Is a machine worth it?

The payback figure shows how long the difference takes to cover a 25,000 machine. Beyond that it is about whether you will actually use it, which no calculator knows.

Everydaybudgeting

Coffee Cost Calculator

Cafe coffee against making it at home, with the difference compounded. The point is not that buying coffee is wrong, but that the compounded figure is rarely what people expect.

Also called: latte factor calculator, coffee spending.

Annual cafe spend

₹1,14,400

₹1,14,400 a year buying coffee against ₹14,560 making it, a difference of ₹99,840. Invested at 12% for 10 years that difference becomes ₹17,52,066.

Annual cost at home

₹14,560

Annual difference

₹99,840

If the difference were invested

₹17,52,066

Monthly cafe spend

₹9,533

Cups a year

520

Break-even on a 25,000 machine

₹3

How this is calculated

Method and background

How this is calculated

Annual spend is cups times price times days. The difference between buying and making compounds if invested, and over a decade at market returns that difference is usually a multiple of the annual amount. The honest framing is that this is a real trade-off with a real number attached, not that anyone should stop buying coffee.

the annual difference invested each year and compounded

P: Annual saving

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

two cups a day on weekdays

Cups a day: 2
Price at a cafe: ₹220
Cost to make at home: ₹28
Days a week: 5
If invested instead, annual return: 12%
Over how many years: 10

Annual cafe spend₹1,14,400

2 x 220 x 260 days

Open this example

making it at the cafe price saves nothing

Cups a day: 2
Price at a cafe: ₹220
Cost to make at home: ₹220
Days a week: 5
If invested instead, annual return: 12%
Over how many years: 10

Annual cafe spend₹1,14,400

boundary

Open this example

one cup a week

Cups a day: 1
Price at a cafe: ₹220
Cost to make at home: ₹28
Days a week: 1
If invested instead, annual return: 0%
Over how many years: 10

Annual cafe spend₹11,440

degenerate case

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

A constant price, which coffee prices have not respected.

What it deliberately does not model

The home cost excludes equipment, which the payback figure addresses separately.
It values none of what a cafe provides beyond the drink.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · India · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Is a machine worth it?: The payback figure shows how long the difference takes to cover a 25,000 machine. Beyond that it is about whether you will actually use it, which no calculator knows.