> I realize I waste a lot of time in the supermarket comparing prices,

Interesting, I've always hated shopping for food, but I happily waste money on takeaways/restaurants. I think for me it is more about food waste and the mental energy wasted planning all my ingredients to make sure nothing goes to waste rather than saving money. I spend money now to not have to worry about it as much.

> I'm afraid to make investments fearing that the market crash or something like that would erase them leaving me vulnerable to being homeless or dependent on doing jobs I hate.

Yeah, I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to investments, which is screwing me right now with inflation as high as it is :(.