I recently found $ 20 worth of Starbucks gift cards in my home office. Bought probably two years ago, they were put aside and forgotten. Oh boy….

Of course, I’m not the only person who has failed in this way. Starbucks ‘ annual report notes $1.64 billion in “stored value” liabilities – such as money in gift cards and in an app.

But even if you only hold a $ 50 balance, is this the best use of your funds?

There’s nothing wrong with coffee or tortillas every now and then, or even every day if you’re on a budget for it. But automatic rebalancing encourages overspending because consumers tend to treat “stored value” differently than real money.

“It doesn’t have that emotional trigger of pulling out cash and handing it over. You have to make a conscious decision that Yes, this is the deal I want to go through with, ” says Ian bloom, a certified financial planner in Raleigh, North Carolina.

While “latte factor” has become a phrase people love to hate, deep down it makes sense. If you invested that $ 92 every month starting at age 25, you would have $ 286,000 by age 65 (assuming an average annual return of 8%).

Note also that cutting that monthly expenses even twice would mean an additional $ 500 per year. These bucks can boost your emergency Fund or retirement plan, help you pay off consumer debt or save for a down payment on a car or home.

This money can also be injected into bonds, certificates of Deposit, peer-to-peer lending, a real estate crowdfunding site such as Realty Shares or Fundrise, equity crowdfunding, or a high-yield savings account. Or the money can go to your child’s educational Fund.

The latte factor isn’t necessarily just about caffeine. For example, Amazon makes it easy to automatically reload a gift card balance. Other services (iTunes, anyone? We are also glad that you can download store credit for future online purchases. Two possible outcomes:

You buy only what you really need, or

You see a cool t-shirt featuring your girlfriend’s favorite playable character, or a new hardback in the mystery series that your fiance just loves. Then your gift card balance and one click order can easily lead to unnecessary expenses.

With every unplanned expenditure comes the cost of opportunity. The $ 20 you spend on a t-shirt or the $ 92 you drop on a coffee each month is money that may not go to a long-term financial goal – or even a short-term one, such as compacting that emergency Fund.

Another issue: Saved credit is money that cannot be used in any other way. When you buy $ 4 coffee with a $ 5 bill, you get a dollar back. When you buy $ 4 coffee with saved credit you will get a lower balance. If you have $9.65 left in your account, you should spend it at the coffee shop.

What if there’s only $ 1.25 left? You have to spend more money to use it, either in cash or by reloading the card or app.

Things like coffee or t-shirts can be part of a smart budget. But it’s important to keep track of how much you spend. Get too used to auto-reloading your account and you may lose sight of how much money is slipping away.

Certified financial planner R. J. Weiss suggests turning the idea of an automatic reboot into a force for financial good. First, cancel any existing recharge agreements you have with Starbucks or anyone else. Next, schedule automatic withdrawals for retirement, homeownership or any other purpose money that matters to you.

“Take this concept to automatically withdraw and apply it to the important goal,” says Weiss, Geneva, Illinois.

Here’s another way to turn Starbucks (or any other retailer) into a positive financial experience: Use saved credit to set limits. Michael Izbotsky, a certified financial planner in Los Angeles, notes that a saved loan “can be a great way to limit or budget your spending.

“You’re essentially giving yourself a monthly allowance by pre-loading those bills with a set dollar amount,” he says.

“If you’re on track with funding your home purchase goals, travel goals, retirement goals and any other goals, then I say enjoy that daily Cup of coffee.”

This article originally appeared in Policygenius and has been syndicated MediaFeed.org. 

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