Counting the cost of coffee

By cutting out snacks and coffees, the average Briton could pay off their mortgage eight and a half years sooner, or double their income in retirement.

This is because, over our working lifetime, UK residents splash out a staggering £57,434 each on non-essential treats, research from CreditExpert.co.uk reveals.

By buying coffees, soft drinks, chocolate bars, lottery tickets, taking taxis and subscribing to gyms we never visit, Britons get through an average of £1,222 a year.

And this money, if invested in pensions or added to mortgage payments, could have a life-altering effect.

Calculations from CreditExpert show that if put in a pension plan, this 'indulgence money' could almost double your tax-free lump sum on retirement from £22,000 to £41,000 and almost double weekly income from a private pension plan from £61 a week to £115.

For those more concerned with their mortgage than their pension, putting the money you would have spent on lattes and the lottery into mortgage payments could see mortgages paid off eight and a half years sooner.

"Our research highlights that the little decisions we make everyday, such as whether to buy a coffee or a small treat, can soon add up," said Jim Hodgkins, managing director CreditExpert.

"In the long term, they will make a real difference, one way or the other, to how quickly we own our homes or, how much we’ll have in retirement."

The largest indulgence-spend comes from 26 to 35-year-olds, at £1,492 a year. Pensioners, by contrast, spend the least on non-essentials at £718 a year.

Regionally, residents of the south-east of England waste the most on non-essentials, at £1,600 a year. This is 50 per cent more than people in the south-west, but even they get through £1,024 worth of luxuries a year.