Cutting your daily latte to save money has become a personal-finance cliché.

In fact, it even has a name, “The Latte Factor,” taken from a book by author David Bach, who notes that the advice really isn’t about the coffee drink.

“This classic snippet of personal finance advice isn’t specifically anti-Starbucks. ‘Lattes’ are a metaphor for the tiny expenses that leak money from our pockets, often without us realizing how much we’re spending,” according to Bach, speaking on the Afford Anything podcast.

The math makes sense: Save $6 per day for 365 days a year, and you have $2,190. Do that for 10 years at a 6% interest rate, and you will end with $32,787.90. Make it 30 years, and you end up with $185,715.67.

In reality, however, coffee is about more than just caffeine. For me, it’s a valuable daily ritual, and even though I have a high-end espresso machine and make coffee most mornings, I also go to Starbucks nearly every day.

And while I enjoy that part of my day, Starbucks is not my only choice for coffee. So, although I’m not going to drop my daily drink (usually an almond milk shaken espresso), I thought it was worth exploring whether there were better, cheaper choices that might bring me just as much joy.

Coffee prices vary by chain

I visited a number of chains to compare the price of a medium iced vanilla latte. It’s important to remember that prices vary by location and that even two stores in the same chain might charge different amounts for the same item.

A Starbucks spokesperson shared some color on those nuances in an email exchange with TheStreet.

“Depending on the market, pricing varies. There are many factors that contribute to pricing decisions, including various rising operating and occupancy expenses (i.e., labor, rent, local mandates and regulations, competition, distribution, marketing, and commodities, including coffee, but also other commodities associated with beverages, food, materials, and operations),” the chain shared.

An informal poll of my coworkers across the country showed some variation in prices, but the range was within about $0.75, and my price was actually on the higher end of the range.

There are also some situations where prices are out of the chain’s control.

“In airports, hotels, and certain other non-traditional locations, Starbucks stores are often operated by licensed partners rather than Starbucks directly. Those operators determine their own pricing, which may also reflect airport or venue-specific fees, surcharges, and operating costs,” Starbucks added.

You can get a cheaper iced latte

For this test, I visited stores in the same South Florida market in an approximately 10-mile area. We ordered a medium iced vanilla latte as presented on the menu, which, in most cases, included whole milk as the default choice.

All visits were on Oct. 24, and calorie counts came either from the chain’s app, website, or in-store menu board. For the purpose of this comparison, we only went to chains where a person makes your coffee.

7-Eleven, Fresh Market, and other chains with machines that can make you a latte (albeit not an iced one) were not included.

Here’s how the chains stacked up:

• Starbucks: $6.05, 190 calories
• Dunkin’: $4.59, 170 calories
• 7 Brew: $5.20, 260 calories
• Wawa: $2.99, 140 calories
• McDonald’s: $3.89, 200 calories (McDonald’s calls its latte an Iced Vanilla Coffee and makes it with light cream rather than whole milk)

Taste also matters when it comes to coffee

While I could save significant money getting my daily iced latte at Wawa, I did not enjoy the drink as much as the Starbucks version. That, of course, is very subjective.

For many people, the cheaper options might make sense. In my case, the only iced latte I enjoyed as much as the Starbucks version was one at 7 Brew. Dunkin’ and Wawa were, in my opinion, fine in a pinch, while I simply do not enjoy McDonald’s coffee and find its sweeteners too sweet.

As someone who has written about money, investing, and personal finance for decades, the savings aren’t worth the sacrifice in this case.

That doesn’t mean cutting or substituting your daily latte doesn’t work for some people, but in my case, there are likely other areas of spending I could cut back on that make more sense than giving up something I enjoy at the place I most enjoy it.

Related: McDonald’s changes its discount strategy

Cheap clothes are only a bargain if they actually show up.

That is the quiet trade-off behind ultra-low-price online shopping. The $9 price looks like a steal until the package is marked delivered and never reaches your door.

Most shoppers shrug it off. A few dollars feels too small to fight over, and chasing a refund through an overseas customer service chat can take longer than the order itself.

Plenty of shoppers keep coming back anyway, drawn by prices traditional stores can’t touch. Multiply those small losses by millions of orders, though, and they add up fast.

Federal regulators have been watching.

• Amazon’s FTC settlement window is about to close
• DoorDash, Instacart face critical FTC fight over consumer fees
• Shein rival confirms plans for major U.S. store expansion

Now one of the world’s biggest online fashion sellers is paying to put an investigation behind it.

Shein has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission probe into delivery delays and other customer complaints, Reuters reported on Oct. 23, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Shein said in a statement to Reuters that it had “reached a constructive outcome with the FTC” and would share more information soon. An FTC spokesperson declined to comment.

What the FTC investigated at Shein

The complaints were piling up for years. Consumers filed more than 12,000 complaints about Shein over more than $11 million in purchases from January 2020 to June 2026, according to FTC records reviewed by Reuters.

Some customers told the FTC and the Better Business Bureau that they “never received packages that Shein had marked as delivered,” Reuters reported. Reuters said it could not independently verify the complaints or whether they were resolved.

Related: Consumers could see lower prices, increased privacy, from FTC ruling

The $100 million is not pocket change for Shein. It equals about 44% of the company’s second-quarter profit, according to Reuters.

The full settlement terms have not been released. That means it’s still unclear how much, if any, of the money will go back to customers.

Will Shein customers get money back?

Nobody knows yet, and you shouldn’t assume you qualify until the official terms come out. FTC settlements don’t always include direct payments to shoppers.

Some do. In Amazon’s FTC settlement over Prime sign-ups, eligible customers could claim payments, with a claim deadline of July 27, TheStreet reported.

If the Shein deal does include refunds, the FTC typically announces how to claim on its website. Watch for that, and be wary of any email or text promising a Shein settlement payment if you click a link, since scammers often copy real settlements.

How Shein’s fine compares with past FTC cases

The FTC has gone after online fashion sellers over shipping before, but never at this scale.

More Retail:

Here is how the reported Shein deal stacks up against earlier cases, according to Reuters:

• Fashion Nova (2020): Paid $9.3 million for missing shipping promises and handing out gift cards instead of refunds.
• Hey Dude (2023): Paid $1.95 million for failing to disclose shipping delays and suppressing negative reviews.
• Shein (2026): Agreed to pay $100 million, according to Reuters’ source.

That jump in scale sends a message to every retailer that sells cheap goods shipped from overseas. Shipping promises are a legal obligation, not marketing copy.

Your rights if a Shein order never arrives

You don’t have to wait for the settlement details to protect yourself. The FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Trade Regulation Rule already spells out what online sellers owe you.

If a seller doesn’t say when it will ship, the FTC’s rules presume shipment will be within 30 days, and merchants must normally be capable of shipping within 30 days, according to the FTC’s business guide to the rule.

If it can’t ship on time, the merchant must offer you the choice to either accept the delay or cancel. The notice must tell you that you “can cancel the order and obtain a full and prompt refund,” the guide says.

Refunds also have a deadline. For a card issued by a bank, the seller has seven working days after cancellation to send your money back, according to the FTC. Store credit or vouchers don’t count as a refund.

Here is what to do if an order goes missing:

• Save everything. Keep order confirmations, tracking pages and any chat or email with customer service.
• Ask for a refund in writing. Use Shein’s official refund process first, and note the date you asked.
• Dispute the charge if needed. If the seller won’t fix it, contact your card issuer and ask about a billing dispute.
• File a complaint. You can report problems to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

What the fine means for Shein investors

Shein, which was founded in China and is headquartered in Singapore, is now a public company, so the settlement lands on shareholders too. Its shares are down 22% from the Sept. 1 listing price in Hong Kong, Reuters reported.

The company had flagged this risk. Its Hong Kong IPO filings in July warned that the U.S. probe could lead to significant fines, according to Reuters.

Investors have bigger worries than one fine. New European Union fees on e-commerce packages have hurt Shein’s European business, Reuters reported.

Demand signals are soft too. App downloads across 10 markets fell 42% in September from a year earlier, according to Jefferies analysts cited by Reuters.

Regulators elsewhere are still circling. Shein remains under a European Commission investigation into illegal products on its marketplace, and France’s data protection authority fined it €150 million, or about $168 million, last year over its use of cookies, Reuters reported.

Why cheap shipping comes with a cost

This is the part I think matters most for your wallet. Ultra-low prices depend on long supply chains, and long supply chains make delays more likely.

That doesn’t mean you should stop shopping for deals. It means you should treat delivery promises as part of the price, and know that the law backs you when a seller misses them.

Before you check out, look at the estimated delivery window and screenshot it. If you need something by a set date, such as a wedding or a trip, a seller that ships from inside the U.S. may be worth a few extra dollars.

A $100 million settlement suggests regulators are taking those small, easy-to-ignore losses seriously. The cheapest order is still the one that actually arrives.

Related: 79-year-old fast-fashion retailer closes 128 stores

Kroger’s CEO Gregory Foran wants to simplify the company’s discounting system. That’s going to take time, and it won’t always mean lower prices, but his goal is clearly presented value, not being the cheapest grocery offering.

In reality, most grocery chains can’t compete with Walmart and Costco when it comes to overall pricing. That’s something Consumer Reports showed in an extensive study that used Walmart as the benchmark and found that only Costco, Aldi, Lidl, BJ’s Wholesale, H-E-B, and WinCo had lower prices than the retail giant.

That’s something my wife and I have also experienced in recent weeks researching price check stories for TheStreet.

We don’t have Kroger here in South Florida, but Publix, our regional grocery chain, was consistently higher on everyday prices. It does, however, offer buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals that help bring our overall cart total closer to what we might spend at Walmart or Costco.

Speaking at a recent Kroger Investor Day, Foran promised to overhaul his company’s value promise and promotional offerings. In some cases, that means lower prices, but “simpler” will not always translate to cheaper.

Kroger shares its pricing plan

Foran shared that his overall goal is building “America’s favorite grocer,” and doing that, he said, “requires winning the customer in-store and online.”

“Value is where we start. That means sharper everyday prices and simpler promotions. Now we will pace this new customer value plan against the savings that fund it. And I can tell you that early customer response has reinforced our confidence in this approach. We’ll improve the customer experience,” he said.

Chief Marketing Officer Mary Adcock explained how the company plans to execute on its value plan.

She said that the chain’s first focus is “making value visible, lowering our everyday prices and making our promotions more simple and less complex.”

Adcock noted that approximately 95% of Kroger’s sales are tied to its loyalty customers.

“And through our proprietary analytics, we know what customers buy,” she added.

“Our data shows us three key things that are changing about the customer that inform the changes that I’m discussing with you today. First, customers respond to lower prices and simplified promotions. Second, customers are looking for more fresh offerings and more Kroger Our Brands. And third, customers want a connected experience across the store and e-commerce,” she shared.

Kroger wants to make pricing simple

Kroger isn’t promising to offer the lowest prices. Instead, the chain is pledging to put operational savings into lower prices while also making it easier for customers to understand its value proposition.

“Today, not enough of our customers understand the value Kroger offers. Just a few weeks ago, we got an e-mail from a customer that clearly outlined the complexity with three price points in one offer, clearly too complex, especially if you’re a customer that only wants to buy one item or doesn’t want to download the app. Now this is just one example,” Adcock said.

In many cases, she added, it wasn’t that Kroger wasn’t offering value, it’s that customers were not seeing it.

“More broadly, our customers have a point. When we’re on promotion, our items are very competitive, but our promotions are complex. And when we’re not on promotion, our everyday prices appear too high. So this is why we’re fundamentally changing our approach to make value more visible,” she added.

Kroger plans to keep some promotions, but that’s not the chain’s core plan when it comes to pricing.

“Going forward, we will reallocate value from the promotions into everyday shelf prices across the store and online. And we expect this to strengthen our relationship with our customers, which starts out with first more trips, then growing a larger share of our customers’ basket and then over time, growing new households to support our top line sales growth,” she shared.

Kroger faces a Walmart and Costco problem

Parade.com’s Senior Food Editor Ni’Kesia Pannell is confident that Kroger can offer value while not being the cheapest option.

“As the largest traditional supermarket, Kroger’s attempt to become the top alternative seems like the right move especially with folks trying to cut back on as much as possible. Traditionally, Kroger isn’t the cheapest, but with this move, it can take over a space that has long been dominated by Walmart,” she told TheStreet.

She believes that Kroger can win by following Costco’s strategy of delivering value through house brands.

“Kroger has a number of private-label brands as well that range from cost-effective, everyday options to a premium tier as well as an organic line (the latter also serves as the largest organic and natural brand in the country). With all of that in mind as well as their multi-year pricing plan — and hopefully more brick and mortar storefronts across the nation, I can absolutely see them being the place shoppers flock to,” she added, albeit with a caveat.

“The one thing I don’t see, however, is it being able to be a replacement for Costco. Costco sells by bulk and offers top tier meats and more at relatively unbeatable prices. It would have to really get smarter about what it offers to become the option to choose over Costco,” she said.

RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks that Kroger doesn’t need to be the cheapest to win.

“Kroger doesn’t have to beat Walmart, Costco, or Aldi on every price. It needs to be close enough that customers don’t feel they’re being penalized for shopping there. People will pay a little more for convenience, better selection and fresh food, but there’s a limit to how much more,” he told TheStreet.

Most Kroger customers won’t see major changes quickly.

“In aggregate, we expect to be able to invest $5 billion in value for our customers, which will be realized by 2029,” Adcock shared.

The pricing rollout has already been tested in some markets, but full adoption won’t happen across all banners and stores until 2029.

Related: Safeway supermarket chain closes underperforming stores