I Also Heart Coffee
So, we’ve all heard that buying coffee is one of the big ways that a lot of people blow huge amounts of money without even realizing it. Drink a coffee a day? If it’s simple $2 coffee, that’s $730 a year… and if it’s a $5 fru fru Starbucks drink, you’re talking $1,825 a year! That’s enough to cover my car insurance for the year… or almost three months rent ((granted, I do have pretty cheap rent))!!
So, how much cheaper is it to make coffee at home? Well, being the scientist that I am, I decided to do some fancy pants maths to figure that out. Where by “fancy pants maths” I mean counting how many pots of coffee I can make from a bag of beans. Now, I’m a bit of a coffee snob, so I won’t drink cheap, crappy coffee. My coffee of choice is Fair Trade Organic Bolivian from Level Ground Trading ((as usual, I have no financial interest in this company. I know it’s surprising, but they haven’t paid me off for this endorsement. Though, for the record, I’d *totally* take a bribe in the form of free samples. I’m just sayin’.)) A 300 g bag of this deliciousness makes ~500 fluid oz of coffee. If you divide that up into 12 oz ((or a Starbucks tall)) cups, that’s 42 coffees. And though a 300 g bag of beans officially costs $15, I always stock up on it when it’s on sale for $11 ((and on very special days, it’ll be on sale for $9, and then I *really* stock up!)). That works out to 26 cents per 12 oz cup.
Let me me say that again:
- 12 oz cup of coffee at a coffee shop = ~$2.00
- 12 oz cup of coffee at home = $0.26!
That’s EIGHT TIMES cheaper! Even if I paid full price for the beans, it would still only be $0.36 per 12 oz cup! And remember, I’m not talking about some crappy tasting coffee – this is fair trade, organic and absolutely delicious! In fact, I actually like my homemade coffee more than stuff from a coffee shop!
Given my cheapness, I’ve been pretty good about not buying coffees out since I’ve been on my budget, but even *I* didn’t realize that that making it at home was so much cheaper! Now that I’ve done the math, I have a really, really hard time buying coffees!
Image Credit: Posted by Refracted Moments on Flickr using a Creative Commons license.
Comments |3|
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Geez, I was already having a hard enough squeezing two bucks out of Sarah for the occasional Timmie’s, and now you’re using hard science against me?
THANKS SO MUCH.
Sorry about that, Dave. Maybe you can use pregnancy brain against her – “Honey, I didn’t spend $2 on Timmie’s, you must have spent it somewhere and forgotten. You know, because of your condition.”
The guy can get free coffee in his office! FREE! Plus – he brews fair trade, organic, Equator coffee at home. Such a waste of cash.
Even more of a waste? Buying tea. I cannot stand to pay for it, so I bring my own teabags in and make it at work. I buy stuff when it’s on sale ($2 for 20 or 24) rather than pay at least $1 per cup.
My work colleagues hit Starbucks at least twice a day and/or only drink Vitamin water. It’s nutty to me!