June 30, 2008

Cutting Back on the Starbucks? Brew at Home and Save Money

You used to be able to get a gallon of gas for less than a latte, but now a gallon of gas costs more than the average grande latte and it's starting to hit the wallets of Americans at all income levels. People are cutting back on going out to dinner cutting back on the number of miles they are driving in their cars, choosing cars with better fuel efficiency over bigger domestically made cars, aren't they cutting down on the Lattes and the Frappuccinos?

Hey with a $3.75 latte every workday, that adds up; you've seen the math, reaching close to $1,000 a year. Starbucks recently indicated that same store sales were down, year over year, and with the recent stiffening of people's resolve to save money, I would imagine that the second quarter is going to be worse.

Maybe it's time for an investment in a home Espresso maker and brew up your own lattes every morning before going off to the office. Invest that Latte money in a good quality brewer, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your excellent investment. Plan on spending about $75 - $100 in coffee a year if you want to brew up that workday latte (14 grams per brew, every weekday, at about $10-$12 a pound); I'll say that the milk is only a few bucks and that you probably have it on hand anyway.

Take a look through our Espresso Machines area to pick out a few to target. I would recommend spending at least a few hundred dollars on a pump driven semi-automatic that will make high quality coffee.