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Buy Yourself a Latte

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Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#101

Post by [deleted] »

parthdesai wrote: post #93
falcolas wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salaried vs hourly doesn't matter that much when looking at opportunity costs. Most salaried folks stick to a fixed set of working hours. > It is a pure luxury expense. Practically speaking, purchasing coffee at all is a luxury line item. There's no actual need for it for anything other than the caffeine hit and flavor. At least with a Latte, there's the protein, calcium and calories from the milk.

>Most salaried folks stick to a fixed set of working hours. We also browse internet, spend ungodly amount of time on fb/insta/whatsapp/HN/reddit while at work. Taking out 5 mins to make a coffee isn't that significant.

[deleted]

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#102

Post by kemitche »

devoply wrote: post #94
biesnecker wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read this very differently -- if $5/day makes up a significant portion of your safety net spending, then you have much larger problems than the $5 delta your latte is causing. It's not that $5/day doesn't matter to anyone, it's that the people for whom it matters are facing much larger systemic issues that we're ignoring while shaming people for the smallest of luxuries. edit: missing word

If you are 20 years old and you start putting away $5/day and have 500k in the bank at 60. Who can argue with that. In fact they should pass a law to make this mandatory on everyone. It would greatly improve the lives of literally everyone.

What do you think Social Security is?

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#103

Post by ssalazar »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #27

Counterpoint: The debate is framed as "$5 a day is a waste--put it into your piggy bank every day and drink office sludge instead". I instead say that yes, the office coffee still tastes like fertilizer, but I still think $5 a day for a latte is waste because I can make some excellent coffee at my desk for about a dollar a day using an inexpensive French Press, a hand-grinder (or grinding the beans that morning at ho…

Maybe for some, but French press != espresso drinks; a really well-made cappuccino or latte is something that requires equipment and attention to detail that isn't practical for small office use.

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#104

Post by epscoe »

What I don't see mentioned in the article or comments is the fact that the latte isn't the only $5 decision we make every day. We can choose not to buy the latte, and to pack our own lunch, and to choose cheaper veg instead of meats at the grocery store, and on and on. Frequently it's multiple smaller choices that add up to noticeable benefit, even when a single latte or lunch out won't break the bank.

(of course there are frequently good reasons to buy things, particularly when there's a social component -- e.g. as a byproduct of spending time with people, as an informal break with coworkers)

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#105

Post by TomVDB »

droithomme wrote: post #97

When I was younger I walked to work in the big city and there was a great coffee shop on the way and every single day I bought a $4 extra large soy chai latte. It was fantastic and an exclusive secret recipe to that non-chain shop. Back then a normal coffee cost $1, so this was a splurge. Inflation adjusted that would be $6-7 these days. I regret nothing, though I did feel uncomfortable sometimes spending so much. My…

You can't just write this and then not post a link to the secret recipe!

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#106

Post by devoply »

lixtra wrote: post #98
devoply wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are 20 years old and you start putting away $5/day and have 500k in the bank at 60. Who can argue with that. In fact they should pass a law to make this mandatory on everyone. It would greatly improve the lives of literally everyone.

If you’re not free to spend the money in the bank then you don’t really own it.

And so what? That's 1800 tax on you per year. Say it was charged as something like a tax. Nothing that most people in the Western world would be effected significantly by.

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#107

Post by bluedino »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #82
ineedasername wrote: post #46

If part of your audience consists of people living without much a safety net, that $5 a day adds up. Also, the author's point that saving that much isn't going to be $1 million, but "only" as much as $500,000 then that point rather falls flat. Sure, inflation may decrease the utility of that amount of money, but it will also increase the cost of that latte, so you'll be saving more than just the $5 over time. Finally…

It is an interesting phenomena, because it's a relatively expensive product for what it is, but it's also an experience. Even though my wife and I do quite well financially (and save plenty for ourselves, our kids college, etc), I noticed we were spending "too much" on espressos and lattes. Not too much for our financial situation, but too much for my comfort level at least. So, we bought a $600 espresso machine, whi…

I could drink coffee/tea at home - but I use going to get a drink as an excuse for getting out of the house for a bit.

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#108

Post by 8ytecoder »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #27

Counterpoint: The debate is framed as "$5 a day is a waste--put it into your piggy bank every day and drink office sludge instead". I instead say that yes, the office coffee still tastes like fertilizer, but I still think $5 a day for a latte is waste because I can make some excellent coffee at my desk for about a dollar a day using an inexpensive French Press, a hand-grinder (or grinding the beans that morning at ho…

I have an aeropress and use a grinder and buy "hipster" coffee shop beans. I use a french press to make the froth. I love the latte I make. However, I still spend an awful lot on lattes. 1) I like variety 2) It's not practical to this at the office kitchen and office coffee sucks. 3) I like getting out of the office and for some reason "getting coffee" is an easy way for me to that.

Also, on the broader point - savings do matter. It's like trying to lose weight. You can't lose weight by simply working out and not making any changes to the diet. However, having to control all these impulses and every little temptation, is taxing on the brain. I can only speak for myself here, it affects my cognition. I can splurge a bit and free up my mind to focus on the things that matter more. It's taxing to always stay in control and trying to optimize every single thing.

Re: Buy Yourself a Latte

#110

Post by DrSayre »

deadmetheny wrote: post #77
DrSayre wrote: post #35

I wonder if the author would be ok if people spend $1 on a coffee a day from McDonalds or a gas station and save the other $4? I always hate how people always jump to "but inflation..." or "12% is not realistic...". Ok, maybe 12% isn't reasonable and $1M won't be as much decades from now. But having $500k or $750k or however much you end up saving by saving a few bucks each day could still be a pretty good chunk of c…

>millennials better start thinking about how they can retire as soon as possible Most millennials have been blackpilled to the point of just accepting that the way things are currently going means we'll never be able to afford to retire.

yep, I agree with that. Which is why Im not crazy about people (like this author) who is discouraging millennials from even getting started. If you're in college, or just out of college, you have decades to figure out how to be able to retire. There's no need to just accept whatever happens, or to just assume people will figure out how to fund Social Security between now and then.
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