Coffee Tips for Mornings on the Go!
It’s the typical weekday hustle routine.. wake up, get dressed for work, get the kids dressed for school, prepare their breakfast, prepare their lunch, prepare your lunch (if you are on target to save big), get in the car, and hit the road. Once the kids are dropped off at school, you realize something is missing – your morning coffee! So you swing by your local coffee retailer to pick up a quick cup of java, which at an average cost of $1.85 for a regular medium sized no frills brew, seems reasonable. WRONG!
Let’s say you buy a premium bag of coffee for $8.00 a pound, which would yield approximately 32 eight ounce cups of coffee or 256 ounces of coffee for the bag (depending on the strength of your coffee). That’s $.031 cents per ounce of coffee! Starbucks charges $1.85 plus tax for a “tall” 12 ounce cup of coffee – which would equal 1 ½ scoups if you made it on your own. At this rate, you’re looking at $.154 per ounce – almost FIVE times the cost! This is just for regular coffee and not the “fancy” stuff!! In case you prefer your coffee to be extra strong, you’re still saving a ton of money by brewing it on your own.
Rule #1 is to get your own coffee machine for your home. There are many discount retail stores that offer coffee makers at a discount. Check out Big Lots!, Kmart, Target, Costco and other discount stores to score a great machine at a great price! Coffee machines have a wide range in price depending on the extra features you require. Also, be sure to check out our sponsored ad on our website for Gevalia Coffee, which includes a coffee maker! These days, most coffee machines have an auto-programming system where you can prepare your coffee in the evening and set the timer for when you want it ready for you in the morning. Typically these machines sell at approximately $25.00. With this technique, you just set the timer, let the coffee brew while you’re getting ready, and by the time you’re ready to go, so is your coffee! Plus, it saves you an extra stop on the road!
Worried about bland flavor for your coffee? We have you covered! Virtually all local supermarkets carry a variety of coffee flavors from brands such as International Delight, Coffee Mate, Bailey’s and store brands. The average price for a 32 ounce container is $3.00, but if you clip a coupon from the insert of your local newspaper, you can probably get it for $.50 to $1.00 less, and it should last you quite a while. The flavors offered are vast.. including Hazelnut, French Vanilla, Regular, Peppermint Mocha, Irish Crème, Amaretto, White Chocolate Mocha, Almond Joy, York Peppermint Patty and many more.
Just think, if you purchase a “fancy” coffee creation at your local coffee store, you could pay upwards of $4.00 for a 12 ounce cup!! This equates to almost $.34 cents per ounce – over 1000% more than if you were to prepare your coffee on your own at home. If you visit these establishments on a daily basis, you’re looking at $20 a week. If your spouse has the same coffee or tea habit as you, you’re spending $40 a week on merely 1 hot beverage for the two of you on a daily basis. Do you realize how much coffee and/or tea you can buy for this price! It would certainly amaze you!
On an occasional basis, it may not seem so drastic, but if you purchased coffee every day – or even every other day from a coffee retailer, you’re spending way more than you need to! If you implement our money saving technique, you could save yourself thousands of dollars per year! Wouldn’t it be great to have that extra money to use for birthday gifts, holiday gifts, or “just because” gifts, special occasion dinners, activities, travel and more?
While we profiled coffee for $8.00 a pound above, there are many other outlets which provide coffee for much less. For example, Trader Joe’s offers a 14 ounce canister of their coffee for only $4.99 which equates to approximately $.021 per ounce!
Regardless of whether you’re feeding a family of 4+ or shop for yourself – Buy in Bulk! Many times stores have tremendous discounts on meat and poultry as lures to get the customer into the store for the last minute “sucker buy”. If you stick to your list and only buy what you went to the store for, you’ll come out a guaranteed winner. Buy a couple of trays of the super sale chicken breasts for $.99 a pound or fresh Atlantic Salmon for $4.99 a pound and get yourself a Foodsaver. Here you can individually freeze portions or store enough appropriate for your family without the freezer burn. Buy that huge pork or beef roast without fear of not using it. My favorite cooking device is the Crock pot – you can put the whole roast in, cook it and freeze the unused portions to make a completely different meal at a later date.
