MATTE ARTICLE: Our Love Affair With Lattes May Drain Our Savings

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 19, 2013) - Imagine if you gave up that $5 latté you buy every morning and saved the money instead. Even at 1.5% interest, over 25 years, you can save approximately $5,500.00.

Cutting back on little things can really add up over time. Need proof? Check out Industry Canada's free online spending calculator called My Expenses Calculator. It lets you input your spending habits in daily, weekly or monthly amounts and instantly shows you how the amount spent on these purchases can add up over time. The calculator also lets you see how much money you could have over one, two, five, 10 and 25 years just by saving, instead of spending, that money. The results can be sobering. It quickly makes you realize how much we spend on these small daily items without really thinking how much we could be saving if we cut back, even just a little bit.

By becoming more conscious of the money you spend, and checking in once in a while to see how much you really are spending, you can make the most of the money you do have. That way, with a little planning, you can enjoy the things you want or need without going into debt.

If you'd like to give the calculator a try, visit www.consumerinformation.ca and search for the My Expenses Calculator. It's free and easy to use. The calculator is a portal for Canadian consumers to find clear, concise consumer information, tools and resources from objective, trustworthy and reliable sources. It's a collaboration between federal, provincial and territorial governments, and non-government organizations.

About Industry Canada - Office of Consumer Affairs

The Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) promotes the interests and protection of Canadian consumers. Well-informed and confident consumers help stimulate competition and innovation in the Canadian marketplace.

The OCA aims to ensure that consumers have a voice in the development of government policies and are effective marketplace participants. It provides research and analysis on marketplace issues in support of both policy development and intergovernmental harmonization of consumer protection rules and measures.

It also identifies important consumer issues and develops and disseminates consumer information and awareness tools. Finally, the OCA provides financial support to not-for-profit consumer and voluntary organizations, in the form of a Contributions Program, to encourage them to reach financial self-sufficiency and assist them in providing meaningful, evidence-based input to public policy in the consumer interest.

www.consumerInformation.ca helps consumers find authoritative information on consumer issues. The information available on www.consumerInformation.ca is provided by objective, trustworthy and reliable sources, including federal, provincial and territorial governments, and non-government sources.