I am a big fan of Starbucks coffee… I even used to work at their corporate headquarters in Seattle!
However… buying those decadent drinks can really add up!
The biggest way I save on coffee is to make my own gourmet coffee drinks at home.
But… I do enjoy Starbucks dates with my hubby, meeting friends for coffee, and stopping by Starbucks on vacation!
Here are some of my favorite tricks to save $$ at Starbucks…
- Instead of a Mocha, order a Misto with 2 pumps of chocolate. It is made with drip coffee instead of espresso shots, but tastes virtually the same. {saves about $1.00}
- If I’m with my hubby or a friend, instead of ordering 2 small Frappucinos, we order 1 venti Frappucino and have it split into 2 cups. {saves about $3.00}
- What about the kids? Starbucks offers kids-sized hot chocolates or cold chocolate milk drinks with the fancy whip for just $1.00 each. Our kids are even happy with getting their own cup of free ice water. {One of my nephews loves looking forward to his Starbucks water!}
- My favorite way to stretch a buck at Starbucks is… cash in Swagbucks for Free Starbucks gift cards!
How do you save $$ at Starbucks? Leave a comment ~ I’d love to hear!
Order an Americano instead of a cappucino or other mixed espresso-based drink. Add sweetner of choice and half&half. Top with nutmeg, cinnamon, or vanilla powder. Save about $1
OK, here’s my scoop…I am a coffee snob on a gas station coffee budget! ( I lived a spoiled past life
)
For for the frugal and/or low intenisty addict: order the Short coffee. It’s served in the same cup as the kid’s hot chocolate.
For cafe au lait lovers: the Misto. Cafe au lait fans will love the Misto because, well, it is a cafe au lait. Half cup of coffee, topped with steamed milk. Ask for it extra foamy if you like.
For people who have strong coffee preferences: the French Press. For 3 or 4 bucks, they’ll serve you up a french press made of any coffee in stock. So when the coffee of the day is House, and you just gotta have Sumatra…it’s your choice. And you’ll have enough to share with a friend. (*borrowed from Dan Filler)
Short cappuccino. (A “Short” cappuccino is closer to the traditional cappuccino drink as it existed before Starbucks invented the practice of adding massive quantities of milk.)
Or just order an Iced Americano, with no water and half ice, then go to the condiments bar and add a lot of half-and-half. This exact same drink is sold by Starbucks as a Breve Latte, which costs much more!
Happy “cheap” drinking!!
If you buy a Starbucks gift card and register it, you save $ on your drinks. They don’t charge for syrups if you are registered. I save 40cents per skinny latte. It adds up!! So, I just keep reloading that Sbux card, and use it every time! (I usually put $20 on it at a time.) Plus, now they have a gold rewards plan after you buy a certain number of drinks w/ your card, you are a “gold” member and you get a FREE drink after every 15 purchased. Plus, when you have a registered card, they send you a postcard for your b-day for a free drink!!
I also got a free oatmeal post card recently!!
Order a tall iced coffee in a Venti cup (ask for lots of room to be left), add 2 pumps vanilla. Then go add milk/cream yourself at the bar and voila, you have something very close to an iced latte for about $2.00 and a venti size!
Hi there! I just wanted to let everyone know that I live on a military base and the Starbucks on base does not accept the Starbucks gift cards. Just wanted to share the info.
I do something similar. I order a regular coffee and ask for mocha flavor. I think it’s the same as the chocolate pumps. It saves me about $1.25 for a grande.
I buy my Starbucks at Kroger. If you use your Kroger card, it goes towards your gas points and every so often you get a free drink.
You’re registered Starbucks card also gets you free refills on your coffee!
Some of these are really great ideas! I have to say, though, (and I realize that the point is to save the consumer money) that some of the ideas are a little on the unfair side. Honestly, I don’t think it’s right to pay for a couple of shots of espresso and then fill a venti cup full of milk that you didn’t pay for. Most of you probably feel like “aw poor gigantic Starbucks company” but the truth is, there are still minimum wage-ish workers there. It’s a pretty good company (they work toward fair trade practices to protect the coffee growers, etc.) and they do a good job of trying to provide excellent benefits to their partners but the pay is still not enough for someone to thrive on and one of the reasons is waste and/or loss. I think maybe a better idea would be to buy your own 1/2 and 1/2 or milk, fill your travel mug or cup with as much as you want and then just order your two shots of espresso.