At this point the position of the spendthrift in the instrumental nexus becomes clear. The goal of enjoying the possession of an object is preceded by two steps—first, the possession of money and, second, the expenditure of money for the desired object. For the miser, the first of these grows to be a pleasurable end in itself; for the spendthrift, the second. Money is almost as important to the spendthrift as to the miser, only not in the form of possessing it, but in its expenditure.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 456