There’s nothing wrong with loving Starbucks–it’s reliable, time efficient, and widely available. However, it also has the (true) stereotype of being expensive. But, with these Starbucks hacks in your back pocket, it doesn’t have to be.
1. Get a Starbucks Card and download the app
Sign up for Starbucks Rewards, by registering a gift card online, and download the App through the App store. This will give you rewards for each dollar spent at Starbucks, and give you any free drink for every $60 spent (which comes faster than you might like to admit). Another Starbucks hack is taking advantage of monthly Double Star Days. These days reward you twice the reward for the same amount of money spent. I usually take advantage of these days by making multiple trips, buying coffee for a friend, or #treatingmyself.
2. Craving something sweet, like tea, but don’t want to pay for the fancy leaf water?
Sometimes we just need that sweet, refreshing drink, but are also craving the hydration factor of water. This is where flavor pumps come in. My go-to is a venti iced water with 6 pumps of raspberry. It sounds strange, and you might get a weird look, but it’s just sweet enough to satisfy a craving and still hydrates you. Also, it only costs 53 cents (if the barista knows to charge you for it), so this is a major Starbucks hack.
3. A little extra flavor for no extra charge
When summer rolls around, iced tea lemonades never fail. Mango black tea lemonade and peach green tea lemonade made a big surge last year in popularity, and with good reason. Their lesser-known (and less expensive) components, however, are just as good. Try ordering the mango black tea for a great drink (and if you’re lucky, the barista might make it with lemonade purely out of habit).
4. When you want a latte, but don’t want to spend $4.00 for it
A latte is really just one part coffee, two parts milk. With this knowledge in your back pocket, you can save some money and use the following Starbucks hack. Instead of ordering a latte, simply order a tall Pike Place (or another roast) in a grande cup and add twice the amount of complimentary milk in the store. This will save you just about $2.00.
5. Time is money
Here’s a Starbucks hack for the busy people: If you want to save yourself fifteen minutes, you can bypass your morning trip to Starbucks but still get the drink. Order your favorite iced beverage (for me, it’s a vanilla iced coffee with nonfat milk) the night before with light ice, and keep it in the fridge overnight. You can choose to add ice in the morning or stick with it light. Either way, you save time and when you wake up that morning, the first thing to greet you will be your best friend, Starbucks.
Whether you’re ballin’ on a budget due to necessity, or just good practice, these Starbucks hacks are easy to apply, and they will save a good chunk of change. And when it comes time to treat yourself, make sure you do it right. After all, it is PSL season and holiday drinks are just around the corner. Get (espresso) pumped.