Opportunity Cost ~ This Starbucks Cost Me What??????

During my nieces visit this weekend, I had the opportunity to talk about "Opportunity Costs." My niece was purchasing a gift for a birthday party she was attending and the jersey she was looking at cost $60. Did I mention the birthday was for a 5 year old who would likely grow out of the jersey next month? :-) Anyway, she seemed to be agonizing a bit over the price so I jumped up on my soapbox and talked to her about whether she wanted to make a contribution to Cardinal football player Tim Hightower's child's college education, or would she rather send her own son. She chose a $20 t-shirt.

What does that have to do with Starbucks? Nothing :-) Unless you are like my daughter and millions of others who love their daily latte. Financial expert David Bach calls it the latte factor. A couple of years ago, Brandi decided to add up the cost of her monthly Starbucks habit and was appalled to learn that it was $160 that month. She quickly cut back realizing that she could have purchased airfare for a California beach vacation.  She had mindlessly made it a habit to run through Starbucks on her way to work every day and hadn't realized what the cost was adding up to.

We tend to do that with a lot of things, don't we? Magazines, books, food, shoes, etc., fill our homes and our tummies, and give us a short term fix, or instant gratification which quickly fades and needs to be filled again. When we are patient, hold a vision for something greater and save for it, the reward is often much longer lasting. What could you be saving for now? What is your latte factor?