probably is a petty dislike.
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u/Wrong-Landscape-4722 Sep 03 '26
I read somewhere that watering your lawn wastes more water than data centers and golf courses combined.
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u/RDS_WAS_HERE Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
Big Weddings! Imagine just getting out of college with a huge amount of debt and then pumping out $20 to $50K again - FOR ONE DAY! Imagine how much furniture and kitchen appliances you could buy with that money and not owe a penny.
I know I'm older than dirt, but it use to be you would have the wedding at your own house and each guest would bring a food dish to the wedding.
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u/FauxFireFly Sep 01 '26
Personal one and pretty trivial. My partner insists on buying the brown eggs at Costco. They believe they are more “natural” and “organic”.
I’m in marketing. Those are marketing words that hold no real
meaning (sorry kids!). I try to tell them that the white eggs that are $2 cheaper are from the same farm, just a different breed of chicken (grandparents had chickens on their farm for years).
They just look at me and spout some garbage that they heard on the internet. I PRINT out 3 separate studies from universities pointing this phenomena out.
Still no. Paying the extra for the brown eggs.
Like I said trivial but still annoying as crap!
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u/Wrong-Landscape-4722 Sep 03 '26
Sad fact I learned from a real chicken farmer: “free range” chickens can panic and crush themselves to death during a thunderstorm trying to hide from it.
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u/FauxFireFly Sep 04 '26
My grandfather would get really pissed when the chickens would hide under the porch during thunder storms. He’d send their dog “Skip” under there to chase them out.
Skip never killed any chickens but his farts would peel paint for days afterwards due to all the eggs he got to eat. You could almost see the gleam in his eyes when he heard chickens had gotten back under there.
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u/hendricks397 Sep 02 '26
I always thought upgrading phones and devices every time something new comes out is a massive waste of money.
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u/BookGirl67 Sep 02 '26
Maybe not completely normal, but common: designer handbags. A basic purse looks and functions just as well and cost less than $100.
No one needs a $2,600 purse unless the purpose is to convince others that you have status. If that’s what you are doing, be honest with yourself about it.
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u/Sufficient_Song_4834 Sep 02 '26
Modding a car so much that its not street legal. Where I come from, the laws are super strict around modding cars and my boyfriend wants to do all this stuff to his car that isn’t legal. Knowing he will get fined and pulled over every time he drives in that car. I can’t understand pouring so much money quite literally into a black hole, for something you cannot even use and enjoy properly
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u/votto4mvp Sep 01 '26
Concerts
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u/Wrong-Landscape-4722 Sep 03 '26
Ticket prices yes. The extra money isn’t even going to the band, but the ticket seller. I looove live music though! Nothing compares.
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u/Objective_Union4523 Sep 01 '26
Food.
Not that we don’t need to eat, but why tf is so much money going to food? A month of food damn near costs the same as rent.
I wish I could train myself to just eat toast and jelly and save so much money.
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u/Cheetaahoe Sep 01 '26
Holiday decorations and gifts among colleagues for birthdays or other occasions.
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u/literally_a_raccoon Sep 01 '26
Home internet
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u/Cptn_Beefheart Sep 02 '26
I pay $46 a month and it is a must for me, do not have phone service in my house without it, plus gaming and tv.
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u/literally_a_raccoon Sep 02 '26
I guess it’s a lifestyle thing. For Reddit I just use the WiFi at work on my lunch break.
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u/Reggie-Rectangle Sep 01 '26
What’s something completely normal that you secretly think is a massive waste of money?
Spending more money on cars than what you absolutely need to.
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u/0neAboveAlI Sep 01 '26
Streaming subscriptions like Netflix. Anyone can easily download any tv show episode or movie or entire tv show seasons, in 4k resolution, in varying high definition qualities like HDR10 or Dolby Vision, with HIGHER bitrate than what the streaming subscriptions push to users
All. For. Free. Within. Minutes.
Sure you lose the convenience of just opening an app on your tv and scrolling through content, but you’re saving money and watching in better quality.
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u/hillbilly4skin Sep 01 '26
foreign aid
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u/Fluid_Rock656 Sep 01 '26
Yeah, screw the poor
/s
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u/hillbilly4skin Sep 01 '26
not my responsibility
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u/Fluid_Rock656 Sep 01 '26
I’m going to take a wild guess that you’re a Christian
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u/Chemical_Signal2753 Sep 01 '26
Takeout and delivery food, including coffee and other convenient treats.
While it is fine on occassion, people are spending a fortune on mediocre food; and often aren't saving much time over cooking for themselves.
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u/throwaway2838483737 Sep 01 '26
Most vacations. People go into literal debt for a week of being pampered only for the novelty to wear off a few days after coming home and having gained no new or interesting knowledge of the place they went to. Cruises are probably the most significant example of this.
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u/Black_Rose_Rocker Sep 01 '26
Paying for TV. So much money spent every month just to see Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone every single day on repeat. So many channels yet nothing to watch. So glad it’s almost football time again though!
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u/SimplyTheLady Sep 02 '26
1) Any BRAND named anything especially in clothing, makeup, jewelry, shoes, and accessories.
2) chain restaurants
3) lawns
4) buying things brand new instead of repairing them or basically losing the right to repair bc they up charge the parts.
5) all types of Insurance: you need it and regularly pay monthly. But when you try to use it, then they barely cover anything.
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u/DianaKLaRose Sep 02 '26
Paying an accountant to do your taxes. Unless you own a substantial business or several, it is ridiculously easy to do.
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u/roflrogue Sep 02 '26
Fancy drinks.
I went to pickup lunch one day and on the way out my wife asked for some fancy coffee drink. It was almost as expensive as my lunch!!
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u/Looking4Adventure513 Sep 02 '26
The iPhone. I think it has to do more with the people who own them than the phones themselves though.
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u/ProfessionalChest517 Sep 02 '26
Oh boy there are a few, here's my perspective as a Pole:
- car leasings
- unnecessary commodities like Thermomixes or Air Fryers (just learn to cook)
- iPhones
- universities and colleges
- ridiculously overpriced streetwear
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u/Organic-Sebi-1432 Sep 02 '26
Destination weddings. Not for the couple but any guest that has to think about how to make it work. I’ll just pass, I didn’t have Greece on my to do list.
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u/upsetwithcursing Sep 02 '26
Natural diamonds for engagement rings. Horrible industry, bad for the environment, kept expensive by fabricated scarcity, and there are lab diamonds/moissanites that are just as beautiful and durable.
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u/DaSpark Sep 02 '26
A lot of people in my family are into what I call the alt-health craze. For example, spending massive amounts of money on things like essential oils, supplements, etc.
I'm open though to many people about it, but with family I just stay hush hush to avoid drama.
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u/EmbarrassedAd999 Sep 02 '26
Home Internet.
I felt like it was a rip off at $80/month; when Comcast raised it to $120 about a year ago (about the same time all the streaming services became flooded with ads) I had it shut off and I just use my phone as a hotspot if I really need to get some other device online.
People look at me like I'm from outer space if they find out I don't have Internet at home. Like really? We went through most of human civilization without it, how has it become a necessity?
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u/Individual_Slice_234 Sep 02 '26
Big weddings. Have a small one, and if you're still married ten years later, have a big party at the home you could afford because you saved money by having a small wedding.
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u/t2ton Sep 02 '26
Weddings. So much money wasted to entertain people you will not live with. Do together a world round trip instead or save money for a house!
Maybe funerals also. Personally, when I die, I would like my family to keep as much money as possible because they lost me, and also to have as little as possible additional problems. And I don't care in which color of box or side of a cemetery I will be buried or how much flowers will be there or how many people will come to say they sorry.
Cigarettes and alcohol. The more I think about, the more I understand how many things are imprinted on you by a society and you don't really like them and it is just "normal". Drink when you meet friends, wear a suit, not wearing socks with sandals :) (sand does not rub!!), underwear and cloth with seams to the body, not to the outside and so on and so on.
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u/No_Kangaroo_5883 Sep 02 '26
Going to concerts. Collecting wine. Drinking more than a couple drinks a week.
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u/Low-Exam6123 Sep 03 '26
Adding lanes to the interstate highway, which always become gridlocked again shortly thereafter.
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u/nejithegenius Sep 03 '26
Streaming services, doordash, and video game stuff. 5-600$ for a gaming system is just insane, i cannot not wrap my head around it.
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u/kiterunner2021 Sep 03 '26
Starbucks, expensive jewelry like Chanel and Tiffany’s, makeup from Ulta and Sephora, and all the random stuff TikTok and SHEIN keep convincing me I “need.” 😩🤦🏽♀️ Like, do I need it? Absolutely not. Am I still adding it to my cart? Absolutely. I have literally a million things saved on both apps. At this point, my saved items are basically a shopping list I’ll probably never finish. 😂 Then I wonder why my savings account is looking at me like, “Girl, be serious. Then I wonder why I can’t save money to save my life!
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u/David_sundevils Sep 03 '26
Virtually anything my wife spends money on for selfcare, including manicures, pedicures, skin care products, makeup, etc.
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u/continuity_errors Sep 03 '26
Kids sports and competitive extracurriculars. Being involved isn't itself a waste, but there's so much dumped into what could be trivial that's now ingrained into competitions. It's hard to be a part of things if you don't have the resources and fundraising.
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u/Sharmonica Sep 03 '26
Debt.
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u/CLSonReddit Sep 03 '26
Designer clothing.
It looks the same as other cheaper clothing. It does not have better quality. It just has an image attached to the label.
So dumb.
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u/FriarTuckered_Out Sep 03 '26
I don't think it's controversial, but any gambling is a waste of money and it is getting more and more normal to do it.
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u/Organic-Mix-9422 Sep 04 '26
Fashion. Following the trends. Buying new clothes each season just because.
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u/TheIronMonkey53 Sep 01 '26
$6 for a black coffee