Going to a mega-resort that charges a huge premium for amenities that I have no intention of using is, IMO, stupid. Going to a really tiny mountian with very little terrain just because it’s cheap also doesn’t make sense. Striking a balance is important, and part of that balance is realizing that, no matter what I do, I’m going to spend over $100 on any given day that I go out to ride. That’s my choice, but I make it a point to be aware of that choice by funding things like savings and mandated spending first. Once I have done that, I then decide if I want to take any of my leftover dollars and go snowboarding with them or do something else instead.

On the days I decide to go ride, I pack a cooler with inexpensive food, load my car with whatever gear I need (I’d much rather spend my money on quality gear rather than pay for overpriced lift tickets or resort food that’s overpriced and not all that good anyway :) ), and then pick a mountain with good terrain and low overhead. Also, I tend to buy my equipment “off season” and perhaps a year or two old so I can reap the benefits of lower priced equipment and clothing, too.

I’t important to have fun, and it’s important to enjoy life. However, learning where to reign in some aspects of that enjoyment and look at it objectively can net some pretty big savings if you’re willing to do the work or go without for a bit. In my situation, it doesn’t mean a higher retirement account balance, but it does equal up to about 25% more trips per season… and that ain’t a half bad tradeoff :).

and yet in her hand there would be a fresh sbucks morning, noon, and night. isn’t that 20 bucks a day? that could be going towards her debt? i ddidn’t understand why she didn’t buy a coffee pot.

So think about which luxuries really MATTER to you, plan for them, save for them, and then enjoy them. Prioritize your treats; if you think about it, once you’ve drunk that latte, it’s gone forever. If your job pays you $20 an hour and the latte was $4.00, you had to work 20 minutes to pay for that coffee, and all it was….was coffee. I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s no luxury.

You know how I define luxury? FREEDOM. My husband and I are in our mid-40s, have never had ultra high paying jobs, and are set to permanently retire from full time work in the next year with a net worth (excluding our home) of well over $2.5 million. We live in a very comfortable home, have very nice, high quality things (all paid for with saved-up cash, and no fancy cars!), take one fabulous vacation every year, and generally enjoy life a great deal while steadily investing about 35% of our income and living well below our means. And yet, in about 12 months, I will not ever again have to sit in an office at a job that bores me to tears. I can take any job I want, do anything I want, without ever having to worry about what it pays. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. Now if that isn’t luxury, you tell me what IS.

James

The slippery slope you speak of is exactly what I think many do with the latte factor…Saying if you save $1.00 into “some fund” making “10%” for every day you’ll have $500K is a stretch imho…

I get the jist of it, but like Craig said if you aren’t saving money and say you can’t, here is an easy way to save $20/week…It’s NOT to take folks, who are insane savers like all of us here, and have every small purchase broken down….

In short, the latte factor is purported EVERYWHERE and I think its time as a tool to help save is done with….at least on high quality financial sites like this and others…

It’s all about informed choices. If you love your lattes so much, fine. But don’t just parrot the slippery slope argument, which only applies when judgment is removed and policies become automatic and absolute. You, as an individual, decide when additional frugality measures are worthwhile and when they are not.

When does this thinking get silly? Like I said, if you are saving 50% of your income or whatever many here are probably doing here and you have some extra cash every week, should you NOT spend it on life, but instead add it into more savings? The scrutiny of small finances like this on a daily basis makes my head hurt as it is…SOmetimes rewarding yourself with a THREE DOLLAR latte after saving like a monster is OK…

I am ALL about saving for retirement, I really am, but not this nuts…

Jake…Should you not reward yourself with small indulgences for saving and doing everything you should for savings and retirement? By seek alternaatives, what do you mean?

Then after really sitting down and investigating my finances it was a real eye opener.

If I saved a little here and a little there, and put that towards an investment that had good returns I can have a big chuck of money in a few years or a few decades.

I came to accept the idea not as something to mean live cheap all your life. I have come to accept it as something that allows me to see what investing can accomplish.

I can tell you stories of people who have saved up money for most of their lives, sacrificing everything, only to die and not enjoy a cent.

But I can tell you stories of people I know now that are reaching retirement and they are scared to death. These people don’t have any savings, don’t have any retirement funds, and they don’t have much of any family support. Meaning they are alone, living on their own.

Also I want to add that the latte factor does not mean for you to give up on coffee. It gives you an insight into how much you are spending on say a place like Starbucks. Given that realization you can then seek alternatives like buy coffee and make it at home, or find some other store that sells cheaper coffee.

The point is that it makes you look closer at what you’re spending on and tries to get you to say to yourself, “Do I really have to drink at Starbucks, can I just make my own or buy somewhere cheaper?”

Being aware of the latte factor means that should the day come that you are looking to find some easy savings in your budget, you should know the first place to look, all the small, (semi)regular luxury items in your life.

The way I look at it is, if you want to spend the money on a latte (or other small “luxury” item), then thats fine, but it pays to be aware (and many people aren’t) of the large amount that a lot of little transactions can add up to. And that’s disregarding the compound interest side of things and just measuring in savings from money not spent.

A lot of a little is still a lot eventually.

I still think that there is a point to be found in the original questioner. I want to live the life I want now as well as in the future and I’d rather fritter away a budgeted amount of money than deny myself for 30-odd years in order to have lattes then.

And this comes from a guy who is known as frugal and a HUGE saver that annoys everyone with saving tips all the time…

There is a point where it gets silly and suggesting that someone drinks a coffee/latte once a day as a source of enjoyment is “passing” up $500K at retirement is a strrrrreeeeettttttccccch…

For me, the key is to think in the long-term. I don’t deny myself luxuries completely, but it’s good to realize what they’re costing over time.