Brewed Sovereignty

W…ritten by

Every morning, before the sun rises over Los Angeles and before the swines at LADWP begin sharpening their pencils, I perform an act of fiscal courage.

I make coffee at home.

Now to the untrained eye, this looks like laziness. It appears I am simply shuffling to the kitchen in slippers, pouring filtered water into a humble machine, and pressing a button.

But this is not convenience.

This is sacrifice.

Let us review the numbers

Let us review the numbers, because numbers do not lie — though they occasionally smirk.

A 12-ounce latte at Starbucks in Los Angeles costs about $5.50. This is before oat milk surcharges, before tax, before the subtle pressure to tip, and before the emotional cost of standing behind someone ordering a venti half-caff quadruple-shot caramel cloud situation.

If I purchased just one latte per day:

$5.50 × 365 days = $2,007.50 per year.

Two lattes per day?

$4,015 per year.

Three per day?

$6,022.50.

Six thousand dollars.

That is not coffee. That is a minor European vacation. That is a used Volvo. That is gold bullion in discreet tubes.

Now compare this to my monk-like domestic discipline

At home, my 12-ounce cup costs:

20 cents in coffee beans
About 1 penny in electricity
Approximately 0.84 cents wasted because I often leave a cup sitting there contemplating existence

Even if we round generously, my cost per cup is about 22 cents.

If I drink three cups per day, my annual cost is roughly $292.

Not $6,000.

Two hundred ninety-two dollars.

That means — and I say this quietly — that I am personally foregoing approximately $5,700 per year in potential latte consumption.

I am, in essence, denying myself the right to be photographed holding a paper cup with my name misspelled.

What I am sacrificing

I am sacrificing:

Steamed milk artistry
Ambient indie music
The opportunity to nod gravely at strangers while typing nothing into a laptop
The prestige of saying, “I’ll grab it at Starbucks.”

Instead, I stand alone in the kitchen, heating water from 60 degrees to 212 degrees like a Victorian engineer.

I do this not for myself.

I do it for Kate ….

Because every penny I save by not buying lattes is a penny that can:

Sit in an index fund
Buy actual gold
Pay condo dues
Or cover the shocking annual cost of my multivitamin (a reckless 12 cents per day)

A moment for the multivitamin

Let us pause on that vitamin.

My vitamin costs more annually than the electricity to heat my coffee water.

Do you see what I endure?

The punchline (and the math)

At Starbucks, I could be spending:

$4,000 per year on two daily lattes

Instead, I am heroically spending:

Roughly $300 per year

The difference — approximately $3,700 — is what financial planners refer to as “the latte factor.”

I call it “marital devotion.”

If invested modestly at 5% annually, those savings over 20 years could grow to well over $120,000.

One hundred twenty thousand dollars.

That is not coffee.
That is inheritance.

In conclusion

So when I pour that second cup — the one I have gently convinced Kate is “too strong for a female tummy” — please understand:

This is not stinginess.

This is statesmanship.

This is leadership.

This is a man standing firm against the frothy tyranny of retail caffeine.

I am not merely brewing coffee.

I am protecting our financial sovereignty.

And yes, I will have another cup.

Because every sip tastes like compound interest.

If you’d like these essays delivered quietly, you can subscribe here:
https://jaronsummers.substack.com

The curious thoughts of Jaron Summers