The Cost of your Coffee Habit

Last year the Sydney Morning Herald declared "forget beer, we're becoming a nation of bean addicts."  

To back that up, you'll find the quintessential image of Australian commuters is no longer a throb of suits and  briefcases... It's one long line of suits holding take away coffee cups. They even invented their own coffee version - the flat white. (For the record, it looks like a latte, tastes like a latte, and smells like a latte.)

A recent study by Delonghi claims "Victorians are the nation's biggest coffee drinkers, with 64 per cent drinking three or more cups of coffee per day compared to 50 per cent in WA and 43 per cent in South Australia."

Although as it turns out Elle reports that "when it comes to global coffee consumption Australia is way, way down the list." I was staggered to read that Australia ranks at number 40 in the world's coffee consumption ladder. No official stats exist but I think Australia must rank in the top 3 when it comes to take away coffee, or out of home consumption, and that's where it's costing us big bucks.

According to CBS Money Watch...

"If you buy one $4 (flat white) each day, that coffee habit will set you back $28 a week, about $120 a month and $1,460 per year. Keep that up for five years, and you've slurped away $7,300, not including any money you might have earned by investing your cash instead. If you account for missed investment returns, the loss amounts to roughly $9,300 (assuming a 9% average return)."

Consider what that means over your lifetime...

"After 10 years, your (coffee) habit costs you a car. After 30 years, the $239,891 that you drank away (including investment returns), could have bought a house. Over 40 years, the habit could reduce your retirement nest-egg by an astounding $634,428 -- enough to generate an income of more than $2,600 a month."

"Life is too short for bad coffee,” says two-hatted Sydney chef, Giovanni Pilu. It may well be, but since good coffee will take a big chunk out of your retirement fund, that may not be such a bad thing.

Note: the author wrote this article whilst sipping a $4 Flat White. (That's a latte to non Australians.)