latte factor

[~bs]

some starbucks drinks range up to $5. I guess it isn't too bad if you consider it a meal replacement due to all the empty sugars and fat in the drinks. lol

[msomnipotent]

I realize that smoking is an addiction and isn't so simple to give up like a daily coffee is but....

I saw a patient who told me he ran out of his blood pressure medicine 2 weeks ago because he hasn't had the money to get the refill. But he smokes a pack a day. So somehow he can afford that but not his medicine. There's a guy for whom the latte factor is huge. Even cutting back to half a pack a day would free up $120/month at $8/pack. That would cover his BP med for a year.

This is why I can't be a doctor. I would have punched him in the face if he told me that.

[disneysteve]

This is why I can't be a doctor. I would have punched him in the face if he told me that.

Yeah, they frown upon that. Also not acceptable is slapping, strangling, or otherwise pointing out blatant stupidity.

[Captain Save]

I don't think cutting out on small little expenses will do much damage mathematically.. but I think usually people who do that .. change their mindsets about savings.. which also change their whole financial outlook.. you start paying attention to everything that has to do with money.. even how traveling somewhere and spending time doing unproductive things could have a negative affect on your financial standing.

[JoeP]

I've found that the best way to handle withdrawal is to never get started. Several families we know have $200+ cable bills, and justify it by saying they are bundle (phone+cable+internet) packages that would be more separately, or that they need ESPN, or that they paid "only" $99 but then had their rate jacked up and are powerless until the contract is up at which time they'll renegotiate. Some even say that the price of going out to movies exceed what they pay over the course of a year.

These are very weak arguments. Now I understand that people are free to spend their money however they would like, and that there are businesses created to help facilitate the separation of money from people. The issue I see is that it has become very easy to spend and not feel it, and it is very easy to become complacent with respect to finances.

A good example of this is electronic bill payment. It used to be that people received a paper bill in the mail, studied the charges for correctness, and then physically wrote a check (first confirming enough was in checking by using your freshly reconciled checkbook register), and then mailed it. Now we have auto-payment set up, which says, "Just charge my card whatever you determine we owe you."

So bottom line: it is far too easy to satisfy wants, without feeling the impact. Like an injury, if you mask the pain, you could be doing preventable damage that won't be discovered until it is too late.

[bjl584]

I've found that the best way to handle withdrawal is to never get started. Several families we know have $200+ cable bills, and justify it by saying they are bundle (phone+cable+internet) packages that would be more separately, or that they need ESPN, or that they paid "only" $99 but then had their rate jacked up and are powerless until the contract is up at which time they'll renegotiate. Some even say that the price of going out to movies exceed what they pay over the course of a year.

These are very weak arguments. Now I understand that people are free to spend their money however they would like, and that there are businesses created to help facilitate the separation of money from people. The issue I see is that it has become very easy to spend and not feel it, and it is very easy to become complacent with respect to finances.

A good example of this is electronic bill payment. It used to be that people received a paper bill in the mail, studied the charges for correctness, and then physically wrote a check (first confirming enough was in checking by using your freshly reconciled checkbook register), and then mailed it. Now we have auto-payment set up, which says, "Just charge my card whatever you determine we owe you."

So bottom line: it is far too easy to satisfy wants, without feeling the impact. Like an injury, if you mask the pain, you could be doing preventable damage that won't be discovered until it is too late.

I think this explains peoples' perceptions of wants versus needs.
No one NEEDS cable, but most people consider it a need. Most people just mindlessly pay the bill every month without even thinking about it or thinking about other options.

[Milly]

Our budget is very lean and we have so much great stuff in our life that it makes it hard to justify most indulgences. My current indulgences are things like getting a big thing of sour cream instead of using homemade yogurt where I can, or having a jar of peanuts AND almonds in the pantry that I sneak from to make me happy enough to cook dinner. I don't feel like I'm skimping though because I've never really had fancy things and I'm just loving being an adult and choosing what I have. The longer I act poor, the richer I will be.

Latte factor is starting to be more about time now. I just watched my first movie to relax by myself (not as a family activity) this year instead of working on my blog.

Once I actually make money on my blog (fingers crossed), maybe it will adjust my whole paradigm. Maybe it will be cheaper to buy frozen diced grilled chicken and use the time saved on my blog instead of cooking a whole 89¢/lb chicken and picking it.

When my husband and I were both Teacher's Assistants in college, we discovered it was better to get a little more work each and pay for gas or a subway sandwich than to bike or prepare dinner. Obviously there's heath to consider too, but we had fairly active lives and didn't worry about it much.

[annibe11e]

I can't imagine the frustration you must feel as a doctor when you hear that!

But there's always cigarette money! Addiction and instant gratification are powerful. There could be other factors at play. I have ADD and have always struggled with the longer term.

Even as an adult, I couldn't comprehend the next day. I know that sounds crazy, but I couldn't even muster the foresight to plan for lunch at work. I mean I wouldn't pack a lunch or have money for any. Every day I'd be hungry wishing I had lunch. I actually gave up and adopted intermittent fasting as an eating lifestyle so now I'm not "forgetting" lunch.

Planning for 2 weeks in the future? Forget it. Someone like that (me) would spend the money on something else before realizing they needed to refill a medicine.

I realize that smoking is an addiction and isn't so simple to give up like a daily coffee is but....

I saw a patient who told me he ran out of his blood pressure medicine 2 weeks ago because he hasn't had the money to get the refill. But he smokes a pack a day. So somehow he can afford that but not his medicine. There's a guy for whom the latte factor is huge. Even cutting back to half a pack a day would free up $120/month at $8/pack. That would cover his BP med for a year.

[disneysteve]

Planning for 2 weeks in the future? Forget it. Someone like that (me) would spend the money on something else before realizing they needed to refill a medicine.

It is not unusual for a patient to tell the receptionist to schedule their next appointment in the first week of the month because that's when they'll have money for their copay.

If you'll have the money for the copay on the 1st of the month, why can't you just put that money aside so that you would still have it if you didn't come in until the 10th or 15th of the month? But it doesn't work that way. By mid month, they're broke. Saving and advance planning are foreign concepts.

[Mjenn]

We get unlimited coffee drinks and fruit at work -- to keep us awake to work harder I guess. While the lattes are definitely not as good as Starbucks there is no way I'm going to shell out that kind of money for something I have a free alternative to.

That said we do sometimes do it as a snack with the kids -- have cake and an expensive latte. But then it is a 'treat' and I'm OK with that now and then, not as a daily habit.

There is a name here of parents on parental leave that spend all day at the cafes with their babies drinking lattes -- and I was definitely guilty of that habit. It was really nice meeting up with other parents when home for a large chunk of the day. We weren't going out much because of having small babies, so I guess this replaced our eating out 1 time a week. And probably cost about the same when spread out.

I quit smoking when they raised the price of cigarettes in NYC from 3.50 to 5.00 overnight because that wasn't the kind of money you could just find in the spare change at the bottom or your purse (I was in my early 20s ). I can't imagine paying 8.00 a pack!

[msomnipotent]

There is a name here of parents on parental leave that spend all day at the cafes with their babies drinking lattes -- and I was definitely guilty of that habit.

I originally read that to mean the babies were drinking lattes.

I quit smoking when a pack of cigarettes hit $1.05 a pack. I was shaking my head when people were spending $5 on them. Now they are $8???? No wonder why so many people claim to be broke.

My "latte" comes in the form of shiny metal objects, which unfortunately tend to be much more expensive than actual lattes. I have a tradition of getting Starbucks when I go Christmas shopping, but I pay for it with gift cards from survey sites. I really can't remember the last time I paid for a caramel macchiato. I wish coin shops had gift cards available on survey sites.

[scfr]

I'm in the "both are important" camp.

An advantage of paying attention to the "latte factor" is that when I do indulge in one of the "little splurges" it feels like a "big treat." If you have something all the time, it's no longer special.

When you don't go out to eat but once every month or two, or if you only have a latte a few times a year as a reward for surviving a really tough week, or if you don't (---travel / go to the movies / attend a sporting event / whatever---) more than once every one or two years, when you do get to enjoy those things it's a big deal. There's nothing blase about going to see a movie in the theater or going for the early bird special at the Chinese restaurant for me.

[Like2Plan]

Until a few months ago, I was guilty of consuming a latte a day.

I started this habit during my last year at work. If I didn't get up and fetch a latte, I would be sitting at my desk all day long (and there was always more to work on ). I didn't care for the strong brew of regular coffee at Starbucks, but the latte was mellow enough for me. So, I equated the drink with a chance to relax and get away from the stress of the office for a few minutes.

I carried on the tradition in retirement. Every afternoon I would go fetch a drink. I thought about trying to save some money by making my own, but I didn't want to invest in one of the fancy machines that seem to be pretty finicky. (And, one thing about Starbucks I found is the product is pretty uniformly made--I could always count on the drink tasting the same).

So, I would probably still be getting a latte a day except last fall I experienced some stomach issues--which surprisingly milk aggravated.
So, I switched over to tea. Which I brew at home. So, I guess I can say my Dr. saved me a bunch of moola.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I drink tea but in this weight loss process even once a week the green tea matcha I used to get once a week is too many calories.

But there are other latte factors like cable, cell, etc. I find myself indulging in cell phones.

But find that usually homes and cars are super easy to see when it's out of whack of the budget and that makes everything else impossible to pay. How can a $5 latte hurt when you can barely pay the utilities.