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Comment by jumbopapa | Hacker News Reader

I don't think that buying coffee is necessarily a recipe for disaster financially, but if you are strapped for cash and have a $100/month latte habit then I think you should probably address that.

I'm all for spending money on things that bring value to your life, but I think if people cut the latte habit they would see it doesn't provide a ton of benefit. It's more valuable to occasionally enjoy a latte than have one every morning.

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$100/month is no joke. That's enough to buy a new iPhone X or a Macbook Air every year.

Edit: Obligatory MMM https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-...

Yeah but I don't need to buy either of those once every two years.

Meanwhile it's enough to afford the down payment on a small car in... 4-5 years or the down payment on a small house by the time you retire.

I've always found this line of reasoning funny - "if you don't drink a latte everyday you can save $1800 a year!" but I've always seen it as "for only $1800 a year you can have a latte a day!"

I agree 100%. I've been a following FI for a couple years now (just graduated last year) and it's helped me feel a lot more secure about my future. I worry about less than my peers too.

there's also the opportunity cost of never being able to have that $100 invested and growing compoundly until you sell/die, which is an absolutely colossal loss

as einstein or someone else said, compound interest is "the most powerful force in the universe."

Or you could have a plain coffee and add milk, and consider whether a latte is enough better to justify the much higher price.

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