While working at a bank across the parking lot from a Starbucks, I saw many customers come in with a coffee in their hand. Some of these customers I saw on a daily basis, and a few had a coffee every day they came in. Our district manager enjoyed Starbucks so much that she had a special card given only to people who consume a ridiculous amount of coffee.
Being the accountant that I am and dealing with money all day, I decided to find out how much a daily coffee, or a daily whatever, costs someone. Since I have never bought coffee from Starbucks, I don’t know how much it costs, so I just used an estimate of $5 to make it easy.
Let’s say you buy a coffee every weekday before heading to work. When looking at the small picture, $5 doesn’t seem too much at all. But getting a coffee every weekday leads to 5 days every week, and 52 weeks every year. That comes out to $1,300 every year, all from just one small cup of coffee. I don’t know about you, but $1,300 is quite a bit for me. That could be 5 car payments,or 1 1/2 rental payments, or 7 months of student loan payments.
Now I’m not saying that you should do away with your coffee fix entirely; it is OK to buy things you want sometimes because you earned that money. But I think that a financial review of your wants vs. needs is definitely important, especially if you are struggling to make ends meet. Even if you cut back to getting coffee every other day, that would ‘save’ you $650 every year.
Not only can they brew coffee at home, many offices also have coffee pots. I’m a bit of a caffeine addict, so I brew my coffee in the morning and have a cup at the office. My office is right across from a Starbucks but I try to “treat” myself with a frappacino. Also, signing up for that special card you mentioned (it is actually a registered gift card), gives you a free drink on your birthday and after 15 purchases. It can be any size you want as well and it is based on purchase, so I will always let my friends or coworkers put money on my card and use my card to purchase the drink. You can also have multiple cards linked to one account so everyone in my family carries a card in case they make a stop randomly, so that we can be sure to get our free coffee. It is also really helpful because you can log in online and track your purchases. Great Post Ryan!
By: Nivene CashNet (@Nivene_CashNet) on May 22, 2012
at 3:05 PM
That’s a smart way to use the card. Thanks for the comment!
By: Ryan on May 22, 2012
at 3:37 PM
Brew your own coffee and take it to work. You’ll save a ton and it tastes the same. We reserve Starbucks for the weekends as a “sometimes food”.
By: MyMoneyDesign.com on May 14, 2012
at 9:46 AM
That’s like how I bring lunch from home, instead of buying it everyday.
By: Ryan on May 14, 2012
at 10:48 AM
Darn you and your anti-expensive-coffee blog post!
Actually, I’m looking forward to classes ending, thus breaking the bad Starbucks routine I’d developed on my way to class.
By: Laura Brigham on May 10, 2012
at 11:48 AM
Haha. Well that’s another good thing about the semester ending.
By: Ryan on May 10, 2012
at 11:57 AM
I used to be an everyday Starbucks coffee drinker. But once I sat down and did the math like you did here, I was shocked. Plus it was not healthy for me to consume so much caffeine and sugar. So, now I only buy coffee once a week, normally on the weekends, and I brew my own at home in the mornings instead. It saves a ton of money!
By: Carrie Smith on May 10, 2012
at 8:12 AM
Fast food is my weakness. I have realized that I can definitely cut back quite a bit in that area.
By: Ryan on May 10, 2012
at 8:35 AM