It is almost impossible to start off your morning without a cup of coffee if you categorize yourself as a coffee lover. There is this special satisfying feeling about walking into your favorite spots such as Starbucks and coming out with a nice cup of coffee. But did you realize that you have been spending more and more on coffee drinks than saving towards your retirement every year? Just think about it. We pay almost 4 to 5$ just for, let’s say, a coffee cup every morning then in a single year you would spend around 1000$ already, which is very expensive. Not only do you spend money on coffee, yet you have to care about other basic needs such as food, school, families, and other essential requirements for your life.
You can see that buying coffee adds another complex layer for you to cope with your savings. Generally saving is very important for everyone, precisely younger people in their 20s. When you get older and older, you can use that money to sustain your life without depending on others. You should not ignore this point! If you do, it is a huge mistake. Seeing such a problem, we have shortlisted seven hacks that will help you save your money even if you’re a coffee addict.
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1. Make Coffee By Yourself
To save your money from buying coffee is to make it yourself. Become your own barista! We know it is an ancient way, yet the strategy works like a charm. You should invest in affordable coffee supplies or gadgets that allow you to make similar coffee drinks as you buy at the stores such as the French press. A French press is a gadget that you can use to make a fresh pot of coffee as well as an espresso shot. After buying it, you also need to buy around one pound of coffee beans that cost maybe 5$ at the local grocery store. It could last for a month if you do not brew them greater than you need to drink. Subsequently, you can grind them up super finely and put them in the French press. Then you can pour in hot water enough to immerse the grounds.
Furthermore, suppose you want to make a latte or a cappuccino at home to save you a lot of money. In that case, we recommend you to buy your own milk frother that is not very high-priced. Although adding all of these up may sound a bit pricey in the short term, in the long-term period, your initial investment will pay for itself back in a few months. This technique is a significant money-saver that can help you save up to approximately 1000$ a year for your retirement by just becoming your own barista.
2. Buy A Discounted Card From Your Favorite Café
Suppose you think that the first trick is a bit difficult for you to practice since it may require some time for you to make your own coffee, or you cannot resist the temptation of wanting your daily coffee run. In that case, you need to figure out how to spend less on the exact same things that you wish to have every day. Well, the choice you have is to buy a discounted card from your favorite café, most likely, they will offer. Usually, when you go to a particular café shop too often, they are compelled to know that you are a faithful customer. Therefore, some cafe stores do offer discounts for loyal customers—for instance, Starbucks, Caffee Nero, or even other coffee shops.
Sometimes, you buy a lot, like 5 to 7 cups, and then free an extra coffee mug for you.
Another way, if you own such a card, it allows you to get a certain amount of discount. This way, you can save around 20$ extra a month with minimal effort. In addition to that, you can also use the card for special occasions, including but not limited to, birthdays, graduations, or Christmas. After that, they will discount you or provide the drinks for free. You may find the gift cards somewhere around the internet, such as eBay. There are so many ways that you can get. In case you think that drinking coffee makes you more impoverished than before, and you can’t resist going in for lattes, this trick might save you some funds.
3. Bring your own coffee container
Do you want to buy coffee at a lower price and at the same time you can also save the environment? Well, this third point is the right one for you. It is about bringing your own mug or thermos to fill in the coffee. There are abundant coffee shops that are willing to offer you a discount if you bring your own reusable container to their shops to get your morning coffee. So, you just need to seek those types of shops. If you want to try this technique out, we would like to tell you that you will save at least some pennies only if you can bring your own cup. However, this may sound like the discount is not that big of a deal. Yet if you calculate the amount you are saving on average, you will see that those minor amounts of money can set up a monthly contribution to your bank account. Not only do you retain your money, but you also save the environment you are living in as well by helping not to produce more waste on the planet earth.
4. Sharing with friends
Have you ever noticed the price of a tall-sized cup in the café shop that you go to almost every day? You will probably see that the tall cup tends to be cheaper than the small ones, if you notice. That is right! The goal of the sellers is basically to make you want more for less amount of money. For example, you can see in Starbucks, the venti cup size (590 ml) is less expensive than buying a couple of tall cups (350 ml). So, in that case, you can just get a large size of cup and just divide it with a friend of yours. It is a genius idea! This way, you can enjoy the awesomeness of coffee without worrying about spending an extra amount of money.
5. Keep cold brew at your workplace
Many people make a cup of coffee in the morning at home. It is easy for them to make the morning coffee since they have enough time for that. Still, around the mid-morning, those people tend to collapse at their workplace and want another shot of coffee. If you face the same issue, do not buy the coffee drinks at the café shop just for that second shot. What you can do is you can make a bottle of cold brew at home and keep it at your workplace for later.Plus, by bringing your own drink, you can either add cold or hot water for your drink based on your desire and as well as save much more money than buying in the store.
And if you ask about the ground coffee for your cold brew coffee, we highly suggest you go get one of these ground coffee from top-notch brands. Imagine this: if you do not bring your own drink, then that means you have to spend around 5$ just for another shot; at the end of the year, you will spend around 900$/year. Hence, this tiny method will save you a lot of money.
6. Order via apps
We know that there is this special feeling when you get to walk straight up to your favorite coffee spot, grab your morning drink. Then you walk right back out like a boss or even a celebrity, especially when you wear sunglasses and a hat, people would surely confuse that you are popular. However, you can order the drink real quick by using any available app from mobile food & drink delivery marketplaces. An instant order will be made, and your job is to grasp your coffee quickly and go to work right away.
Talking about ordering coffee through apps, we would like to tell you that there are actually many benefits of using the apps to order coffee. The first benefit of ordering via an app is that you will get to know the total before you are done with the order. Knowing the total makes it easy for you to know what to do or how to make it cheaper if you realize that you go a little extra or further from your price set or limitation. When you are in store, you can overspend very quickly. Why? It is because you do not know your purchasing price in the total amount. With the app, you know everything, and it is easy for you to restrain yourself from availing too many drinks.
Another benefit of ordering via an app is that some café stores have discounted prices for ordering through your phone. For instance, Starbucks: they offer a 15 percent discount when they pay using the app on their phone for loyalty plans. Talking about math a bit, if you save 15 percent on your 4or 5$ daily coffee cup, you could conserve around 250$ per year, which is very insane.
7. Avoid buying snacks or water
Imagine you are in the coffee store, and you are ready to check out. Nonetheless, accidentally when you look to your left or your right, you see a delicious-looking chocolate chip cookie. You cannot resist the temptation or the feeling of wanting to buy more. Eventually, you pick it up firmly. Shockingly, the total is doubling the bill. Consequently, what you need to do is learn to control your desire. It will be best if you also eat your breakfast at home before coming to the café because the snacks you purchase from the café are usually very pricey. Likewise, it also happens to water as well. In some stores such as Starbucks, a water bottle is super costly than the local stores’ price. But the coffee hack here is that you can easily find water by asking the barista for just a cup of water, either cold or hot. The water they use is triple-filtered and safe to drink.
To sum up, coffee every morning is very crucial for some people. It boosts the energy and helps get the day started right. Nevertheless, buying it every day to brighten your day up is super expensive. Believe it or not, it can ruin your retirement plan in the future as well if you do not save up for it and just keep spending and adding for more. We have listed 7-must try coffee hacks and tricks for all coffee addicts out there because we understand this issue. If you want to cut the costs or are on a low-budget issue right now, we highly suggest you try them if you do not know about those strategies just yet.
You may not need to commit to doing every hack stated above. Similarly, you can also just focus on the only thing you like and stick with it. If you can practice one of these methods, you will save enough money on your daily coffee habit. And indeed, at the end of the day, you will see the tiny and small things really add up to a bigger something. So, just be patient and create your own discipline and keep up the good work! Soon you will see the result!
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