Each morning I make the journey from my desk to the cafeteria where I purchase my breakfast — a 20 oz. Diet Coke 
. Certainly not what champions are made of, but it gets me going.
Recently, I've been paying closer attention to where my money goes. What I've found is that my current habit means spending roughly $260 each year on my morning soda. Factor in an occasional (read: daily) afternoon Diet Coke and I'm at over $500 each year! It's not coffee, but it's definitely my latte factor .
Enter the 2008 Diet Coke Savings Plan, devised by the super creative Staci Schiller. Instead of doling out $1 each time I want a soda, I buy 24 packs of Diet Coke and bring cans to work everyday. Now instead of putting that dollar in a vending machine I pay myself. Each time I partake in the glorious dark beverage, the dollar I would have spent in the cafeteria goes into an envelope in my desk.
At the end of each month that money is going into a savings account to start earning interest. With my reallocated funds I'm saving up for a big-ticket item. Remember my automobile woes? Well, hopefully this plan will give my savings the boost it needs for a down payment on a new car .
Do you have any similar plans to save your money? What small daily purchases add up for you? Or better yet, what would you rather be using that money for?
That's cool, I too am a fan of David Bach's books so I know about the "Latte Factor". You could also try paying attention to your loose change as well. I like to spend the loose change on "Latte Factor" type items while saving my ones and fives, this way, I can still have a latte(or soda as the case may be). Every once and a while.
ur cute
If you have commuter-benefit programs at work or school, that can also conserve a lot of dollars to funnel into savings. Get enough savings, then you can invest in a brokerage account or a CD.