Do you have a coffee habit? I’m not talking the “need coffee to function” habit but the “life is too short for cheap coffee” type of habit. I do. I pretty much refuse to drink either of the major American brands of coffee. But other, better coffee can be hard on the budget. Here are some tips on how to fund your coffee habit without breaking the bank.
Shop sales/use coupons
For making coffee at home, whether you use a 12 cup coffee maker or a single cup coffee maker that uses pods, looking for sales and coupons on your favorite brands can go a long way. Example: The coffee I usually buy my husband is $5-7 a bag. Recently it was on sale for $3.99. I had four $1.50 off coupons. That made it $2.49 a bag. If I had been able to get there during the weekend sale it would have been $1.83 a bag. I do the same when I find my favorite brands of k-cups on sale. (I do realize that you can use a reusable k-cup to make it cheaper but I have very, very bad luck with those so no longer even try.)
There’s an app for that
For drinking coffee from coffee shops, you can often save money with your smart phone. A lot of national and regional coffee shops have apps where the offer special promotions and coupons. I always check my apps before buying coffee at one of these places to be sure I am getting the most for my money.
Gift cards
No, I’m not talking about people buying you gift cards. Although, that is nice too. I’m talking about using reward programs to buy gift cards for yourself. Swagbucks is a great place to do this. The offer Starbucks gifts cards that you can cash your reward points in on. Bing Rewards does this as well. You can also find discounted gift cards on a number of different websites. Raise is one that I have used before. Groupon also usually has a $5 for a $10 or a $10 for a $15 Starbucks gift card deal one to two times a year. I always take advantage of this.
Gift card perk programs
This is one of my favorites. We have re-loadable gift cards to Dunkin Donuts. For every $1 that we spend, we get 5 points. After 200 points, we get a free medium drink. Sometimes they run specials where you can earn extra points. Starbucks also has a perks program but since I am only near a Starbucks every few weeks, I don’t take full advantage of this program. Both restaurant perk/reward programs off a free drink for your birthday. Some other coffee chain restaurants also have reward programs but these are the two near me.
What ways are you able to save money on coffee without losing quality?
Emily says
You can also get Starbucks giftcards through the shopkicks shopping app. Once I have enough shopkicks I sometimes use it for a coffee splurge. 🙂
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Julie says
I’d forgotten about Shopkicks. I didn’t find it a great app in a rural area so didn’t bother loaded it when I got a new phone. Maybe I’ll have to try it again. 🙂
Erin says
Great ideas! I’m sorry you haven’t had luck with reusable k-cups. We use those daily!
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Julie says
I keep hearing how great they are from people online but I’ve always struggled and my “in real life” friends all struggle. I wonder what the difference is.