Coffee.

So I had a coffee with my mum today.

I don’t go out for coffee that often, but I was dropping her at the train station to travel home and as we were early we decided to go for coffee and a toasted sandwich in one of the ubiquitous coffee shop chains…

I had a coffee.  She had a hot chocolate.

We both had a sandwich.

£12.10.

Yep. £12.10.

On this occasion she was paying, so no problem on my behalf, but she paid it without really thinking about it at all.  And this got me thinking.

Why are we willing to pay £3 ($5) for a coffee, without even thinking about it, but unwilling to pay even half that amount on an electronic download such as an ebook?

One provides us with about 20 minutes of taste sensation and gets us fired up for the day, whilst the other could provide us with several hours of entertainment, or knowledge that will stay with us for a lifetime.

And my point is not that we should be buying ebooks instead of coffee.

My point is that we should think more about what we buy.

This is why one of the strategies in my book is to write down everything that you buy.  Dieters who keep a food diary lose more weight than those who don’t.

It’s about becoming more aware of what you are buying and making good choices with your money.

If you were to buy a coffee every day of the week, five times a week, at about £3 a go, over the year you would end up paying £780 ($1,182).  That’s a holiday.

That’s a new Apple computer.

That’s a (cheap) car.

That’s your credit card bill paid.

So, this week, why not take one of these:

Or one of these:

 

And instead of buying a coffee, why not put 3 £1  coins (or a $5 bill) in the cup.

Do this every time you would usually buy a coffee and at the end of the month, use that money to buy something that will last.

Have a great day.

J.A.Scott

PS:  Don’t forget to check out www.jascottpublications.com for information on my latest book and other new releases.  (All for less than the cost of a cup of coffee!)