Idea: Cost/benefit analysis can be misleading. Being frugal is HABIT/SKILL. Don't discount leisure.

Suppose you are well-off. You can overpay for small things and not really feel the effects. Your time might be valuable. Suppose you earn $100,000 per year so your time is essentially worth $50 per hour.

By this logic, basic cost-benefit analysis says you should NOT be willing to spend an extra hour to save anything less than $50. Right?

Wrong.

Why? I may not be able to articulate this well, since my intuition precedes my logic. But it's something like this:

(1) If you derive some leisure from spending that extra hour, then it's not really costing you $50. An example might be driving to your favorite local bookstore (time cost: 30 minutes) to purchase a used book for $5 versus ordering it online for $10. While cost-benefit analysis says you are a fool who just netted negative $20, in reality you saved $5 and enjoyed a leisurely trip to the bookstore.

(2) Every time you practice being frugal, your frugal muscle gets a bit stronger. You train yourself to be creative and seek ways to be frugal. Every time you choose the frugal path, the next time you must make a decision, the frugal option will pop into your head automatically. It's a habit. With practice, it eventually becomes an auto-pilot. You're saving money everywhere without even thinking about it.

(3) Building on #2, luxuries are also a HABIT, or more specifically, an ADDICTION. Suppose you've become accustomed to grabbing that $5 latte in the morning on the way to work. Or that $10 lunch. You might think about cutting it, but it hurts too much. The psychic pain of losing that convenience or that luxury hurts more than the monetary cost. So you keep the habit. But remember, it's a HABIT. It might hurt in the short run, but after a week or two you'll be over it. Your cravings will go away. Who knows, maybe after the first time you deprive yourself of something, you realize it's not so bad. Now you actually feel stronger and calmer because your brain is no longer distracted by needing something just to function.

It helps to have good role models. I was reading a historical fiction series involving an ancient military campaign. The assigned general was a soft, spoiled aristocrat who makes a total fool of himself during the campaign by hauling around all his luxuries. He squanders precious resources, notably time, in the process. The situation devolves so atrociously that his second-in-command, a chiseled veteran, has to confront him and basically tell him that he has to fix his habits or the army will mutiny. The man is so embarrassing, the reader is inspired to never be like that. Cut the fat, eliminate the needless, and get on with the important business. Heavy crossover with r/minimalism

Cheers