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4 to 5 times dining out with the family at $25 per head: $400.

A latte for 2 at Starbucks every day + the occasional croissant: $400.

Sponsored lunch at work for 2 during the week at $7 per: $300.

With the remaining $1000, you still need to cover breakfast every day and evening dinner for a family of 4.

You don't need to eat out at a fancy place twice a day to get there at all.

Eating out 5 times a month is a luxury though. Buying coffee out *every day" is also a luxury lifestyle choice. It seems pretty callous to describe that as living paycheck to paycheck; especially given the kind of budgeting some people do.

Sure, but it's not nearly as extravagant as "they are probably eating out twice a day at that rate" (if you don't count lunch at the restaurant at work as "eating out".)

It's a pretty normal behavior for an upper middle class family.

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