Tuesday, August 30, 2011

WHAT IS YOURRR LATTE FACTOR???

Dear Blog

One of my Goals for 2011 was to gain better financial stability. Honestly, we all know it is hard to eliminate our spending habits from our daily activities. Most of us are addicted to spending. I tried to use one of the saving techniques, which was writing and planning accordingly, and trying to eliminate unnecessary spending. And trust me; it was not an easy one! So, I have been searching and reading books on financial freedom to help strengthen my mind in the financial realm.

I discovered that we are all programmed to spend what we earn.  The more we earn, the more we spend on lavish things to “try” to live comfortably. We all desire to attain a good job so that we would be able to“save”. So we say! But the truth is, wealth is not built on how much money we earn but how we plan to spend our money and what we invest the money in.

I came across this angelical book called “Start Late, Finish Rich” by David Bach. Believe me, this book is amazing!  I believe this book did not just land in my hands for an irrelevant reason but rather a tool from God to teach me on some of the important techniques to financial freedom. While reading the book, I discovered a financial strategy called “Latte Factor”. Latte Factor is a concept created to enable us to become aware of the unnecessary “little expenditures” that we waste our money on, without realizing how much they add up to.

The purpose of this concept is to allow us to track our daily spending, and become more conscious of the money we waste on little things like, Starbucks coffee, chocolate bars, Spas or Dinning out every day. And while monitoring our spending, we take some of the money and deposit  it into an investment account, example RRSP. By doing so, we will be saving a fortune when we least expect it.

I found my Latte Factor

Before Work
Apple or Orange juice =$ 1.50
Bagel with strawberry cream cheese = $ 1.89
At 10:30
Timmy’s medium fruit smoothie =$3.48
Timmy’s Chicken wrap =$2.59
M&M =$1.00
Noon (No lunch)  
Mr Greek Roast chicken dinner =$7:78
_______________________________________
Average total daily spending  = $18.24

If I take $ 15 a day from my daily spending and deposit it in my investment account, guess how much I would be saving …

Assumes 10% Annual Rate of Return
Daily Investment
Monthly
Investment
10 Years
20 Years
30 Years
40 Years
50 Years
$15
$450
$92, 180
$341,716
$1,017,220
2,845,836
$7,795,976


Hypothetically, if I and my significant other or a friend is saving together, in a span of 50 years we will save $ 15,591,952

Over 15 million dollars will be saved if I cut out my little lavish things. 

Dear Blog, It’s really mind blowing.

I really wish they taught this in school…but I’m glad to say, I have now found my latte factor , WHAT ABOUT YOU??





**Express and Reflect on your World**


 Sincerely,

Prissy Birago