Fun Online Calculators

There's a Starbucks just a few blocks from my home, and I am always amazed at how busy it is. The drive-through seems to have a perpetual line, even at odd hours of the day. As someone whose body no longer tolerates coffee, I admit I'm a bit jealous. But I also have to wonder how people afford so much $3-per-cup-and-up coffee.

I am apparently not the only one who's curious about this. Hugh Chou also wondered this, and he did something about it. He came up with a web page that calculates how much people spend on expensive coffee in a year or over several years. He learned that some people spend literally thousands of dollars per year. Do they realize what they could do with the money they'd save if they drank the home-brewed stuff instead?

Hugh has designed a lot of other calculators that our teens can use to figure out cost savings on things like not buying pop at a restaurant or skipping the gourmet muffins at places like Panera Bread and Starbucks. Some of us SAHMs can appreciate the "Two Income vs. One Income" calculator. And Hugh's math games are great for kids of all ages. For his full line-up, check out his calculator page here.