Do I want a coffee? Heck yeah, I do! But with coffee comes a burning hole in your pocket. But, lately, I have begun to sew that hole right back up. So, before I get ahead of myself, I am 100% a coffee addict. I cannot go one day without coffee and I am a walking zombie until I get that first sip in my dark soul. But the problem with this is because I love coffee so much, I was going to Dunkin’ or Starbucks every day. Of course, we all know iced coffee and iced lattes are superior to just plain everyday hot cups of coffee, but it was becoming a problem for me. I always get the same thing: a medium iced mocha latte or a venti white mocha with sweet cream foam and caramel drizzle. So clearly, one that is so much sugar and so many unnecessary calories that I was and still do put in my body occasionally. But, I love coffee so much I did not know what to do about it. I have a Keurig and I do make hot coffee at home, but every time I passed a Dunkin’ I had the urge to pull in, which there is one like every 5 miles around here. It got to the point that I was spending about $33 a week on just a coffee.
But, one day I was scrolling through my TikTok and my prayers to the universe had been answered. I saw a video of this girl making her coffee at home and I thought to myself “wow, I really need to start doing that.” So from that moment on, I decided I was going to make my iced coffee at home. The first thing I did was stop at the store to try and find an iced coffee that I would enjoy, which you could just put a cup of coffee in the fridge but personally I feel as though it does not taste the same. I ended up settling on the Starbucks Subtly Sweet Iced coffee, which is only about $4. I then went to T.J. Maxx and I grabbed myself some mixing syrups, I got Jordan’s Skinny Mixes, Skinny Syrup in the flavors Butter Toffee, and White Chocolate. They were about $4 each. They are 0 sugar, 0 calories, 0 carbs, keto-friendly and they taste sooooo good! I then had to find a frother, because I needed to make my cold foam of course, so I stopped at Target, and low and behold they had a milk frother for only $8 and only required batteries. I had to get a creamer to make the foam sweeter so I settled on the Starbucks White Chocolate flavor.
I know you all are probably thinking this is still a lot of calories and money girl. Okay, it’s a lot of money at first but after you buy the frother, you clearly do not have to ever purchase it again. The creamer and syrups I have not had to buy again yet. I only had to buy the coffee one other time! It saves you a ton of money in the long run. I may spend $4 for the coffee at first, but it lasts a week before I need to buy another which saves me $29 a week which adds up quickly! When it comes to calories, coffee will never be good for you unless it’s black coffee, no sugar, no cream, no flavors. It is better than the coffee I was getting at Dunkin’, but still not the best. I did cut out putting sugar in it, and I am slowly starting to get away from the subtly sweet to unsweetened. I am a huge sugar fan, but obviously, it is not good for you so it is a work in progress.
For me, changing to this process has saved me money in the long run. I have been slacking because of my lack of energy to go to the store to pick up more coffee, but hopefully, it will become a habit and I can cut out Dunkin’ and Starbucks once a month instead of every single day. If you are a big coffee drinker and tend to buy your coffee daily instead of making it at home I highly recommend trying it from home. You can make fun iced coffees at home for less money. Who does not like to save some coin here and there? If you are unsure of how to make an iced coffee the way you like it at home I recommend looking on Pinterest. Pinterest is my lifesaver, it is where I learned how to make my cold foam. They have a ton of recipes on there for anything and everything you could want. At least give making your coffee at home a try!