Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I used to go to Starbucks every afternoon on my way from work to pick up the kids at the preschool- I was exhausted and needed it to get through the afternoon/evening with toddlers. I didn't care how much it was.... Now that kids are older, I get a Starbucks maybe once a week.
You did not "need" to do this. Put coffee from work in a thermos, drink on the ride home. Or set up home coffee in morning, hit start at home.
Correct- there is very little that I actually "need", so please put "wanted" in for the word needed. I wanted the coffee and felt the cost was worth it.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I used to go to Starbucks every afternoon on my way from work to pick up the kids at the preschool- I was exhausted and needed it to get through the afternoon/evening with toddlers. I didn't care how much it was.... Now that kids are older, I get a Starbucks maybe once a week.
You did not "need" to do this. Put coffee from work in a thermos, drink on the ride home. Or set up home coffee in morning, hit start at home.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"You can't latte yourself to bankruptcy. The bladder won't stand for it" - Katie Porter in Helaine Olen's Pound Foolish
I'm generally a pretty frugal person and avoid unnecessary expenses, including Starbucks. But I can't be too judgmental on those who choose to indulge. If your morning latte is the thing that gets you through the day, or one of the few things you reliably enjoy and look forward to, I don't think it's nearly as destructive as some people imply.
Let's say you spend $5 at Starbucks every day of the year. That's $5x365, or about $1,800 per year, or about $1,300 if you only go on weekdays. I don't want to imply that's a trivial amount of money. But it's not going to make or break your household finances. It's the big lifestyle decisions - car, houses, vacations, schools - that determine your big picture finances. Latte's aren't quite small enough to be dismissed as a rounding error, but they're definitely at the margins of your financial health.
Two issues with this:
1. Anyone who spends $1,800 a year on crappy coffee is probably throwing money away on other pointless extravagances.
2. $1,800 a year *is* a lot of money when you think about the opportunity cost. It's a good chunk of an extra mortgage payment, a pretty nice vacation, or a meaningful contribution toward college/retirement. Versus time lost standing in line and a whole lot of pee.
Anonymous wrote:"You can't latte yourself to bankruptcy. The bladder won't stand for it" - Katie Porter in Helaine Olen's Pound Foolish
I'm generally a pretty frugal person and avoid unnecessary expenses, including Starbucks. But I can't be too judgmental on those who choose to indulge. If your morning latte is the thing that gets you through the day, or one of the few things you reliably enjoy and look forward to, I don't think it's nearly as destructive as some people imply.
Let's say you spend $5 at Starbucks every day of the year. That's $5x365, or about $1,800 per year, or about $1,300 if you only go on weekdays. I don't want to imply that's a trivial amount of money. But it's not going to make or break your household finances. It's the big lifestyle decisions - car, houses, vacations, schools - that determine your big picture finances. Latte's aren't quite small enough to be dismissed as a rounding error, but they're definitely at the margins of your financial health.
Anonymous wrote:I used to go to Starbucks every afternoon on my way from work to pick up the kids at the preschool- I was exhausted and needed it to get through the afternoon/evening with toddlers. I didn't care how much it was.... Now that kids are older, I get a Starbucks maybe once a week.
Google espresso machines. Most of them will have milk steamer for lattes.Anonymous wrote:Ugh- I do both. I used to get Starbucks 2-3x/wk but now it's turned into a 7 day habitI am pregnant and something about their lattes just settles my stomach and my whole day is thrown off if I don't have one before I eat breakfast. Is there a way to make lattes at home?
I am pregnant and something about their lattes just settles my stomach and my whole day is thrown off if I don't have one before I eat breakfast. Is there a way to make lattes at home?