I started drinking Starbucks coffee about 10 years ago but stopped when I first heard about the Latte Factor because I figured I was spending about $1400.00 yearly. I thought I was doing well trimming the fat from my budget but I still had a hard time getting my debt to go down. Today I had another Oprah AHHH HAAA moment!
At the place I work, we have a cafeteria with a meal plan. I started using it about 2 years ago when I started working there because I only have 30 minutes for lunch and I thought it would be healthier and less expensive that fast food. Boy was I WRONG! The cafeteria doesn’t accept cash but swipes your employee ID card and the charges are taken out of your post-tax paycheck. At first I was spending about $5-$6 a day but through the last 2 years, prices have increased and now that total is between $7-$12 a day or about $3060.00 per year! Holy smokes!!!! I could have paid off 3 credit card balances with that money! I looked back at my year-end pay stub from 2009 and discovered that I paid $3750.00 in cafeteria charges in 2009 alone! Now I am packing my own lunches and making coffee in the morning before I leave and saving myself over $5000.00 a year! Whoo hooo!