photo credit: Esparta
If I had my choice between a cup of coffee and a Starbucks Americano, I would choose the Americano every time. Not just any Americano, but a grande Americano. 3 shots of espresso and a little room for cream and I’m happy. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy coffee too, but the Americano was my drink.
Every morning I would take the same train to work and stop by Starbucks for my morning fix: a grande americano and a blueberry scone. How often? 5 days a week, and sometime on Saturday mornings. At the time a grande americano was $2.90 and the blueberry scone was $2.50. I spent $5.40 each and every morning.
In the afternoon I would generally get a little hunger for something to snack on about 3pm. Everybody does right? Well, I would venture down to my local Starbucks and sometimes pick-up a tall americano and a cookie. How much? The tall americano was $2.25 and the cookie was $1.75, for a total of $4.
How did I spend $9.40 a day on coffee, scones, and cookies? Easy, it was convenient and it became a routine for me. Just like getting on the morning train and commuting to work, Starbucks became routine. Did I have a coffee pot in the office where I worked? Yep, and we even had free tea bags! I looked forward to that morning americano and blueberry scone each and every day, no matter what. Well, how much did the it cost me? Let’s see at $9.40 a day, 5 days a week for 50 working weeks equals $2,350. $2,350 is a lot of money. No, a ton of money!
What could I have done with $2,350? Invest it, apply towards mortgage, save it, college 529 for kids, buy something else with value. The problem with spending $2,350 on Starbucks, I don’t have anything to show for it. At least if I went out and bought a new TV for $2,350, I’d have the TV to show for it.
This Starbucks spending spree happened for years and ended in 2005 after a review of our family budget and a goal to tighten spending. Even if you have the money for something, are you being fiscally responsible with your spending? Clearly, I wasn’t and needed to stop my daily ritual.
The good news, I’ve stopped the addiction for two years and no longer go to Starbucks. I still drink coffee, but brew my own every morning and probably spend 25 cents on a pot of coffee. So where is the $2,350 being spent now? On our mortgage, I apply an extra $200 a month towards it. Did you have a similar Starbucks addiction or habit? Or maybe you had another vice? Care to share it?
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