One might argue that by spending money on concerts, nights out and dating you buy more damage to your health and well being than benefit.
You can have friends without money. And you can keep healthy for free.
We're social animals.
For a minority of people that's not the case and keeping up with relationships is a chore - even then, keeping some friends can be desirable, given we anyway live in a society of other human being.
In both cases, generally you spend more money with friends, for one reason or another.
Most people want to date and find a spouse. Most people want friend groups they have a connection to. Most people want hobbies that are interesting and fulfilling.
Being healthy is not free. Socializing, reasonable physical fitness, food variety.
Sure you could live in the mountains socializing with squirrels and doing pushups all day which would save you a lot of money - but it would not be the life most people want.
Hiking, cooking together, playing board games, card games, playing music together, exploring, and just talking are all inexpensive or free. The most interesting people I've known in my life focused on those things anyway.
But more importantly they require time away from working/studying/optimizing for bank account balance.
Of course if you value your time more than what your employer is paying you then you either need to leave your current job or rethink what's the value of your time.
There's many different kinds of people on this site.
Again, this is more about choice rather than necessity. Carries a different vibe if you're trying to do whatever you can reasonably afford, and that may mean not spending anything extra. Good friends will accommodate, but if it's obvious you're making over 100k a year (without significant dependents etc.) and won't split gas, well that doesn't lend itself well to collaborative fun times.
Edit: Also, I don't mean to suggest saving money in general is inherently bad. Obviously not. But you need to be able to find that balance. I personally tend to place higher value on the chance to hang out or have a drink than having 20 more dollars in the bank. But many drinks over many weekends maybe not as much.
You don’t need to spend a huge amount on social stuff, but if you are only willing to do completely free activities, you are vastly limiting your social circle.
If all the activities were costly, and I didn't put effort in to do other cheaper/free stuff to socialize with you, then I'd be the asshole.