Finding Money

Did the title catch your attention??? I frequently hear that people cannot afford insurance. It got me thinking, can they not afford it, or do they choose not to manage their budgets? What if I can show you how you can find money every day??

Here is a case that I drew up rather quickly. Many people will say cut out your coffee habit; I am not going to say that; I am just trying to show you that maybe there is a better way to get your caffeine fix.

Scenario 1:  I buy a premium coffee from Amazon that, at the time of this writing, is $17.73 for four cans. I am the only coffee drinker in my house, so those four cans last me four months, or $4.43/mo. And I am breaking it down further to $0.15/day. Now I put stuff in my coffee as I prefer it to be black. But I will break down the cost for that later.

Scenario 2: If I get a coffee at a restaurant, I will pay around $2.00 for that cup. (I can guarantee it won’t taste as good as I get at home.)  For argument’s sake, if I were to do that 30 times a month, that is $60.00/mo. that is 74 times the amount if I buy it the first scenario’s way.

Scenario 3: If I get a cup of coffee from a popular fast food chain, I am going to pay around $2.50 for that cup (again, it’s not going to taste that great), and again let’s say I did that 30 times a month, that is $75.00/mo.

Do you see a pattern??

Scenario 4: If I go to a famous coffee shop (the one you can find on every street corner across America), I can get a cup of coffee for around $3.45. Again let’s say I do this 30 times a month; that is  $103.50/mo.

Back to the flavoring. You can purchase your herbs and make them for under an additional $0.20 a cup, bringing your cost to $0.35/cup.

After telling this to a client, they quickly fired back at me and said time is money. My time is worth something. I said I couldn’t agree more, so let’s do the math. I then stated the numbers don’t lie…  So, let’s say you drink your coffee with flavorings so $0.35/cup. I will be generous on time; let’s say it takes 10 minutes to make your cup of joe. The difference between a coffee shop flavored coffee is roughly $5.00 if it is $5.00 and takes 10 minutes. You must make approximately $48.00/hr and pay income taxes that particular hour.

Are you making that much? Can you afford that cup of coffee at the coffee shop?? What if you applied the same concept to other things, such as eating a meal out, whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner???

If you do the math, the numbers don’t lie, and even if you mess up the math, can you honestly say you can’t afford that insurance policy that will protect your family, your income, and your retirement?? Or is the better answer? I choose not to change so I can defend myself / my family.

Now here’s my caveat. I am not saying to be utterly rash about this (Unless you want to change your money path), but think next time, do I need that coffee or soda with my meal, or can I wait until I get home?