Other than the Bible, David Bach is one of my favorite authors who has had a significant impact on the way I think about following my dollar. The Automatic Millionaire, Smart Women Finish Rich and Smart Couples Finish Rich are a few of his books that changed the way I think and operate in my finances. Finding my latte factor was one of the first things that I did after reading the automatic millionaire. Taking the time to “think, then assess” where your money is going is the
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MOST important step to take to mitigate financial loss. Having found my latte factor, I empower others to find theirs.
Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who shared that stopping at Starbucks each morning is a normal part of her day. When she finished talking I turned my phone around to show her the calculations of the money she could have saved over the past five years. Tarae was shocked to find that she has spent a minimum of $62,400.00 on her morning cup of java. According to the amount she says she spends, if Tarae stopped for half the time weekly, she could have saved $31,200.00. Needless to say, Tarae has decided to make some changes.
Well, old habits are hard to break, and good friends are hard to find. The next morning, Tarae’s dear friend Tina shared this photo with me of Tarae leaving the scene of the crime. The moral of this story is to find your “latte factor”. For Tarae, it’s coffee. Since Tina shared this photo, Tarae reported she has indulged in her old routine once this week. Not bad at all! Now, her challenge is to drop the amount of money she would normally spend for her morning coffee in a jar for 30 days and watch it grow. Moreover, she will develop a new habit which leads to a new lifestyle. What’s your “latte factor”?
According to David Bach (2019), “The Latte Factor® is based on the simple idea that all you need to do to finish rich is to look at the small things you spend your money on every day and see whether you could redirect that spending to yourself. Putting aside as little as a few dollars a day for your future rather than spending it on little purchases such as lattes, bottled water, fast food, cigarettes, magazines and so on, can really make a difference between accumulating wealth and living paycheck to paycheck. “We don’t even realize how much we’re actually spending on these little purchases. If we did think about it and change our habits just a little, we could change our destiny.”
Are you open to identifying your latte factor? I challenge you to find it and change your destiny. Please feel free to leave a comment.