Save money by making coffee at home

Are you feeling the pinch? Perhaps economically, things aren’t as great as they could be. Plenty of people who haven’t been too worried about their money in recent years are having to make some cutbacks to try to afford the same sort of essentials they usually don’t have to consider.

How much of a difference can coffee really make? Well, you might be surprised at how much your coffee habit is worth over the course of a year.

Crunching the numbers

Let’s take a logical approach to look at how much money you could really save by making coffee at home or in the office, or by switching the way you get your coffee.

The person who can save the most is the person who buys coffee out and about. If you go to a coffee shop every single day and buy yourself a latte, you might well end up spending £2-3 (or dollars) each day on this. Let’s say you do this five times a week. That might be £15 a week, and every week of the year? That works out at £780 a year, before you’ve even accounted for the delicious biscuits and pastries you might be tempted by.

Compare that to a Bosch coffee machine. A lot of the filter coffee machines in the range are pretty affordable, and you can buy a machine for a few weeks’ worth of lattes. It can be seen as an investment. It is possible that you could make a delicious coffee at home that costs pennies to prepare when you use a coffee machine or filter coffee maker. 

Some people are serial coffee-buyers. A lot of us rely on coffee for that little boost throughout the day, and some even buy coffee in the morning, at lunchtime, and at the end of the working day. This could turn it into an expensive habit that costs you thousands a year. There’s nothing wrong with it if you can afford it and enjoy it but if you do want to cut back a bit, the Bosch coffee machine example is very relevant.

Sacrificing quality?

This is an area that is really up for debate. A lot of people definitely love to go to a coffee shop and buy their favorite barista-prepared drink. For example, you might love a flat white or a latte and these are difficult to prepare at home unless you invest in your skills and in some equipment. This might defeat the purpose when it comes to saving money.

So, do you have to sacrifice quality? Taste is subjective so nobody can tell you what to like! However, it is true that a lot of the big coffee chains don’t necessarily use the best coffee beans. They may be focusing more on profit margins and this might mean that they are not giving you the most amazing espresso to base a coffee drink on.

Also, if you do want barista-style drinks that are hard to make at home, there are options such as bean-to-cup coffee machines and pod machines that can prepare a pretty great alternative so you can have a coffee at home, such as a cappuccino or a flat white.

Other ways to save money on coffee

Have you realised that you are spending a lot of money on coffee and you want to curb this. Of course, making a cup of coffee at home and taking it out and about with you is probably the best way (you can even keep it warm in a flask or cup).

There are some other tips out there for saving money on coffee when making at home.

• Bulk buy your coffee beans. If you drink enough of it then this makes a lot of sense, especially because of the fact that coffee keeps relatively well if it is unopened.
• Cut down. Are you drinking too much coffee? You don’t have to go without but of course if you cut down on your coffee then it will have a bonus of stopping you from spending quite so much on the hobby. 
• Experiment with the cheaper coffees. Taste is subjective and coffee beans can vary a lot in price. If you are drinking a really expensive type of coffee then you might be able to find a cheaper type that is still delicious. You might even like it more.
• Cold brewing coffee. If you like cold coffee, you can cold brew! This takes longer, but there are some distinct advantages, especially as you can keep it in the fridge and none gets wasted.

Summary

Making coffee at home is a great way to save yourself some money, especially if buying it when you are out at work or on other journeys is starting to cost you a lot. Some people are shocked when they work out how much their love of coffee actually costs them, and cutting down may make perfect sense.