How to Avoid Starbucks and Save Money Drinking Coffee at Home
Are you addicted to getting coffee at Starbucks? Do you love the pretzels and cake pops? You aren't alone. Here are some helpful ways to avoid spending all your spare cash at America's favorite coffee shop chain.
It started innocently enough. A co-worker wanted to discuss professional issues outside of our cube farm. He suggested Starbucks. I enjoyed a Mocha Frappuccino. Later that week, I decided to take my wife out to Starbucks to do something a little different in the treat department. I had a second mocha and she enjoyed an iced chai tea latte. Soon, our addiction escalated. I went from a tall to a grande to a venti in a short time. She explored cake pops and pretzels. Within weeks we were hooked and had developed a full-blown Starbucks habit. We had long prided ourselves on not paying $5 for a cup of coffee. Now, we were sliding into the faux hipsterism of Starbucks.
It had to stop. Having worked in the financial services industry, I was well aware of the perils of "The Latte Factor." Financial guru David Bach coined the term to describe how Americans fritter away small amounts of money on frivolous things when that wasted money could add up to real wealth over time. Brokers have long advised that clients ditch the expensive coffee servings in favor of savings and investments. We had to think of alternatives to the coffee and tasty treats offered by Starbucks.
Here are some Starbucks alternatives that will help us fight the addiction:
Mocha Frappuccino. Frappuccino is a trademarked brand name that belongs to
Starbucks. Ironically, the only antidote to Mocha Frappuccino from the Starbucks drive through may be bottled Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino drinks from the grocery store. While a four-pack of bottled mocha coffee drinks at the store is pricy at nearly $5, that is only a quarter of the price of four $4.75 venti Mocha Frappuccinos from the Starbucks drive through! Alternatively, adding chocolate syrup and ice cubes to a regular cup of coffee can be a poor man's substitute to Starbucks signature coffee treat.
Chai Tea. It turns out that Starbucks does not have a monopoly on tea. Apparently, tea comes in a box of small bags that are perfectly sized for brewing at home. In fact, we already had a box of Bigelow Spiced Chai Tea. A box of 20 chai tea bags was less than $5. That is quite a savings over the $3.95 price of a venti Iced Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks.
Hot Chocolate. If it's cold and you want something hot, you can't beat Swiss Miss Instant Hot Chocolate. You don't even need mad barrista skills to makes a decent cup. The secret of making good hot chocolate is to use a bag and a half of the instant mix. Then, add your own fluffy marshmellows. It tastes great. If you don't think so, stand outside for twenty minutes without gloves on a cold winter night, then have some more. Our local Publix had a buy one get one special that gave us twenty individual serving envelopes of Swiss Miss for less than $2.50.
Pretzel. If you like a snack with your Starbucks beverage, they have some very good pretzels. Their Asiago and Cheddar pretzel is a sophisticated take on the traditional pretzel. However, your grocer probably carries soft pretzels in the frozen foods section. We like SuperPretzel brand. For about $4, you can get a box of six frozen pretzels. All you do is sprinkle a few drops of water on one and then pop it into your microwave oven for 30 seconds. You can optionally add some pretzel salt from the packet provided or just leave it plain. Either way, it makes a tasty alternative to a fancy $2.25 pretzel from Starbucks.
Coffee. We have a Proctor-Silex 12-cup coffee maker. It makes a pretty good cup of coffee even when we use store brand coffee. If we want to be fancy, we can easily add cream, sugar, hot chocolate or Hershey's syrup to the coffee cup. However, the secret to making really good extra special coffee is headgear. Wear a beret or a bandanna and you are half way to becoming a full-fledged barrista.
Free Internet. Many people visit Starbucks to hang out and use the free internet connection. Consequently, we no longer expect our local Starbucks to be filled with the intelligensia discussing philosophy, art, theatre, ballet, and great books. We find that we can access the internet more securely from home without having to ingest a massive dose of caffeine every few hours. However, our local library offers free internet and lots of literature to discuss. Free internet from our local library is much cheaper than buying a $5 coffee every hour at Starbucks.
We still haven't kicked our Starbucks habit entirely. We still love Starbucks. It still beckons us with a 24-hour drive through and incredible convenience. But, we have started a program to keep at least some of our pocket money and make the ubiquitous coffee shop a less frequent treat.
Sources:
Frappuccino.com
Countless Starbucks Receipts
www.finishrich.com - David Bach website.
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