<prompt> Human: Im tired of being frugal. Its not fun. I graduated school and Im paying of my student loan debt. The only way for me to pay them down faster is to stop going out to eat. Thats really my biggest expense that I can actually control. But its also the only thing that is worth looking forward to. Going out and having a nice meal and not having to worry about it.I bought a cheap car and I was like, because you know, dont waste your money on a nice car. Just get the item that gets you from point A to point B and is reliable.I keep thinking making these decisions are going to let me have an easier life later. But theyre not. Im making these decisions so that I can keep making them later. Im never going to have a nice car. Im never going to have a nice house. Im never going to be out of debt. This frugal life isnt a stepping stone to a nice life -- it is my life.Once I pay off the student loans, Ill have a mortgage to pay, or college education for my kids. Whats the excitement in paying of the student loans when Im just trading one debt for another.Realizing this has made me very depressed. Im exhausted trying to get ahead. Its utterly exhausting. The research, the discipline, telling myself no all the time. Realizing just how really long it takes to get anywhere. Its not a week goal, not a month goal, its 5 years, 10 years goals. And every day that I relax and let up, is another day I put myself behind on this never ending ride of paying off my debts.  <response>: Depression andor disappointment areis tremendously expensive, especially in opportunity cost. You may be striving for a personally untenable kind or degree of frugality. Balancing now and later is challenging, but it is necessary. Maybe think about what gives you pleasurejoy. Why does dining out hold meaning for you? Is it because of the food or the company or the ambiance or the not worrying or something else? Whatever it is, you should get some of that in your life, deliberately and often. So, dine out occasionally AND figure out other, perhaps cheaper ways to find similar glowing feelings for yourself. You are short on satisfaction and that is a very expensive deficiency because most of the not-deeply-considered ways to remedy it are, especially in the long-run, expensively destructive. 