Drink Good Coffee and Save Money!

So if you are at all like me, you like a little coffee to perk you up in the morning. I don't need anything fancy and I drink between 8 and 12 oz between 6 and 11 almost every day. On my way to work there is a Starbucks and I really like their Veranda blend straight up which costs me almost $3.00. This means that if I were to get a coffee on my way to work everyday it would cost me about $60 a month or $720 a year, and that is with just one coffee drinker in the house! (The grand total would be $1,080 if you also got coffee on weekends).

That number right there really makes me want to drink only water, but there is always opportunity cost to consider.

When I looked at how much that would be I started looking to make my own coffee because it had to be cheaper. I went to the grocery store and picked up a pound of ground coffee for about $6, made a pot and had to throw it away...IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!

This lead me to pursue better quality beans.

I found a gem on 29th Street in Grand Rapids (actually, technically Kentwood) called Schuil Coffee. They are Michigan's first specialty Roaster and have excellent coffee. However, when I first went in I got shell shock by $9.99/lb coffee. That seemed like a lot, but I was there, they were nice, the place smelled great and I wanted some coffee. I believe I started with the Peanut Butter Cup roast (it is as good as it sounds).

Anyway, let's do the math...

9.99 per lb, at around 45 cups per lb equals about $0.22 per cup. Wow, that is cheap! 

This is for good stuff too.

So if you were to drink two cups of coffee everyday (not just work days) for a year it would cost you a grand total of just under $160 (did I say it was good coffee too?).

This means there is a savings of 85%.

Of course you still will need a way to brew your coffee. You can get a coffee maker really cheap used at a garage sale, Goodwill or on Craigslist, but my favorite way is to use a French Press.

Here is a link to the French Press I use. I love it because it was made with the environment in mind, it is insulated and it has a two stage filtering process.

They can grind the beans for you at most coffee roasters but I like to keep my beans whole to help them stay fresh longer. You may need a grinder or burr. I personally like this one.

When you are finished with your coffee grounds make sure to compost them (post on composting coming soon!)

Let's look at the overall savings even if you had to buy the French Press.

Coffee could cost you $1,080 a year, but if you were to brew your own high quality coffee it would be closer to $160 a year. If we add the high quality french press to that price it would cost $210 total for coffee and french press for the first year with an overall savings of 81%, Every year after the first year you would be back to that beautiful 85% savings.

So if you can't give up your coffee, get some high quality beans and brew it yourself. Your bank account will thank you (or checking account if you read my previous post).

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