Coffee Savings Calculator
What your coffee habit costs per year and decade — and what that money could grow to invested.
How it works
yearly = daily × days/week × 52 · future value = yearly × ((1.07)¹⁰ − 1) ÷ 0.07
The yearly spend is straightforward multiplication. The investment figure treats each year’s coffee money as one contribution to an account returning 7% annually (a common long-run stock-market average), compounding for the rest of the decade — the standard future-value-of-an-annuity formula. The gap between the 10-year spend and the invested value is pure compounding.
Worked example
$6.50 a day, 5 days a week is $32.50 a week — $1,690 a year and $16,900 over a decade. Invested at 7% as it’s earned, that stream compounds to about $23,350 after 10 years.
Frequently asked questions
Why 7%?
US stocks have returned roughly 10% a year over the long run, about 7% after inflation — so 7% approximates growth in today’s buying power. Any single decade can land well above or below it.
Is skipping lattes really how people get rich?
Honestly, no — housing, cars and income move wealth far more than coffee. The point of the math is smaller: recurring daily spending is invisible in the moment and large in aggregate, whatever the category.
What does home brewing actually cost?
Good beans at $15–20/lb work out to roughly $0.40–0.75 per cup including a filter — an 85–90% saving per cup versus a $6 shop drink, without giving up coffee at all.
Related calculators
This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.