That was the title from a WSJ article earlier this week, and I am sympathetic to the fact that Taylor Swift concert tickets are exorbitantly high, Disney is more expensive than it used to be, and a San Diego Zoo membership ain’t cheap.
But of course, it has to be said that these are not the only ways to have fun. You can go see great concerts, and visit wonderful parks, and even go to the zoo without being obligated to participate in the most popular and expensive versions of those things.
There is a financial muscle to exercise here, one that enables us to withdraw somewhat from the consumerization of quality time, so that we can see more clearly that such time is not denominated in dollars. Sure, we can and often will spend money to make memories with friends and family, but we don’t have to mindlessly do that in the most commonly hyped ways.
What if we set the baseline at “I can always have fun for free if I choose” and then work from there in terms of dollars spent, rather than starting from “I have to see Taylor Swift to have fun” and have nowhere to go from there?
Meaningful Returns 