7 Deceptively Simple Ways to Save on Coffee

If you’re like the tens of millions of coffee junkies out there, your coffee habit is costing you a pretty penny. If your daily trip to the Starbucks is costing you thousands, don’t feel bad. Lots of people love their coffee, and will go to great lengths to get their fix. Just think about how much money you spend per year on coffee.

A large specialty coffee drink could easily cost you $4 a pop. If you get one everyday, you’re spending upwards of $30 per week. Over the course of a year that’s an easy $1000 on coffee. Not to mention if you buy and grind your own beans, get specialty coffee, etc. In fact, it’s easy to spend over $2000 per year on coffee, especially if you’re a real coffee nut.

The good news is that there are tons of great ways to reduce how much you spend on coffee. If you’re a heavy coffee drinker, the following tips could save you up to $1200 per year on coffee. How cool is that?!

Expensive Doesn’t Mean Good: Well, readers of Inexpensively, many taste tests prove that regular coffee often beats out the stuff you can buy at Starbucks. In fact, Adam Platt of NYMagazine did a taste test of seven different cups of coffee. The interesting thing is that Dunkin Donuts actually ranked ahead of Starbucks. So if you buy Starbucks, you can switch to DD and get a very similar level of quality. Now if you really want to save some money, just buy Dunkin Donuts coffee beans and grind them at home yourself. Doing this could save you well over $1000 per year alone. If you do one thing in this article, this would be it. It’ll save you a TON of money.

Make Your Own: If you love Starbucks Frappucino’s for example, opt for an iced latte instead, it’s pretty much the same thing. The trick is to ask for extra syrup. If you’re still feeling creative, buy black coffee and add your own combination of milk, cream, sugar, etc. Do you like flavored coffee? Why not buy liquid extracts like vanilla and add a few drops to your coffee? You could buy plain cream or half and half and add a few drops of your favorite flavoring, and whala, your own flavored coffee creamer!

Buy Gift Cards: Gift cards won’t necessarily save you money, but here’s a creative twist. Look for gift cards on Craigslist and Ebay. If you work for a big company, see if they sell discounted gift cards. In most cases, you can probably find unwanted gift cards and discounts. This probably isn’t worth your time if you’re an occasional coffee drinker. But if your coffee habit is burning a hole in your pocket, this tip could save you quite a bit.

Be Creative With Your Grounds: Used coffee grounds can save you a lot of money around the house. You can use coffee grounds as a natural deodorizer in your fridge or freezer. You can use coffee grounds as a natural fertilizer in your garden or compost heap. The high nitrogen content is very good for the soil. Coffee grounds are also great for keeping neighborhood cats and ants out of your garden. Cats just don’t like the smell, and chemicals in coffee burn ants’ legs. As if that weren’t enough, you can stretch the coffee you drink by simply adding 50% new coffee grinds to your already used coffee grounds. It’s just enough to make it taste fresh, and also stretch the beans. You may want to do this especially if you’re buying expensive coffee. Just try it out and see if you can taste a real difference. You can always tweak the ratio to match your tastes.

Become a Member: If you buy your own coffee beans, consider membership to a coffee club. There are plenty of coffee clubs online. Typically you’ll save money by buying from them rather than buying beans here and there. Just Google “coffee club” and you’ll find tons of coffee-of-the-month clubs to cater to your taste and budget.

Ditch the Caffeine: If you just drink coffee for the caffeine, you have other options. Eating fresh fruits, specifically apples, can produce more alertness and energy than a cup of coffee. It’s good for you and won’t stain your teeth! Regular exercise is also great for making you more energetic, especially if you exercise in the morning.

Get the Right Tools: Of course it’s hard to avoid your favorite coffee joint if you don’t have the right tools at home to make your own coffee. This means a coffee maker, coffee grinder, coffee beans, a travel mug or thermos, etc. Investing in a good coffee maker and carrying your coffee in a travel mug is an awesome way to fight off temptation of the big coffee houses.

So here are 7 tips that will save you lots of moola every year. What other creative suggestions do you have to save money on coffee? Please sound off in the comments!

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This is a guest post by Raza from http://TheCoffeeMakerStore.com. The Coffee Maker Store is a daily blog and e-commerce store dedicated to coffee, coffee makers, and coffee culture. Visit their site for the latest coffee tips, tricks, and news.