If You Buy A Mom An Iced Coffee…

Starbucks announced in early July that it would be closing 600 unprofitable stores, citing economic conditions as a big cause (or should I say, “Venti cause”?) for the chain’s java woes.

I have to admit, I’ve been trying to think of ways to cut costs in my own daily life and my coffee habit is one of the things I’m changing. For me, it’s not so much the coffee that’s expensive, it’s the 17 different baked goods I have to buy along with it when my kids are in tow.

It’s sort of like that Laura Numeroff story, “If You Give A Moose A Muffin”…except my version goes like this:

If I buy myself an iced coffee, I’ll probably want a blueberry munchkin to go with it. If I buy myself a blueberry munchkin, it’ll probably make Grace crave a chocolate frosted donut. If I buy Grace a chocolate frosted donut, Hope will probably want a toasted plain bagel with cream cheese. If I buy Hope a toasted plain bagel with cream cheese, Brendan will probably want a blueberry muffin. If I buy Brendan a blueberry muffin, he’ll probably need milk to go with it.

See where this is going?

I can’t escape Honey Dew Donuts for less than $8 per trip.

So, I decided to make my own iced coffee, at home, to save some money. At Whole Foods, I bought a can of Illi Dark Roast Medium Grind Espresso Coffee for $13.99. I filled my coffee machine with 12 cups of water (the maximum it will take) and put 8 tablespoons of the espresso coffee in. When it was done, I poured it into a plastic jug with about 8 teaspoons of sugar and let it cool for about 2 hours. Then, I put it in the fridge overnight and this morning, voila!, my very own iced coffee!!!

I figure I’ll save myself roughly $50 per week doing this! If you’re looking to ditch your “latte factor”, I highly recommend this Starbucks-worthy replacement at home method.

Now that’s venti savings without sacrificing venti taste.