People often spend money to signal a life they do not enjoy living.

A surprising share of spending is addressed to an audience rather than to your own experience. The house that impresses and exhausts, the car nobody sees you enjoy, the holiday photographed more than felt. The purchase communicates something about who you are, and the daily reality of it is a separate matter that nobody checks.

Go through your largest recurring costs and mark which ones improve an ordinary Tuesday. The ones that do not are paying for a picture. You may keep some of them, but at least know which is which.