... I still struggle to understand why he recommended it to me, yet never embraced it himself. I just think it was mainly laziness on his part. ...
Isn´t it possible that your friend simply didn´t had the money to buy
BTC even when the Bitcoin price was low? I guess a few people that believed
in Bitcoin simply missed out due to not being liquid enough to invest.
I´m not sure from which country you are, but even in a wealthy country
like the US the average person is not exactly having a lot of money
that is available for investment.
63% Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover A $500 EmergencyMaybe you should reconsider and gift him a few mBTC

Yes. One of the first things that folks have to learn to do is to attempt to live within their means, and if they have a lifestyle that causes them to spend more than they bring in, then they gots themselves problems.
Once they figure out how to live within their means, then they can take some of that extra money and put it into bitcoin. Whether it is $20 per month or $100 per month or some other amount that works for them, and they also should have enough of a dollar stash (or otherwise liquifiable assets), that they do not have draw from their bitcoin funds in case of an emergency - and emergencies happen, they should be part of every person's expected budget.,, planning ahead for six months can be good enough for regular peeps, but if you finances are more complicated and you have businesses that you have to cashflow, too, then you may want to budget in the 18 month territory (I'm currently floating in the 12 -18 month territory for my budgeting ahead). Also, if you have some BIG expenses that are not reoccurring, but are projected out beyond 18month, then you minimally should be projecting your cashflow out until the time that payments on the BIG expenses are expected to hit you.