Ask The Experts: The Stovall Team

Saving money ranks high on most of our lists of New Year’s Resolutions. Create a family budget immediately. A snapshot of what you make and spend is critical. Who wants to be bothered with a budget? It takes time to ex-amine what you spend, where you spend it, and how much (or how little) you bring in relative to your expenses. Plus, you could be in for some unpleasant surprises. However, if you have dreams of buying a home, paying down debt, taking an exotic Hawaiian vacation, or having a comfortable retirement, planning is vital. And the first step to securing your future is to be aware of how you spend your money today.
It is the simple idea that the small trivial things we spend on everyday adds up to an extremely large amount over time. It isn’t all about skipping the store-bought fancy coffee as the “latte factor” is actually somewhat of misno-mer, it covers a lot more than lattes. It can be the candy we buy to snack on out of sheer boredom. Or the ciga-rettes we buy because we just can’t shake the nasty habit. Or the subscriptions to the magazines we don’t read but are too lazy to cancel. Heck it can even be the miles that we drive to work everyday.
The latte factor is the unconscious spending on the little everyday things that do not add any value to our lives.
Taking control of your latte factor means the willingness to give up on the little things for the sake of big wins (those that bring long term happiness and value). It calls for discipline of your spending habits. New Year’s resolutions can be a great way to spark change in your life. And wouldn’t freeing up money be a great way to start out 2016?

Sources: Stovall Team, Realty Times, CNN Money