Not all spending on non-necessities is detrimental to financial wellbeing and long or short-term personal gain. There is a misconception which can be avoided here: all spending that is not vital to strictly survive or to take care of major issues like medical expenses that can directly impact the quality of basic survival is irrational or dangerous, according to some people. This is easily proven false. Perhaps using money to buy a preferred kind of food or a new video game or clothing, even when it means cutting into savings or not saving as much, can be liberating and inspiring enough to keep someone afloat when they truly need an encouraging distraction or reward for persisting in trials, whether or a financial kind or not.
Sometimes spending some money on one or a handful of occasions, even though it is not spent on something that is in itself absolutely vital for survival or a comfortable existence, can actually bring enough relief to make a person lose the desire to spend even more money later on, thereby giving them greater future security and resolve to commit to longer-term flourishing. In other words, making some unnecessary purchases can actually deter more unnecessary purchases in the long term as well as make it easier to endure the short term difficulties of life. Not all spending is hurtful to a person's overall well-being, even if they are captives of poverty. Some of it can help sustain a person's spirits long enough to improve or outlast crushing circumstances.
On the contrary, survival alone is an utterly pathetic goal to strive for on its own. Even on a personal level as opposed to a moral and rationalistic level, the pointlessness and gratuitous monotony of mere survival would likely drive almost anyone who directly confronted it to hopelessness. Using some money, when possible and with full awareness of how much it would deduct from the remaining pool of spending or saving money, can avoid this kind of existential burnout to varying extents. Those who are not rich are thus not necessarily irrational to expend some financial resources on somewhat unnecessary things even when they are not in an ideal monetary situation. Rather, they can preserve or hold up their mental health and resolve through this.
There are scenarios where even this kind of spending is temporarily unhelpful despite its intentions, though. While facing major necessary expenses, such as significant health or safety-related ones, it would not be the most beneficial way to spend money when there is less that can be spared. It is far more helpful to just postpone unneeded purchases until after the looming, major expenses pass. It is just that this strategy of sometimes spending money to find the motivation to save can be extremely useful in navigating poverty or even adjusting to a lower amount of money than one is accustomed to. This can minimize or escape feeling trapped in a seemingly hopeless monetary drought.
The poor or those experiencing enduring harsher financial circumstances are certainly able to periodically, almost randomly spend money that is not being taken away from immediately pressing necessities without dooming themselves to a life without a more secure financial future. In reality, this very thing could help them find the will to press on despite the many trials of life that can so easily take the form of difficulties with having enough money to live comfortably. The future can both seem or literally be brighter because of this occasional willingness to invest money in various unnecessary but life-giving belongings, experiences, or gifts (to others or oneself) that remind one of the subjective joys and objective truths that can motivate a person to weather the numerous trials of human existence.
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