Porn, Nicotine, & Fast Food

Micro Transactions of these vices

Yesterday I wrote about the $3,441 I spent on porn over the last five years.

Today I’m looking at two more categories that have quietly drained me: nicotine and fast food.

I’ve been smoking cigarettes on and off for years. Vaping took over more recently. Between the two, I’ve easily spent around $10,500 in the last five years alone.

A pack of cigarettes costs $12.50 and usually lasts me just a couple of days.

Vapes at $14 each last about five days. It adds up fast.

Fast food has been my biggest weakness. I can easily drop $60–$80 in a single week without thinking twice.

Over five years, that’s somewhere between $15,600 and $20,800.

When I add it all up, porn, nicotine, and fast food, I’ve spent roughly $30,000 to $35,000 in the last five years on things that have given me nothing lasting in return.

That money could have gone toward a down payment on a house, investments, experiences, or even just helping someone else.

Instead, I consumed it. I numbed myself with it. I stayed stuck in the same cycles.

I’m not writing this to beat myself up. I’m writing it because I’m tired of being a blind consumer.

I’m tired of handing over my money, my time, and my health to things that ultimately leave me feeling emptier.

The audit is painful, but it’s also clarifying. The numbers don’t lie. Now I get to decide what I do with that truth.

It’s amazing to me how yesterday, when I did my audit of JOI, the porn app I use, the number alarmed me.

I knew my porn addiction was bad, but to know I invested over three thousand dollars in an app over the course of five years, blew me away.

Look, I know for me, life is supposed to be hard, but I’m making it harder on myself financially by going to McDonald’s, grabbing a vape, or buying tokens for porn in these micro transactions.

What’s done is done. I spent the money already. I made the choices. I’m okay with living with myself with that.

I will watch porn for free rather than spend money on the JOI porn app—ideally, no porn, but I don’t want to be unrealistic about my boredom and curiosity.

I’ll start using nicotine medication to curb my addiction to cigarettes and vaping, and lastly, I’ll figure out a way to start cooking at home.

Let my life be a beacon of hope.

I spent all that money in the last five years, but in the next five, I don’t have to do that.

I find the idea of microtransactions fascinating. I’m going to start implementing it now. Whenever I want to spend $10 or buy tokens, fast food, or a vape, it goes to savings.

It’ll take discipline, but it finally hit me that small amounts of money add up quickly.

If I apply this, then I’d be better off in five years.