I actually read something about this a while back, how those cheap scented candles can put off stuff that's bad for plants, like the fumes coat the leaves and mess with the pores they breathe through. So it's not even about the smell covering anything up, the wax and smoke itself can choke a plant out over time. Fourteen candles under a sink is a lot too, that's not masking a smell, that's a full on fog machine running daily. Your basil probably never had a chance with that much junk floating around in a small space. I wouldn't call it straight up sabotage but it's for sure them not thinking past their own nose.

The thing nobody talks about with these little swaps is what happens to the money you don't spend on the thing you cut. Like yeah, the ham sandwich saved you $55 a week, but if that cash just sits in checking next to your normal spending, it blends in and gets eaten by other stuff. What worked for me was moving the exact amount I would've spent to a separate savings account the same day, so a $9 lunch became a $9 transfer. Watching that stack up is weirdly addictive in a way the lunch never was. The habit only moves the needle if the money actually lands somewhere you can't touch it.