A coffee here, a snack there – when you’re out and about, there’s a great temptation to grab something quickly.
If you often give in here, you could save a lot of money by calculating your latte factor.
Let's be honest: Basically, we buy far too many things - and many of them are absolutely useless.
One or the other decorative object just stands around in the apartment and maybe attracts a few looks, but above all it attracts dust.
There are also drinks and snacks on the way, which should quench a little thirst or hunger.
We hardly think about these supposedly small sums in everyday life.
We could save quite a bit of money if we did that.
This is exactly why there is the so-called latte factor.
Saving money in everyday life - do you know your latte factor?
Basically, the latte factor is a little psychological trick to make the small sums that you spend here and there in everyday life more visible.
It got its name from the “latte macchiato” in between or the other little things that are actually “latte” (coll. for whatever).
+
Coffee on the way to work has become routine for many people.
If you do without it, you can save almost 700 euros a year.
© xSorenx Haldx/Imago
Calculating the latte factor is easy: The regular expenses are extrapolated to the weeks, months and then to the year.
In this way, the expenses that could actually be saved are made clearly visible.
This works best if you observe yourself and your buying behavior very closely for about a week.
Madame Moneypenny gives tips: ten money rules from the financial expert
Madame Moneypenny gives tips: ten money rules from the financial expert
Calculating your own latte factor
Just take a normal week and make a note of all the expenses.
You can do this, for example, simply in a note app, in the classic household book or in a very traditional way by collecting receipts and receipts.
Then it gets a bit more complex, you have to sit down and separate the necessary from the unnecessary.
Then it is extrapolated.
For example, if you get a coffee every day on the way to work for 2.50 euros, that's 12.50 euros for a five-day week.
With 23 working days a month, that’s 57.50 euros – projected over the year, that’s a total of 690 euros.
So almost 700 euros that you spend on coffee, although you could perhaps just drink it at home or prepare it and take it with you.
Another calculation example for the latte factor
Five cigarettes a day: So you smoke 35 cigarettes a week, 155 cigarettes a month (31 days) and 1,825 cigarettes a year.
With 20 cigarettes (one pack) for 7 euros, that makes 91.25 packs (638.75 euros per year), 7.6 packs per month (53.20 euros) and thus almost two packs per week (1.9 packs, 13.3 euros).
The Latte Factor: Where and How to Save Money?
Other examples that could be used to calculate the latte factor would be ordering food (rather than cooking it yourself) or leaving subscriptions running without actually using them.
In order to be able to save now, the behavior must be adjusted.
So if you smoke, you should limit your consumption as much as possible, if you need coffee every morning, you should make it at home, and if you order food more often, ideally you should only do this on special occasions.
Don't miss anything: You can find everything to do with money in the regular money newsletter from our partner Merkur.de.
You can also allow yourself a fixed budget for certain things, such as snacks, clothes or eating out, using the envelope method, which grandma also knew, and then not topping up this money.
It is best to invest the money saved in this way cleverly and thus get the maximum out of your assets.
List of rubrics: © xSorenxHaldx/Imago
