"You get a mocha at Starbucks and it costs $3. You buy a biscuit for $1.50. At work, you get a diet Coke and Snickers. Before you know it, you've spent $10 a day," Holt said. "It's the latte factor."
—Deborah Adamson, "Money makeover," The Honolulu Advertiser, October 19, 2003

That's the latte factor, says Betty Neal, certified financial planner and investment representative for Edward Jones.

The latte factor is unconscious day-to-day frivolous spending such as buying a daily latte.
—Juliana Goodwin, "Sticking to a budget is key to financial freedom," Springfield News-Leader (Springfield, MO), April 8, 2003

Bach calls it the "latte factor." He described a 22-year-old woman who insisted she couldn't afford to save. But she discovered she was spending about $10 a day on coffee and snacks.

If she cuts down enough to save $2,000 a year and invests the money at 11 percent, she would have $2 million by the time she retired.
—Jilian Mincer, "He knows firsthand: Spenders can become savers," The Kansas City Star, May 2, 1999