Help! I’m addicted to coffee!
That’s the thought I had go through my head as I swiped my credit card for yet another coffee purchase by noon.
I started to wonder, with my heavy reliance on my morning, afternoon, and evening latte five days a week, how much money was I really spending on luxury coffee purchases?
So, let’s say, for the sake of this exercise, I am buying two lattes a day. Soy lattes, because of my allergies, not because of preference.
Let’s say they are from Starbucks. That puts you right below $5 after tax. Or, they could be from Royal Blue, a local coffee shop, which puts you around $6.
5 (morning latte) + 6 (afternoon/evening latte at local shop) x five days a week = 55 dollars a week.
Hold up — that does not even count the weekends.
Am I really spending at least $55 every week…on coffee?
Let’s say I drink another latte on Saturday morning, one on Sunday morning, and one Sunday late afternoon to give me enough energy to make it through the night work.
That’s just about $70 per week on coffee.
$70 on coffee per week. We are in school for around 36 weeks give or take, that’s $2,520 on coffee during the school year alone.
I write this as a wakeup call to many other suffering coffee addicts out there. It’s time to get creative. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to put a stop towards supporting mass chains and their five dollar coffee ventures.
Coffee, in many countries, is a morning ritual, something to be had with a croissant and an opened newspaper at a café on the side of a street.
When did we, as Americans, turn coffee into an expensive mass production by companies like Starbucks?I do not necessarily have a solution for our problem. However, I do have a few ideas that could supplement anyone's caffeine addiction. What if instead of two/three coffees a day we instead had one coffee in the morning and then stayed energetic throughout the day by other natural means?
Idea Number One:
Use exercise as a way to stay energized. Going to the gym wakes you up and keeps you energized for a few hours afterwards, similar in effects to a cup of coffee for many people. Not only will you feel overall healthier and better, but it'll kick start your day and propel you forward. You won't even realize you are missing coffee!
Idea Number Two:
Take Vitamin B12 as an alternative to staying energetic throughout the day. This is the vitamin often times found in energy drinks, but instead of drinking a sugary supplement, just eat food items high in this vitamin, or visit your local healthy food store to find the supplement itself
Idea Number Three:
Drink a warm (or cold!) cup of green tea instead! Not only will your wallet thank you, but so will your body. Green tea is said to have many healthy effects on the body, and also has natural caffeine in it!
There's no shame in enjoying a coffee every once in a while, but using these ideas, you can supplement your daily routine and slowly decrease your reliance on coffee. Using these crafty ideas, you will surely stay hydrated, energetic, and ready to take on whatever the day throws at you!