I was sitting the breakroom yesterday munching on a small bag of cheetoes. Yep the small individual bag of cheetos. It was a late afternoon snack. I wasn’t the only one snacking, although I was the only one who brought my bag from home. Everyone else typically goes to the vending machine and gets a small afternoon snack. It’s usually less than $1.
But as I was sitting there I thought to myself, I feel awful because I know I should buy a super sized bag of chips, and instead everyday pack my own sandwich bag of chips. But laziness and enjoying different types of chips causes me to splurge. Typically I buy the big box mixed individual chips from Costco when they are sale. I always feel guilty because I know I’m paying a premium for this indulgence.
But then as I sit in the lunch room I realize I’m not the only person indulging. We all know about the “latte” factor, but I wonder if we don’t all have “latte” factors? Sure I don’t spend $3/day on a latte, but I probably am overspending on my small bag of chips.
To me it’s worth the extra 25 cents a day to not pack my own chips and have a variety. To others it’s the $1 to buy a different snack everyday from the vending machine, never limited to what’s at home. It’s not about the amount but the action.
The action of spending a little extra on something you find pleasure in. Will that extra really ruin your budget? I’ve always said and thought that it’s not the “latte” factor that ruins people, it’s the big ticket items. The too expensive house or car or set fixed expense that makes it impossible to manage the rest of the budget.
I guess I’m lucky, my small bag of chips hasn’t ruined my budget yet. My extra $50/year in chips could be saved for something else but I like it. Do you have a small bag of chips? Or is your budget absolutely as austere as possible?
10 responses so far ↓
1 tom // Jul 17, 2009 at 9:53 am
Don’t feel bad about it. You could “latte factor” yourself into living in a shed with a small stove eating ramen everyday. Sure you’d be saving 90% of your income, but what’s the point in making a lot of money if you are not going to enjoy it sometimes?
I have a lot of small bags of chips that I won’t give up unless absolutely necessary. They probably add up to $3,000+ each year.
2 JoeP // Jul 17, 2009 at 10:18 am
We get the big bags and then fill small ziploc bags as needed. For me, at work, it is more convenient than carrying change or bills around with me. Sometimes I bring the empty ziploc bag back home for another day. I figure less landfill impact.
3 Meg from FruWiki // Jul 17, 2009 at 10:57 am
I mostly eat at home, but I try to avoid having one regular snack. And I try to make it rather healthy — grapes, cherries, berries, bananas, nuts, Gouda on celery, etc. But occasionally I’ll get some chocolate — but it better be REALLY good chocolate.
4 kasey at thriftylittleblog // Jul 17, 2009 at 2:31 pm
The truth is that you would probably eat more if you didn’t have pre-portioned chips… which would be bad on your wallet and waist. I would guess that the true savings is more like 10 cents a bag. I say keep eating those chips!
5 444 // Jul 17, 2009 at 6:55 pm
It’s definitely better to buy small quantities of some things. I just bought a brownie a la mode from Chick Fil A (yes, fake brownie, fakey ice cream) and I also bought one a few days ago.
If I bought the stuff and kept it at home, I’d eat one brownie a la mode every few hours until it disappeared. I’d eat 20 times more over the space of a few days, in other words. More economical but bad for my health and waistline.
6 fengshui // Jul 17, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Unless you’re wasting $5 a day on the vending machines, who cares? I mean, isn’t life too short to worry about whether you saved $.25 on bringing your own chips. I’m not picking on *you*, I’m just speaking from a general perspective….
7 Natalie MacNeil // Jul 18, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I used to go to Starbucks for caramel macchiatos. Then I decided to make them myself at home but I still spend $10 on the syrup, $5 on the caramel, and $15 on the espresso every month. Then there’s the cost of the machine! So over a 5 year period I wonder how much I really save?! Probably not much. But my caramel macchiato makes me happy and I make them for friends and clients too
I completely agree that it’s the big ticket items that ruin people’s finances. One of my guy friends is buying a $80,000 BMW on his $35,000 salary. That’s just plain stupid.
8 LAL // Jul 23, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Kasey and 444, it’s how and why I buy ice cream out. If I bought gallons I might actually eat the entire thing. Instead ice cream is once in a few months $5 treat! good for the health for me personally!
Fengshui it sort of does add up over time. But the big budget busters break you down faster!
Natalie, I’m just not a starbucks fan fortunately.
9 Bucksome // Jul 24, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Good point that austerity can be overdone to the point there’s no pleasure in life.
I have a brother-in-law who saves, saves, saves. and never dines out or goes on a nice trip. He has no debt and a good job and the kids are grown.
My husband and I are worried that he’ll die without ever enjoying life
10 LAL // Jul 28, 2009 at 11:13 am
So Bucksome what is the BIL saving for?
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