How much are you really spending on coffee and lunch? According to a new study conducted by Accounting Principals, working Americans spend more than $1,000 on coffee and nearly $2,000 on lunch each year!
About half of Americans regularly buy coffee on workdays and 2/3 (66%) regularly buy their lunch. These coffee drinkers guzzle down $20 worth of coffee a week, adding up to $1,092 each year. Younger workers (ages 18-34 years old) spend twice as much on coffee than coffee drinkers age 45+ ($24.74 a week vs. $14.15 a week)
When it comes to lunchtime, most workers dining out spend about $37 a week, adding up to nearly $2,000 year—more than they are spending on their commuting costs ($1,476)! Again, younger workers spent more: $44.78 per week for 18-34 year olds, $31.80 for those 45+.
Many workers are starting to realize the effect of lunch costs on their budget: 35% have vowed to start bringing lunch instead of buying it in 2012. How about you?
Source: Accounting Principals Workonomix Survey, January 2012
I absolutely love these facts to help people take a moment to stop and think. We all need to step back and reflect on unconscious behaviors that are bad for our financial health.Each week we at Primerica get to teach and train others to become financially fit!
I think the numbers mentioned above are even conservative. Food prices have gone up. The average lunch in downtown (and we are not talking about fine dining, we are talking about food court meals) is about $8-$10.00. That means people at least spend $50.00/week just on lunch – not including the morning coffee and muffin….So lunch alone (food court not restaurant meals) is about $200.00 a month and I know a lot of people are spending more than $10.00 a meal. Those morning coffee plus something else (as I know a lot of people who do this)is averaging $7 already. And people wonder why they are broke and in debt.
I love the life lessons that Primerica helps us learn. If you look at what that really means. You could easily spend only a 1/4 of that $37 and buy grocery items to make a lunch for the whole week and then some. That would save you $27.25 a week. That equals over $1400 dollars saved a year. Possibly more than most people are saving for thier retirement. Learning how to automate your savings would be so easy we already do it for our bills. Love your family and pay yourself first.
It’s so amazing how wasteful we are as americans, we constantly complain about the economy but there are so many little things that make a big change in our finances. Im a College student and a part time Office Manger at Primerica,I thank God he put me in the position to learn so much from such a great company and its Agents.