Little foxes spoil the vines.

We all know the scenario by now: put that $4-a-day-latte toward your mortgage payment and you'll shave off 8 years of payments, right? We've heard these stats so often that we tend to glaze over when we hear them. So why then am I blogging about it? I suppose it's because I need to be reminded. You see, I'm not the $4-a-day-latte kinda gal. I buy generic coffee and brew it a home. I don't spend $30 a week on my nails--and if you look at them, you can tell. But you know what? I'm almost certain that on most weeks, I waste at least $25.00. It might be a meal at a restaurant when I have plenty of food at home, or maybe some too-good-to-be-true deal at a yard sale. Maybe I kept the heat up high and took extra long showers...or I succumbed to the candy at the check-out counter. I don't keep track, but I am certain that cumulatively I waste at least 25 bucks. So what does that look like over time?

$25 X 52 weeks = $1300.00 X 10 years =$13,000.00 or X 30 years = $39,000.00. Adjust that for inflation, and you're talking a serious chunk of change. It really could put a dent in that mortgage. Here are a few other stats I saw recently:

Expense Today Over 10 years Over 30 years

Pizza delivery $25 a week $18,661 $158,731

Coffee/donut $4 a day $22,389 $190,453

Smoking $35 a week $26,125 $222,223

Manicure $40 a week $29,857 $253,969

Lunch at work $10 a day* $37,322 $317,462

Golf $75 a week $55,983 $634,924

*work days only

Maybe you don't have a problem with this, but I'm pretty frugal, and I know I do. Dave Ramsey has a saying, "Live like no one else today so you can live like no one else tomorrow." We all like to complain about how the cost of living is rising...how about we put all that effort into saving instead?

Share one thing you've cut back on this year...and figure out your 10 year savings. That should make you smile!!