From the 1970’s people of the world have encountered fads that affected their budgets. In the 1970’s and 1980’s staying in communication was a big cost. Phone calls could ruin the best planned budgets. I remember trying to make a call home from Japan in 1983, the rate was $1.35 per minute. The 1990’s ushered in video games that were sometimes played on handheld units. Gaming was an expensive hobby (still is today) and Americans arranged their budgets to support “gaming”. The 2000’s has seen the explosion of laptops and smart phones. These units are wonderful and provide many hours of entertainment and productivity. When the iPhone first appeared January 9, 2007 it had “apps” on the phone. Apple also had an apps store with most of the apps being free. Things have changed slowly, and now in 2021 we find very few full functioning free apps. Ads state this app is only $4.99 per month, the cost of one Starbuck’s coffee. Yet, these apps and their monthly charges add up quickly. We also have apps on our televisions, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max and even ESPN+ has joined the fray. Paying for apps $4.99 per month (sometimes more) is a brilliant marketing scheme. I encourage you to look at your budget and calculate how much money is being spent on digital entertainment. You could be losing a part of your future retirement one app at a time.