Many of you know that I am addicted to coffee. I picked up the habit when I had to be at the hospital really early for morning rounds, and since then I've never stopped. It's the one thing I drink religiously on a daily basis, and I love the taste too much to stop!
When I moved to Chicago for the new job over 2 years ago, I took the train into downtown and walked to work every morning. I passed a Starbucks all the time, and because of this, it was convenient for me to stop in and pick up a cup of coffee. This was especially useful on days when I was running late, since my commute was anywhere from 45 minutes - 1 hour on a given day.
I recently moved into downtown and live very close to work, but the nearest Starbucks is actually out of my way. So, with all of the changes going on in my life, I decided to sit down to see how much I was actually spending by buying coffee every day. I was motivated by a few things:
- The nearest Starbucks was out of my way to work every morning
- I started buying breakfast (usually a sandwich) with my coffee since it was convenient
- I have recently started to take a closer look at my money and how I spend it
- For breakfast, I was pretty sure I could make something just as healthy at home, if not healthier
The Calculation
So, I put all of my expenses on a spreadsheet and did some simple calculations. First of all, I wanted to see how much money I was spending at Starbucks on an annual basis. Then, I wanted to see how much I would save if I started making everything at home. The results were astonishing:
The Results
- I was spending over $1,900 on Starbucks a year. This assumed I bought coffee and breakfast every workday (251 days in 2015)
- If I made my own coffee (and even added protein to meet some of my nutrient goals), I would spend a little over $500 a year
- If I ate oatmeal every morning instead of buying breakfast, I would spend about $136 a year
- The difference between buying from Starbucks every morning and making my own coffee and breakfast was $1,260 in one year! This is a 66% savings from what I was spending! Holy smokes!
I couldn't believe this. I knew I was spending a lot of money by buying coffee and breakfast every morning, but actually seeing this number blew my mind. This is $1,260 that I can now use for something else, whether it's to help pay for rent, traveling to visit family and friends, or even investing it for retirement!
Anyway, I figured some of you might be interested in the results. I also spend a lot of money buying lunch every day, so I'm actually in the process of doing the same calculation once I get some of the things I ordered from Amazon.
I'm curious to see some of the other ways you all save money! <3