Coffee and college go hand in hand. However, paying for a $5 latte from Starbucks multiple times a week can be hard to do. A cheaper alternative could be making your own coffee, either with a regular old-fashioned coffee pot or some Keurig machines, which you can find for pretty cheap. But maybe you can't kick the habit. Here are some tips for all you broke Starbucks addicts out there on how to get fancy shmancy coffee for less.
1. Drop the latte. For those of you that don’t know, a latte is a coffee drink made with espresso and steamed milk. A medium sized latte at Starbucks is close to $4, plus another 50 cents if you want to add flavored syrup to your drink. So why do you need the espresso? The frothy milk is obviously the best part of a latte, so why not try a misto? A misto is made from brewed coffee instead of espresso and topped off with steamed frothy milk. The best part? It’s about $2 cheaper than a latte.
2. Save your cup. One cup of coffee is not enough, but I don’t want to spend $10 a day on coffee. If you bring your used cup once your coffee is finished, you can refill it for 50 cents with brewed coffee.
3. Get a Starbucks gift card and reload money until you become a gold member. You become a gold member once you accumulate 30 stars onto your Starbucks card. The perks of being a gold member include all free syrups in your drinks and every 15 stars you get a free drink card in the mail. Starbucks will also send personalized discounts and rewards to every gold member.
4. The best tip for Starbucks consumers: When you order a tall drink, ask for it in a grande cup (works with grande and venti too). Why should you do this? The Starbucks baristas see a bigger sized cup and will most likely give you some extra coffee without charging you for the larger size. They don’t ask which size you paid for, so they might reward you with a grande (or venti) cup worth of coffee essentially for FREE.
5. Bring your own mug. If you ask for a tall coffee, but you hand the barista a huge mug, not only will you get a discount for using your own cup, (yay environment!) but also they will most likely give you as much coffee as your giant mug can handle!
6. If you don't want to get a gold card and you still want to save on flavored syrups, try picking up a hazelnut coffee-mate from CVS. A tiny splash of that gives your coffee a colorful taste.
7. The treat receipt is your friend. During the summer and early fall, you can save your receipt from your morning coffee and bring it back in the afternoon to get any grande drink for two bucks.
