Just ran the numbers on my co-working membership vs a cafe

I pulled my bank statements for the last 6 months and realized I spent $780 on coffee and snacks at cafes while working. That's almost what a hot desk at WeWork here in Medellin costs for 3 months. Plus I get reliable internet and a real chair. Has anyone else actually sat down and done this comparison?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant8269d agoMost Upvoted

Heard from a buddy who did this exact math and found out he was dropping about a hundred bucks a month just on wifi passwords at coffee shops because he'd buy a muffin to get the code. He switched to a coworking spot and now says the free coffee there is actually decent enough that he stopped buying cafe lattes entirely. His back stopped hurting too which he didn't even realize was a problem until he sat in a Herman Miller chair for a week.

linda_murphy9d ago

Oh man, that back pain thing hits close to home. I actually read a study a while back that said most people don't realize how bad their posture is until they sit in a proper ergonomic chair for a few days, like your body just forgets what it feels like to not be hunched over. The muffin tax is real too, I heard some guy online figured out he was spending like $60 a month on pastries he didn't even want just to get the wifi code at a local spot. Coworking spaces definitely seem like the smarter move if you can find one that's not too pricey, especially since most of them have better coffee than the stuff at chain cafes anyway.

the_betty9d ago

Yeah that muffin tax hits different when you actually add it up, @grant826's buddy sounds like he was me last year because I did the exact same thing and felt so dumb when I crunched the numbers. A coworking spot with decent chairs and free coffee saves way more than people think once you stop buying pastries and lattes you didn't really want.