How I Save a Crap Load of Money by Skipping Starbucks

Do you love coffee as much as I do? Stop spending so much money on your morning habit.  This week, I (@Michelethebargainqueen from www.savingmoneyandmakingmoney.com) will share with you how I managed to save myself a crap load of money by making them at home.

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I used to stop at my local coffee shop of choice just about every day.  I love the Peppermint Mocha coffee at Starbucks and the Iced Butter Pecan Coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts.  Just thinking about it makes me want one. They are indeed heavenly. But then I realized I was spending over $25 per week on my morning caffeine habit. (That’s over $1300 per year I’m spending on my coffee addiction!) Surely, I could save myself some money if I did it at home.

The first thing that I wanted was a Keurig coffee machine.  It was faster than a regular 8 cup coffee maker.  Plus, I could use if for tea, hot chocolate or just make hot water.  After looking at the various models, I finally decided on the Keurig K-Classic for $99.99. Yes, I know, I spent money.  But I figured with spending $99.99, I would be saving myself a lot more money in the long run.

When I saw how much the K-cups were, I knew that I would need to find a better monetary solution to purchasing those as well.  And guess what?  I found these awesome reusable plastic K-cups by LivingAid.  I put a star on the one with a sharpie to use that one just for loose leaf tea.  My husband and I both like different types of coffee, I love Dunkin’ Donuts and he likes his Hazelnut coffee.

Here is how easy it is to make my coffee:  just put one tablespoon of coffee (whatever kind you like) in the reusable K-cup and place in the machine.  Put lid down and choose whichever size cup that you would like.  Easy!

Okay, so I had to purchase a couple more things to be happy with my morning coffee.  I needed to get a nice, insulated coffee cup to keep my coffee hot in the winter and cold in the summer.  (I like iced coffee in the summer.) My husband found these awesome ARCTIC insulated cups in a variety of colors.  He got me a Tiffany blue color and he got a dark blue for himself. (They have different lids that you can purchase which is awesome too.)

I have my Keurig, my reusable K-Cup, my coffee, and my cup. Now I need different flavors or syrups to make my coffee heavenly.  We started by just purchasing 3 different syrups from Torani (the variety pack includes Vanilla, Caramel and Hazelnut). You can get these regular or sugar free.  I opted for sugar free so that I wouldn’t gain so much weight.  (Starbucks peppermint mocha was over 500 calories!)  After we played with those flavors, we started expanding our syrup collection.  We’ve tried several different brands:  Torani Sugar Free and Jordan’s Skinny Syrups. They all taste great to me!

I prefer my coffee with a splash of heavy cream and some sugar free syrup.  My husband prefers to have a “coffee creamer” to add to his. I make a homemade creamer for him.  Here’s the recipe:

• 1 can condensed milk

• 2 ½ - 3 cups of milk (we use whole milk, but you could use whatever you prefer – skim, 2%, nut milk, etc.)

• 1/3 cup syrup (any flavor, either regular or sugar free)

• Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid (we love this one), and shake, shake, shake.  Place in refrigerator and enjoy.

We have experimented and made all different kinds of flavors:

            Almond Joy – chocolate and coconut syrups

            Thin Mint – chocolate and peppermint syrups

            German Chocolate – chocolate, chocolate macadamia, and hazelnut syrups.

We have come up with so many different homemade creamers I may just have to do a blog on just that.  So, stay tuned.

Here is the breakdown of everything that we purchased:

• Keurig $ 99.99

• Reusable K-Cup $ 6.99

• Insulated Cup $ 19.99

• Coffee $ 16.99

• Syrups $ 24.75 (3 bottles)

• Creamer Container $ 19.99 (6 bottles)

We did spend $188.69, but when you think of what I alone would have spent through the year, we did indeed save a boatload amount of money, plus once you have the main items, you just will spend $ .89 for your actual morning cup of coffee!

Will you take the step and save yourself money by doing it yourself?  We did, and we LOVE being baristas!

As my husband always says, “Saving Money Is Making Money!”