Interesting article. Regarding your friend, he could simply have decided that spending on a drink out wasn't worth the cost.

As for the rest, I completely agree that it's important to not overspend on homes or cars. To avoid any "hidden costs" on cars, you can look at the full cost of ownership at e.g. Edmunds.com.

Regarding the mortgage interest, you should look at the inflation-adjusted cost, and subtract any tax benefit. At the moment, with inflation over 8%, fixed mortgages at 3% are actually letting you "earn" money, since as time passes the purchasing power of the money you owe decreases much faster than interest adds to it.

I don't know where you get the "80% of college degrees" stat. Certainly, if you get a degree that doesn't help you earn more (whether directly or indirectly), and especially if you borrowed to get the degree, that's a huge problem.

Saying that Bitcoin and Etherum are "real assets" is questionable IMHO. The whole crypto craze may well turn out to be a huge bubble where your ability to get a positive return rests entirely on finding a greater fool who'll pay you more than you paid.

Finally, guns?! Sure, a gun is technically an asset since you can potentially sell it for money, but I'd hardly class it with stocks or real estate.