Scrimp and save, tighten the belt and pinch those pennies. There’s an endless number of expressions for squirrelling away money in the hopes it’ll accumulate into something worthwhile. For some, forgoing a daily cup of java is their savings plan.

Let’s dive deeper. According to a 2015 Statista study, the average cup o’ joe in Toronto costs $3.28, though unlucky folks in Calgary are paying almost a dollar more at an average $4.22 per cup. That cost, multiplied by five (days in a week), multiplied by 50 (number of weeks in a year, minus two weeks of vacation), and Canadians spend on average between $667.50 and $1,055 per year on that addictive bean.

Obviously, if you save it up through the year and set it aside, you could net some savings, but will that pan out the way you hope?

Consider a principle of economics called comparative cost analysis. Essentially, it means the cost of one item is the inability to buy something else of equivalent value. Basically, if you can buy either an apple or an orange for the same price, the true cost of the apple is one orange and vice versa.

To find out how much your daily caffeine fix really costs, we have to look at what else you could buy with that money.

A few dollars a day in Canada doesn’t go very far. Your dollars can go much further in the developing world than they can at your local supermarket. Even two dollars a day can save a child’s life, giving them access to clean water, clothing, education and healthcare.

Prices in Christian Children’s Fund of Canada’s gift catalogue show one year of coffee costs as much as sending five to eight girls to school for the entire year, depending on which Canadian city you call home.

All this is to say your daily drip could give people around the world necessities of life.

To learn more about how you can help, keep a girl in school, provide educational support and more, visit our gift catalogue or sponsor a child.

Originally posted to ccfcanada.ca on May 23, 2018