Does anyone actually get Starbucks every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Often times budgeting advice here is to skip the extras, like cable, or the Starbucks habit or some other supposed daily expense. Does anyone out there actually do that kind of stuff daily -- get Starbucks or like buy your lunch? Really? If so, how much do you spend?

I buy lunch every day. So do most people in my office. We don't have the time to pack, but we have the money.

[Anonymous]

I don't do Starbucks every day; I make my own tea at work. But I do stop by Starbucks once a week when my daughter has a dance class nearby - it's a good place to grab some tea and kill a bit of time between activities.

If I had to cut expenses dramatically, I'd probably force myself to stop getting takeout. I get a lot of takeout because we are often on the go and I don't take pleasure in cooking when I have a lot going on.

If I stopped drinking wine, I'd probably save a ton of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"You can't latte yourself to bankruptcy. The bladder won't stand for it" - Katie Porter in Helaine Olen's Pound Foolish

I'm generally a pretty frugal person and avoid unnecessary expenses, including Starbucks. But I can't be too judgmental on those who choose to indulge. If your morning latte is the thing that gets you through the day, or one of the few things you reliably enjoy and look forward to, I don't think it's nearly as destructive as some people imply.

Let's say you spend $5 at Starbucks every day of the year. That's $5x365, or about $1,800 per year, or about $1,300 if you only go on weekdays. I don't want to imply that's a trivial amount of money. But it's not going to make or break your household finances. It's the big lifestyle decisions - car, houses, vacations, schools - that determine your big picture finances. Latte's aren't quite small enough to be dismissed as a rounding error, but they're definitely at the margins of your financial health.

Written like a true DCUMer. $1800 is a lot of money to the majority of Americans. I have a once a week Baskin Robbins fix and at nearly $5, I have a $250/year habit. Can I afford it? Yes but not $1800 a year.

[Anonymous]

Before kids, when I worked, I used to go every morning and often every afternoon to get lattes. When I had my kids I would go every time I had to go out on errands, so every other day or so. After my husband lost his job, we have been making coffee at home and we are both happy with that also. It was a convenience thing for me and I liked their lattes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh- I do both. I used to get Starbucks 2-3x/wk but now it's turned into a 7 day habit I am pregnant and something about their lattes just settles my stomach and my whole day is thrown off if I don't have one before I eat breakfast. Is there a way to make lattes at home?

Google espresso machines. Most of them will have milk steamer for lattes.

Go to Amazon and buy s battery powered milk frother use with microwaved milk and regular coffee. It is really cheap, really awesome.

[Anonymous]

yes

[Anonymous]

I like the specilaty drinks as much as anyone. But have you ever looked at their nutrition chart? Forget the money. The calories! Some of those drinks are like 400 cal for a small. When I see people chugging the bigger drinks, I always wonder at how they are fine with ingesting 1000 calories in their drink.

[Anonymous]

DH gets a tall Pike on the way into the office, which is about 2-3 days/week. I get the expensive drinks, so he treats me when he's earned a free one. I know it's a high calorie drink, so I only get it about once a month.

[Anonymous]

Between my walking + Metro commute, schlepping work files, laptop and (sometimes) gym stuff, I don't have space to carry a thermos of coffee. My shoulders are already suffering as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the specilaty drinks as much as anyone. But have you ever looked at their nutrition chart? Forget the money. The calories! Some of those drinks are like 400 cal for a small. When I see people chugging the bigger drinks, I always wonder at how they are fine with ingesting 1000 calories in their drink.

I'm sitting here reading this thread and completely jealous that people can drink lattes and frappes every single day and not gain weight or have other health issues.

I don't drink at Starbucks often, but when I do it's typically a brewed coffee or Americano.

[Anonymous]

My husband buys lunch out every workday. He works in a SCIF so it gives him the chance to be out and see daylight. . He usually takes coffee from home in the morning, but I wouldn't care if he went to Starbucks - he has a bitch of a commute and if Starbucks made it a little better than I'm all for it.

Before anyone jumps on me about his commute, I regularly ask if he wants to move closer and he doesn't (I WAH so can live anywhere in the area).

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad that some of us are willing to spend some money day to day. It creates jobs for so many! Some of you who go out to lunch often helped pay my bills through undergrad (tips).

I used to go to Starbucks daily. Now, it's more like once a week. I never pack a lunch, however, so I spend about $7 on average per day.

[Anonymous]

22:52 - that's my thought too! Whenever I try to tighten the financial belt by eating less takeout or eating out less, I worry that I'm hurting the local economy. I don't buy much from big chains, but the smaller ethnic places depend on people like me! (i.e. people who dislike cooking more than they dislike spending $10 on lunch.)

[Anonymous]

I go 5-6 times a week. Not all to Starbucks, a few times to a specialty coffee place near work that makes really good lattes.

I get a skim latte from there (12 ounce) a few times, and the a few times at Starbucks, usually get a 16 ounce skim chai or a latte with a pump of syrup.

Could probably spend more wisely but it's my little treat. Financially we do well and I am at a very healthy weight and eat healthy outside the pump of syrup.

[Anonymous]

I get a venti everyday but I am a black coffee drinker, which is $2.70.