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Is it normal to buy a coffee every day?

240 replies

MatchingStraws · 30/06/2021 21:55

DD is 14 and loves watching 'a day in my life' Tiktoks and Youtubers.

We have a regular debate over how aspirational their lives are. DD seems genuinely convinced that it is totally normally to buy an iced latte every day. Whereas I am huffing and puffing about how much that costs over a month Grin

OP posts:
coodawoodashooda · 02/07/2021 08:01

I haven't had time to rtft but I've woken up thinking about this. I'm a single parent to 3 kids and I like take out coffee. But it is expensive. I think I'd make myself a jar in the kitchen and put the daily cost in there each day. Just so it is really obvious how much money is being spent. My xh is so stupid with cash and id want my kids to really understand how much was being spent on that moment of fun. Yesterday I bought a coffee, it cost £2.95. Even over 1 week you'd have the best part of £20.00.

khaleesi71 · 02/07/2021 08:10

It's all relative - when I'm in the city for work I always go to my local indie coffee shop - it's not the same unless a tattooed hipster has made your organic freshly roast/ground cortado Grin it's expensive - but I can afford it. Some people can't so don't. Not sure it's a reason for some of the pompous judgy responses on here though. It is just a cup of coffee at the end of the day!

khaleesi71 · 02/07/2021 08:11

@coodawoodashooda

I haven't had time to rtft but I've woken up thinking about this. I'm a single parent to 3 kids and I like take out coffee. But it is expensive. I think I'd make myself a jar in the kitchen and put the daily cost in there each day. Just so it is really obvious how much money is being spent. My xh is so stupid with cash and id want my kids to really understand how much was being spent on that moment of fun. Yesterday I bought a coffee, it cost £2.95. Even over 1 week you'd have the best part of £20.00.
My post not aimed at you and think it's good to show children the value of money - so many don't! I did the same when I gave up smoking (which I why I can afford coffee) - it's astonishing really!

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coodawoodashooda · 02/07/2021 09:40

No worries pp. I think that you've really nailed the problem.

Auntienumber8 · 02/07/2021 09:55

Not for me but I had colleagues in my last job who did. I’m more of a tea drinker and it’s vile out of a disposable cup. In my previous post I had a job where we were entitled to free food and drink, think sort of like the luncheon vouchers scheme but something a bit different. I could have unlimited fancy coffees if I wanted to. We were also given a clothing allowance to buy suits. We also did lots of entertaining at really nice restaurants fully paid on dept credit card. I ended up hating that job but the perks were so amazing I stayed for six years, had amazing maternity leave in the middle of those years. I doubt many workplaces are like that anymore. I remember when they said we couldn’t have 1st class rail travel anymore, people were up in arms.

Sceptre86 · 02/07/2021 11:14

When I was in my 20s with a full time job and no dependents I bought one 5 days a week before I headed off to to work. Now I'm in my 30s with two kids and work part time I make my own and take it in a flask to work. Things change!

lottiegarbanzo · 02/07/2021 11:43

I don't agree with the suggestion that noticing or commenting on coffee spending is gendered or ageist. Coffee consumption is unisex and it's its daily nature that makes it seem small but add up to something big. Drinks in pubs and bars are expensive but occasional and a more obvious treat, not (for many people) just a part of getting through every working day.

There was a thread on here a few years ago that stuck in my mind, where a SAHM was trying to get through to her otherwise bright and capable husband that his daily cafe coffee and slice of cake added up to £thousands a year that they couldn't afford. He just couldn't grasp that 'one little slice of cake' that he felt he deserved, as a high-earning, successful man, could possibly be unaffordable to him.

The only example I remember being commented on, in my own office life, was the young man, not well paid, who bought fancy sandwiches from the deli every day, just for convenience, while supposedly saving every penny to go travelling. Older members of staff, who'd gone through the frugal years of life, were quietly incredulous about that (in a semi-maternal / avuncular way, so patronising and ageist perhaps but very kindly meant).

IME it's one of those things many of us do in our 20s when we feel richer than we are, feel we're on an upward trajectory careerwise and are happy to spend all our disposable income, rather than saving for the future. It takes a very sensible mid-20-something to think about future housing, childcare and recognise the potential costs of being a SAHP.

Which is fine if it's one of your chosen treats. It's when you want every treat, then the career doesn't progress upwards in step with aspirations and spending, that it all goes wrong. That's my concern about OP's DD thinking that it's 'normal' for everyone to have all the treats - therefore not seeing them as treats at all.

Milomonster · 02/07/2021 12:40

Not normal for me and I can afford to buy one daily.
DS is into decaf latte and thinks it’s ok to buy one whenever we are out. I tell him it’s not a good use of money. I can’t justify spending a fiver for boiled water and a bit of milk.

MrsDThomas · 02/07/2021 13:32

Not normal IMO. Its never as nice nor not enough.

LuaDipa · 02/07/2021 13:35

I buy a coffee a day. It’s my only treat and the thing I missed most during the first lockdown.

HopeValley · 02/07/2021 15:00

I don't by any stretch, but equally don't think twice having a coffee with friends when I fancy it whilst I'm on mat leave. I'd far, far rather have little regular treats like that than a holiday. I pretty much don't eat meat or drink alcohol so my supermarket shopping is cheaper than average. People spend money on different things and I agree with PPs that somehow spending on coffee is looked down on, usually with an air of superiority. The idea that saving £5k over FIVE YEARS could properly help people get on the housing ladder is ridiculous. Yes if that was one of many savings, but not by itself. People need deposits several times that now. People also overestimate the cost of coffee - it's not a fiver a cup round here.

lottiegarbanzo · 02/07/2021 15:36

£5k in five years was calculated on a cost of £2.50 a cup (plus if you save you get interest. Piddling amounts at the moment but something).

I find the idea that a couple who've saved £5k + £5k in five years (e.g. aged 21-26) should regard £10k as insignificant small change extraordinary. It's just very different from the world I live in (which is a pretty comfortable world).

But I think that's the issue here, for OP's DD. For lots of well-off people, buying coffee every day is an affordable little treat, their normal. Probably one of many treats they can afford. But until you have become comfortably off, it (like all the other treats) has to be regarded selectively.

The real problem comes when, like OP's dd, you grow up with the idea that it is everyone's norm, so to be taken for granted, expected (along with the nice clothes, hair, make-up and lifestyle that the tik-tokkers and instragrammers show off, because they're either from well-off families, or faking it with the hope of making it, or have already made it far enough that they're being given a lot of free stuff to promote). That aspect, the fake reality lives of social media performers and influencers, hasn't been explored here but is pretty relevant to the teenager in the scenario described.

Maggiesfarm · 02/07/2021 16:16

I knew someone who saved a great deal of money whilst on maternity leave. She said there were fewer lunches and lattes (and new shoes), during that time.

I always enjoy coffee from Costa or Starbucks, and other places. Of course I wouldn't be buying that if I couldn't afford it, it's entirely optional, but if you can and you really like it, why not? I don't see it as an 'aspiration', just a little of what you fancy, which does you good.

HopeValley · 02/07/2021 16:34

@lottiegarbanzo Fair enough £10k is a lot of money if you are a couple both spending that amount daily, but for a single person saving £10k over a decade will not buy them a house in many parts of the country sadly. I own a big house and will be mortgage free in not too many years so it's not bitterness on my part, I just think there's so much more to it than giving up coffee and avocadoes as is often given as the solution.

MeadowHay · 02/07/2021 16:49

I think it can be normal. I definitely know some people who do this, mostly people in high income families but not exclusively. But I also know lots of people who don't do it, so think it's quite mixed. I'd say more people don't do it than do it though. I certainly don't, I'd love to but can't afford it! I probably get one about once a week or so on average.

Ohthatsgreat · 02/07/2021 16:58

Given coffee shops are everywhere now and both chains and independents seem to do well, I’d say buying coffee is very normal for quite a lot of people. Otherwise, why are there so many places to buy a coffee?!

I think people have always ‘wasted’ money but over time it changes. Young people now don’t smoke and drink as much but instead seem to spend money on coffee and the gym. Frivolous to some, but if that’s what you like and enjoy why is it any different to spending money on cigs and beers. It’s funny people will judge a coffee habit but not spending money on a night out, drugs etc.

lottiegarbanzo · 02/07/2021 17:36

Houses aren't the only thing to spend money on though. Maybe OP's DD will rent all her life. Maybe she'll inherit, who knows. £5k per adult would buy one really amazing, or a number of very good holidays. £10k would be a good down-payment on a wedding.

lottiegarbanzo · 02/07/2021 17:45

Young people not smoking, or drinking so much, is a good point. If ever there was a product, consumed daily, that burned eye-watering amounts of money annually for many people, it was smoking.

I've frittered plenty of money away on drinking. Not a lot but regularly enough to add up. I'm aware I could not do that and save more into my pension, for example. Life would be different. Would I rather give up alcohol, or coffee, if I had to? That is not an easy choice.

ASpelK · 02/07/2021 18:02

I buy one every day. At least one.

I make a cup in my travel mug in the morning. But I spend all day visiting people in their homes or in the community.

I'm only able to go into the office once a fortnight (small office base/hub rather than a permanent work location with a desk etc for me if that makes sense)

My home is a too far from the town I work in to hip back, and I eat lunch in the car somewhere. So if I need the toilet or hand wash etc I have to go into a cafe or coffee shop. So I pop into once or twice a day to use the loo and always buy a drink at the same time.

HarrisMcCoo · 02/07/2021 18:58

No, not for us. Drink coffee at home. Couldn't afford that, tbh.

AnaViaSalamanca · 02/07/2021 19:40

I find this thread very judgmental and smug. I am mid 30s and have a high income so it’s not bitterness on my part, but young people today are actually a lot more responsible than their parents’ generation, while contending with a horrible economy and poor job prospects. The issues young people are facing is not going to go away by not buying a latte and it’s unfair to blame them for not being able to buy property later on.

Yes saving 2.50 a day on coffee helps, but what about the rest? Don’t eat meat and seafood, just boiled lentils? Don’t drink wine, water will suffice?

JayAlfredPrufrock · 02/07/2021 21:29

Lot more responsible than their parents?

Are you having a laugh?

Maggiesfarm · 02/07/2021 22:13

@AnaViaSalamanca

I find this thread very judgmental and smug. I am mid 30s and have a high income so it’s not bitterness on my part, but young people today are actually a lot more responsible than their parents’ generation, while contending with a horrible economy and poor job prospects. The issues young people are facing is not going to go away by not buying a latte and it’s unfair to blame them for not being able to buy property later on.

Yes saving 2.50 a day on coffee helps, but what about the rest? Don’t eat meat and seafood, just boiled lentils? Don’t drink wine, water will suffice?

I agree 100%.
ufucoffee · 02/07/2021 22:19

AnaViaSalamanca
I find this thread very judgmental and smug. I am mid 30s and have a high income so it’s not bitterness on my part, but young people today are actually a lot more responsible than their parents’ generation, while contending with a horrible economy and poor job prospects. The issues young people are facing is not going to go away by not buying a latte and it’s unfair to blame them for not being able to buy property later on.

Lots of previous generations have had it much harder. Unemployment was very high in the early 80's. Buying a latte a day is definitely daft if you're on a low income.

LalalalalalaLand123 · 02/07/2021 22:24

It's normal for people who like to throw their money away.