This is my last item for it is the smallest but also symbolic for I love hot chocolate and I do not drink coffee.

They are insisting on spending $8.50 for a hot chocolate at Serendipity. For full disclosure I've actually been in that place before several times and it's quite good but indeed overpriced.  Took a couple of dates there after going out, nice way to end the evening before either going home together or separately.  I also haven't been there in a while which means that now that it brings back memories, I'll have to stop by.  Hey I have a "friend" nearby and I'm quite familiar with this neighborhood and have been for a very long time.

Going to Serendipity shouldn't be a daily occurrence. If you need to save money, you cut back.  Maybe you get the fancy hot chocolate twice a month.  If you are a hot chocolate drinker and want to save money, go to the supermarket and make your own in the morning.  (I still have a few Swiss Miss left so when I run out I'll get myself another 30)  Heck I can even add my own flavorings or marshmallows for them. 

If I need to "indulge" I can go to Starbucks and overpay for a $3 hot chocolate.  If things are really tight, it's Swiss Miss and I make it myself.  If I truly have extra money and I lived near Serendipity, I'd splurge once in a while.

But if money is going to be so tight for these Wall Street types, they'll have to learn to do without the daily hot chocolate.  They'll have to learn to live on "only" $500,000 a year.