'Screw This Economy'—A Worker Says They're 'Finally Too Broke For Boba And Coffee.' With Tips, It Hit $20—More Than Their Hourly Wage

A boba tea and a cookie used to be a small weekly treat. Now, for one worker, it’s become a financial breaking point.

“I went and got a cookie and a boba from my favorite shop. After a tip it was $20. That's more than I make in an hour,” wrote a Reddit user in a post on r/povertyfinance. “I just couldn't stop thinking about how many home-cooked meals that $20 was worth.”

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The post titled, “Finally too broke for boba and coffee,” quickly resonated, getting over 2,600 upvotes and sparking hundreds of comments from people facing similar budget stress.

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‘Too Broke For This'

The poster said they used to get fancy coffee once a week but have now stopped. “I think I'm going to replace special outing with going to my local Indian grocery store instead. I can make so much curry for $20,” they wrote. “Screw this economy.”

Many in the comments agreed.

“Every time I’m about to eat out, I think to myself ‘I can make 3 meals at home for this $15,'” wrote one person. Another added, “8-10 dollars is like two dinners at home for two people.”

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The Tip Debate

While many understood the frustration, some questioned the decision to tip at all.

“You do not need to tip at counter service food establishments,” one commenter said. Another added, “Why are you complaining about the price including the tip, when the tip was you actively choosing to pay extra?”

But OP stood firm: “I always tip. I don’t know if I can't tip for something that's my special treat, it ruins it. Because baristas and retail workers work hard and they do deserve a tip for the low wage in my opinion.” Their comment got heavily downvoted.

Others pushed back gently, arguing that tipping props up a broken system. “You’re unintentionally supporting the tipping culture that allows companies to underpay their employees by passing that cost onto customers,” one said.

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Bigger Picture

What started as a post about boba turned into a broader commentary on the economy. OP summed it up: “It is hard to justify paying so much for a liquid. It's wild that prices are so high right now, and it looks like they are probably never going down.”

Some looked even further ahead. One commenter warned, “Wait until the coming years of this economy… Check back in 2032. Seven years from now. Everyday costs of groceries, houses, the stock market will all have doubled again.”

The mood was captured by another user who simply wrote, “Buckle in. Only going to get worse.”

For many, even small pleasures now come with financial guilt. “We can all be our own barista,” OP joked in one comment. But behind the humor was a shared frustration: working full time still doesn't make small luxuries like a $20 drink feel affordable.

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