Comments on: When the Latte Factor doesn’t work

By: Future Money-Bags

Future Money-Bags — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:39:09 +0000

This is a very interesting factor which kind of annoys me and is helpful. Myself being a non-smoker, I cut down my co-workers smoke breaks like no other. Only after you have worked your ass off, can you go and relax outside for a smoke; albeit while everyone else continues to work.
I am very frugal and do not spend on things that are a waste. Now keeping that in mind, sharing a coffee in a business perspective can be very beneficial. I also dont go out to bars to drink, I prefer to drink at home.
But using 1 example from 2 days ago:

A friend was in town for a few days, and I only had a few hours to see him. I said lets go get a few beers and catch up on all times. This is against what I usually do but I did it to be able to openly share with this old friend, and be more comfortable.
We ended up talking for almost 2 hours about my new business and his business and it was very worthwhile! worth the $15? Definitely.

In conclusion, if you can make the ‘latte factor’ worthwhile, than it is a worthy investment in its own. If its not worthwhile, stick that money: ($4/day, $20/week, $75/month) into a mutual fund and watch it grow long-term. (and yes for more than a 5% gain)

By: zud

zud — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:52:16 +0000

so if you’re drinking coffee with friends its ok… if you’re drinking it alone then it’s not ok?

so the money that you’d save by not having the latte goes into the bank or investment vehicle and then what? you either spend it later or you die with it in the bank.

when you spend it later i guess the assumption is that the money has now grown and not only can you have a latte but you can have a cookie too!

personally i’d rather had steady consumption now, rather and over consumption in the future.

By: Work From Home Indiana

Work From Home Indiana — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:27:50 +0000

I actually tried that once. For one month I was making my own coffee in the morning, I was bringing my own lunch to work and I reduced smoking. I saved about 150 euros that month. It’s a shame when people say that they don’t have enough money for their children but they always find money for pack of smokes or other things that are not so necessary!

By: A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com

A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:25:34 +0000

[...] Thicken My Wallet explains why the Latte Factor doesn’t work. [...]

By: Lulu

Lulu — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:56:58 +0000

I think another area where the latte factor fails is when he gives what the money would grow to if invest it at 5% or 7%…when we all know that you don’t get those rates unless you have thousands of dollars to invest NOT the few hundreds you may save from curbing your spending.

I have a sort of latte factor fund in my savings where I put a tiny amount of money every month but if I want to get something frivolous as long as that account has a balance then I do not worry about it.

By: Riscario Insider | @riscario

Riscario Insider | @riscario — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:17:18 +0000

I first heard of the latte factor live from David Bach.

He pointed out that we can easily ignore small expenses without realizing they add up to big dollars that we’d be wise to invest. He gave the example of a coffee on the way to work, a mid-morning snack and eating out at lunch. The expenses add up. Instead, we could make coffee at home (even a gourmet brand), bring fruit for the snack and bring our own healthy lunch. Savings without deprivation.

The occasional latte, cappuccino or hot chocolate is fine. From a business perspective “meeting over coffee” is cheaper than having lunch.

By: venter

venter — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:17:42 +0000

I don’t think the point of the “Latte Factor” is to never spend an extra penny on things like coffee. Go with the boss for a cup of joe once in a while if you think it will help your career. If you are going to Starbucks twice a day and spending $5 bucks a pop or buying your lunch 5 days a week at $8 a day, but can’t find $100 bucks a month to put in your kids RESP, you might consider giving up the lattes and lunches, except for “special” occasions like sucking up to the boss or co-worker birthdays etc.

By: 2 Cents @ Balance Junkie

2 Cents @ Balance Junkie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:27:24 +0000

That cup of coffee really can pay dividends. The idea of marketing yourself made me think of a recent post on Darwin’s Finance where he asked whether it was easier for extroverts to get ahead because they are more outgoing than introverts. An introvert might be perfectly willing to spend on the coffee, but unable to commit to the social investment it would necessitate.