What's in a morning coffee?
No one could have failed to notice the explosion in coffee houses across the UK over the last decade. It’s an undeniable fact – we’re a nation of coffee lovers. We’ve seen homegrown outlets such as Costa and Coffee Republic, US dominance from Starbucks and some Italian flair fro Café Nero. So why the fascination, addition and passion – it depends on the drinker but it’s either because 1) It helps to kick start you in the morning or 2) With all of the flavoured syrups on offer, together with chocolate sprinklings and other additions, it’s a very sugary drink that appeals to those with a sweet tooth.
Have you ever worked out how much this little habit is costing though? We only did after seeing an offer from Giraffe for ‘Wake Up Wednesday’ which is a promotion offering a cup of coffee before 10.30am for 50p – bargain – we’re certainly going to give it a go. Based on a standard price of around £2.45 for a latte/cappuccino it’ll cost you £12.25 over a working week if you have one daily. Not too bad when you think that it’s the same as a few drinks in a pub. However, when you then look at it over a working year (48 weeks), it then becomes an eye-watering £588 – enough for a nice week in the sun. We were astonished and started looking at ways to try to reduce this amount down.
Our tips on saving more on your morning coffee habit:
- Look out for those special offers - the Giraffe offer alone would save £93.60 over the course of a year.
- Decide what type of drinker you are. Some people like it strong, others weak and then there are those that don’t really mind. The different chains offer different strengths based on the number of shots in a standard cup – if you want more you have to pay. For example Café Nero does two as standard so if you like it strong, it may pay to find the closest one to you. As a guide if an extra shot costs 25p, that works out to be an extra £60 a year that you might not have to spend (enough for a night away?).
- Buy your own machine, either for your home or work. A good one will cost around £150 but that could pay for itself in just over 3 months based on the savings you make. If you like to drink it while you’re out and about, get yourself a thermos mug to use with your homemade latte.
What’s in a morning coffee – well actually quite a lot more than you may think.
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