A Penny Saved... The Morning Latte

You Save: a year!

The Frugalator!

Do you purchase a latte everyday on your way to work? Ordering a latte every weekday adds up to $650 over the course of a year. If you are looking for ways to save and cut corners in your budget, cutting out the daily latte by either making your own or ordering a cheaper beverage could amount to significant savings over the course of the year. Use The Frugalator on the right to determine how much you could save each year by changing morning beverages.

Some Cheaper Alternatives!

Buy Drip Coffee: $1.00

Make Your Own Latte: $.75 (Price using quality coffee, organic milk and flavoring syrup. Does not include price of Espresso maker.)

Make Your Own Drip Coffee... $.25 (Price using quality coffee. Does not include buying your own coffee maker.)

Saving Money on Equipment

The best place to buy rarely used espresso machines is garage sales. Shop around, you can find a quality coffee maker, new, for less than $30.

If you buy one used, check inside the tank for mineral deposits and run a mixture of 1/4 vinegar and 3/4 water throught to remove any deposits.

Save Money on Coffee

Coffee prices fluctuate as the price of coffee beans go up and down. For big savings on coffee, consider roasting your own in a hot air popcorn popper. It's surprisingly easy to roast your own, just be sure to do it outside. Susan (from ThriftyFun) and her son even wrote a book about!

We are creatures of habit, especially in the morning, change your habits and the savings will come easy.

Feedback

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By 02/21/2009

Be super thrifty and buy your own insulated coffee mug. Starbucks and other chains regularly have them on the clearance table for $5-7 dollars. The insulated disposable cups are hard on the environment and within a couple weeks, you have spent as much on them as an reusable insulated mug. If we all change one thing for the environment, we've implemented a lot of change! The coffee shop in my town cost $3.10 for an 8 oz latte. I know I can do much better than that at home with a home machine and products.

By jennifer(the java junkie) (Guest Post) 06/03/2007

my daily latte if bought comes out to $4.35 each, and i drink 2 lattes a day! so at close to $70 a week i had to find something better. i buy a new espresso machine every 6 to 8 months because i use them to death(the home ones are not meant to be used 2or 3 times a day) for a cost of $20-$30, i buy 2 gallons of milk a week for a cost of $4.50, and a pound of beans a week for a cost of $5 to $8 (depends on if they are on sale) my weekly cost just went from $70 to $12 to $15:) with the money saved, i am hoping to pay off my student loans about 6 months sooner:)

By 06/26/2006

Mr. Thrifty's Instant Coffee with French Vanilla coffee added for flavoring.
1 heeping Teaspoon of instant from a 99 cent very small jar of coffee Estimated cost 7 cents a cup
Got French Vanillas coffee on sale 99 cents for a small tin estimated 6 cents a cup.
Gas to heat the water probably about 35 cents
>07+.06 +35+ 48 cents a cup- French Vanilla coffee at the local coffee shop is 1.14 a cup with tax and I didn''t add the fuel cost of transportation
I got the small jar of instant at an Aldi's store last winter.
I got the French Vanilla Coffee at a cut rate grocery. Both were bought on regular monthly grocery shopping trip. I saved in groceries more then the gasoline I used( NO OUT OF DATE PRODUCTS)
I drink one coffee a day for breakfast.
Water with Lime juice water the rest of the day

By Carolyn (Guest Post) 06/01/2006

My favorite homemade morning drink is a cup of hazelnut coffee with 1/3 C. dry milk powder and about a tablespoon of presweetened cocoa powder, topped off with some cream or evaporated milk (at 55 cents a can!). It's rich, yummy, and everyone I give one to begs for more - I love it and it's CHEAP! Cinnamon, vanilla, or any other flavor I want to add gives variety, too.

By jeanie howard (Guest Post) 05/31/2006

You can order OH My Chai tea from www.tastefullysimple.com it's $9.99 for a 10 oz. can it saves to order two cans for the price 3 or 4 latte's in the morning. jeaniehoward03 (at) yahoo.com

By 05/31/2006

I was surprised to learn from my daughter that you can buy coffee cups with lids in the grocery store. She makes her coffee at home and brings it to work in the disposable cup -- so she looks just like everyone else but she's the Thrifty One!