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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.

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Annual cafe spend
$114,400.00

$114,400.00 a year buying coffee against $14,560.00 making it, a difference of $99,840.00. Invested at 12% for 10 years that difference becomes $1,752,065.71.

Annual cost at home
$14,560.00
Annual difference
$99,840.00
If the difference were invested
$1,752,065.71
Monthly cafe spend
$9,533.33
Cups a year
520
Break-even on a 25,000 machine
$3.00
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

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 · United States · 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.