While I was getting ready for bed a couple months ago, I was talking to my boyfriend about how excited I was to stop at my favorite coffee place on the way to class, and he said something along the lines of “Wow you sure spend a lot of money on coffee…”
That got me thinking… How much do I actually spend on coffee? I’m sure many of you, like myself have coffee pretty regularly, so lets do the math! On average, whether it’s at my favorite local coffee shop or at the caribou in town, my turtle mocha is about $5. So let’s say because I have a pathetic caffeine addiction and in order to function, I stop and get coffee everyday on my walk to my 8AM. That means $5 a day five days a week, which is $25 a week, which at first glance may not sound like a lot, BUT if you do that every week for a month, that’s $100. This means if you do that everyday for a year, that’s $1,200 on coffee, and that’s not even including weekends. Think about how many other things you could buy for $1,200!
Then I started thinking about my coffee addiction in its entirety, and I was considering it at all angles including the nutritional side. I was FLOORED at what is actually in my campfire mocha with an extra shot of espresso because let me tell you, caribou specialty mocha coolers run from 550 calories all the way up to a whopping 730 calories. That’s not even counting your blueberry muffin, your pumpkin bread, or your egg white turkey bacon, and most of those are loaded with fat and sugar! In order to burn off those calories with a workout, you’d have to run SIX miles (at a 10 minute per mile pace), which is about as easy as it sounds!
Now let me clarify, I’m not saying drop the coffee entirely, because lets be honest, college students should practically have an IV in their arm specifically for coffee. However, I do have some suggestions that will help satisfy your caffeine craze without hurting your wallet or your waistline.
1. Invest in a traditional coffee maker or Kerig. You could buy one at Walmart or on Amazon for $19.99.
2. Pick your favorite blend up at caribou or try something new! (My favorite is the Walmart Brand Donut Shop Blend, I got 48 kerig cups for $16.)
3. Get a delicious creamer from International Delight. (I love my cinnamon roll flavored one.)
4. Buy a super cute mug on Etsy.
5. JUST BREW IT!
Let’s do some more math. So, 48 cups of coffee for $16 is 33 cents per cup. It’s around $3 per bottle of coffee creamer, and mine lasts two weeks typically. That’s $16 a month on coffee (including weekends), which is $192 per year, causing you to save almost $1,000 on coffee a year. On top of that, a typical cup of black coffee is 2 calories and the creamer I use is 35 calories. So 37 calories in comparison to 730 is pretty insane.
Moral of the story: Wake up 10 minutes earlier everyday, brew your coffee and instead, for spring break you fly to Orlando and sit on a beach with your more easily achieved beach bod and think about all the money you saved on coffee. ;)