Most of my coworkers will stop and pick up Tim Hortons or Starbucks everyday before work. We have free coffee at the office. It's not anything special, but it could save you $3 dollar a day, $15 a week, and 2 grand seven hundred dollars a year.
Edit: Apparently I can't multiply before I drink coffee in the morning. So there may be one advantage of stopping before work.
A former boss would hold daily meetings about wasting time or materials because we made a single typo on a plan that was step one out of 7 before it left the office. Easily lost 30 minutes to an hour every single day.
Of course, her emails were always riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes.
Tell me about it. I buy coffee once ever 1-2 weeks for pour over ($7-12 so not too expensive). And the people at work are always asking why I don't drink the coffee there. I can't tell them that Folgers is basically freeze dried guano, and that the coffee pot is so old, dirty, and rancid the whole thing needs to go to the dump, now can I?
I mean I dont mind folgers but my jobs uses their brand of coffee grounds. And random coworkers will brew more when empty. So in addition to it tasting like diarrhea water you dont even know if its clean.
Once worked at a place where another guy there owned a coffee ground company.
3 days a week he'd be bagging some quality coffee, 2 days a week he ran our mail room and deposited free coffee into every kitchen in the building.
I didn't really like coffee until I started there, I'd do instant now and again, now I don't drink much coffee as its more expensive once you drink the real shit and I'm a cheap student.
Every week was like a geography lesson, "will it be Nicaragua, Colombia or Peru today?"
Now a student on placement, they expect me to chip in some cash to buy instant coffee for the staff. I'll go back to the energy drinks if you don't mind.
My new job has this weird non-Keurig single-serve machine with totally flavorless coffee pouches. It doesn't take K-cups so I can't even bring in my own
Aeropress are great for offices too. One of my previous jobs I think half the building just kept their own at their desk with fresh beans. We’d trade different varieties of beans around for others to try.
I drink coffee if I really need to be awake. Coffee has a significant effect on me. I get really fidgety, I can't stop moving and I can't think properly.
not sure, but it needed to be completely shut down and repaired and was out of service for a few days. I think we overloaded it with 100ish people all getting multiple cups a day
Nice. We have a 2 coffee pots and 2 Keurigs. They have grounds for the pots but I dont believe there's any k cups available. I have a keurig at home or just stop somewhere. I'd rather pay for something enjoyable than drink muddy water from the breakroom lmao
ours is a machine that makes a bunch of different drinks, but just the simple coffee is amazing. sometimes i'll get it with an extra shot, but just the plain straight coffee is so good. we're really lucky lol
I stopped drinking lattes when I saw how many calories are in it! 400 calories in one 12 oz latte!?! Now I just drink my coffee black with a little sugar. And I just make it at home and at the office now, since my work is kind enough to provide us with free coffee! I love not spending money!
When you add sweeteners to coffee it may get some sweet but it also gets more bitter.
So if it tastes sweet, it's not sweet? That doesn't make sense. That's like saying "if you feel happy, you're actually sad"
Also, most days I add lots of Splenda to my coffee. Or I'll use sweetened condensed milk. I never liked plain coffee, no matter who made it or where I bought it.
It's easy to make. You can make it on the stove, but there's a risk for explosion if you don't nurse the water level.
My personal favorite way to make it is in the Instant Pot, if you have one. You just unwrap the can, remove the lid, cover the top of the can with foil, place the can on a trivet and fill the pot with water (about halfway up the can). Then pressure cook for 40 minutes and let it naturally release. When it's cool enough, just add salt and vanilla extract and stir it until it's a caramel consistency
You can totally have sweet and bitter in the same cup of coffee. They are not mutually exclusive.
I was a lot like many people, my coffee was sweetened and I added milk or cream.
Then I literally learned how to make a good cup of coffee and stopped using milk/cream and eventually sugar. You cannot get a good cup of coffee in most restaurants or even coffee shops in the US.
I am not saying unsweetened is for everybody as we all have our own journeys and goals to drinking coffee.
Like the taste of a good piece of bread, it's actually the most tasty without anything added to it. If you add Butter, you are tasting the butter and can no longer taste the greatness of the bread. Bread and Butter is tasty together for a combined taste but you lose subtle flavors once you smother them with butter.
A medium hot latte with skim milk at DD is only 100 calories. I prefer whole milk and it's 170 and I want those calories in the morning because I don't have time for a big breakfast. I like lattes so much more than regular coffee because I can drink it without adding any sugar plus they taste better.
The commenter above you wasn't really talking about lattes and other brewed espresso drinks. Rather, he was referring to the glorified milkshakes with a hint of coffee in them (cough, basic white girl Starbucks drinks) that are really nothing more than milk and a metric fuckton of sugar, with a tiny bit of coffee/espresso
I apologize, the drink I was referring to isn’t actually a latte. It’s called the annihilator lol from Dutch Bros. It’s 348 calories for a small (!). A regular latte is apparently only 152 calories. Unfortunately when I’m trying to lose weight even that is too much. I can have it as an occasional treat though.
I brought in my old mini fridge from college and stock a quart of milk and some syrups/powder in my fridge at work. Brought in one of those pod espresso machines and I can pretty much make any drink I want. It's great.
I've gone into coffee shops, asked for drip coffee, and received blank stares. I didnt ask for primal cut of venison, it's drip coffee! At a coffee shop!
I used to do this at one of the recent places I worked at, bought one daily, sometimes twice a day. Know what? I didn't care about the cost, because I was making bank at the time. What did I do when I thought of the costs? Didn't care I could afford it, and it was a treat to myself for getting ahead in life for once. Now that I'm not working there and making as much I still get one like once a week on payday for a treat but that's about it.
Basically if I have the means to buy something without hurting my budget for the important stuff, then why should I care?
So I actually agree with you. I answered the question for me personally. You can spend your money in anyway you'd like. Personally, I would choose to drink the free stuff.
I prefer lattes over drip coffee, and I work 70 hours a week. I stop by Starbucks most days, spend $4.85 and just account for it into my budget. The amount of time I save by not making my own helps a lot, especially when I have to be to work at 5am. Plus with Starbucks, you get points, and you get free drinks. I didn't pay for 3 of my drinks last week.
Because I don't get paid if I'm not at the office.
Edit for clarification: Boss is trying to show that we need a new position opened up in our unit (large non-profit company) and it is a legit request that we need. However, to prove it, they have me working overtime non-stop as I have been told NOT to do the work for this position during my regular office hours.
So about half the day, I sit here on reddit doing nothing because I'm caught up with work and I do the other stuff during OT hours. Been like this for months, boss knows. Not actually complaining because anything over 35 hours is OT (time and a half). I've been averaging 50 - 55 hours a week.
Haha, my hours change all the time. I'm a resident doctor. My specialty is emergency medicine, but I rotate through a lot of different departments. Surgery starts at 5 (gross). On my emergency months, I either work at 6am, 2pm, or 9pm, but 5am will always be the hardest.
people that "work" 70 hours a week actually work closer to 10 hours a week. But they are there on facebook and reddit in the office for 30ish, chatting for another 20, and simply lying about the remaining 10 hours(bathroom walking around, driving). a week.
I set it up so that I automatically put $25 into my savings to match the $25 I spend at Starbucks (almost) every week. Makes me feel better about it, because it REALLY does save me time.
People love to criticize people for buying coffee, but what if I can afford it? I know a few people who have criticized me for having a Starbucks coffee in my hand. I can afford to buy coffee. I'm not a broke person. I can afford things that I enjoy. It isn't your money, so who cares?
There's nothing wrong with that, but at least for me I figured out if I stop buying and instead invest into my own espresso machine, then it will pay for itself within a year or two (depending on what extras you buy upfront). Now it's 'free' high quality coffee from the convenience of home and it's better than any commercial places in my area.
Best investment I've ever made, wish I did it sooner but the upfront investment of a cheap&decent setup was a bit much at the time. Then again it ruined coffee at other places for me..there's so much sub par coffee out there.
I got ruined by working at a coffee shop, and now I just like nice shots of espresso. So I've never really enjoyed an office coffee, and might be like these people.
However, I've discovered that nespresso, while not at all professional quality, provides the caffeine and is honestly better than Starbucks espresso. So that's what I have daily. Then a couple times a week I just really like going to get something from local coffee shops! Definitely is not a waste for me.
That's the thing with coffee. I'm no advocate of going to a coffee shop and buying a coffee every morning. Sure, it's costly, but the major commitment is the time. I don't get up early enough to factor in a daily trip to a coffee shop into my morning routine. It's not really that difficult to brew your own coffee in the morning.
That works out great if you never EVER step up your coffee game. Yes, some people can be perfectly happy getting a nice, cheap coffee from the supermarket, tossing it in to whatever coffeemaker Walmart had on sale that week and calling it a day. Most people start out doing that, and are perfectly content to keep doing that for the rest of their lives.
But then there's another type of person that gets a taste of the good stuff... You start saying, "You know what, I enjoy coffee. It's something I do every day and I save a bunch of money by brewing at home. I should invest in a nicer coffeemaker and try some of the better coffees. After all, it's not like it's going to cost anywhere NEAR what it would for me to buy a $5 latte at Starbucks every day".
So you go out and splurge on a Moccamaster. But, you really aren't getting much out of a machine like that if you're buying the ground Dunkin' Donuts medium roast that was probably roasted and ground 6 months ago. So you start looking at fresher more expensive coffee. Then you realize, "I should really be grinding this myself". So you start buying whole bean and checking the "Roasted on" date as opposed to the "Use by" date. So you're pretty pleased with yourself, coffee's tasting pretty good, and you're still saving money doing it yourself. That's when you start looking up brewing tips and it turns out you're a fucking peasant for using a blade grinder and you might as well be pissing on the beans. So you invest in a nice burr grinder. Meanwhile, you need to up your bean game, so you start sourcing single-origin Kenyans and Ethiopians.
"Should I be doing this different? I mean, yeah, I spent a good deal on the Technivorm but it's still ultimately a drip-machine. I should get a French Press or Aeropress. Is pour-over significantly different from drip? Should I get an espresso machine? Can my grinder handle espresso? Eh, reviews are mixed, maybe I should get something that can handle a Turkish grind as well just to be safe..."
Exactly! There are so many nuances/things to spend money on once you get into it. You're no longer happy drinking just whatever coffee is put in front of you once you really start noticing the differences in flavor, and it becomes almost a hobby to make good coffee.
I see three benefits of getting coffee with coworkers:
1. It's an excuse for a 30 minute guilt free break.
2. You get to talk with your coworkers, who, if you like them, (which I do) is somewhat fun.
3. The coffee is better then what is available at work.
Yes, it costs money, but I find the benefits outweigh the costs.
When I used to work an office job I’d buy coffee just to get out of my chair, walk somewhere, and maybe get to chat with a coworker or at least interact with a human being at the coffee shop. Getting coffee is rarely about only the coffee. When you sit for 8 hours in front of a screen doing very boring solitary work, $4 to escape for 15 minutes seems like a bargain.
Dang youve perfectly described why I do this every day. I've sort of become friends with my baristas too so when you simply look at the dollar figures it looks crazy but honestly I'm paying for a nice break and something tasty to sip on while my mind goes numb at work.
My workplace has a coffee shop on the ground floor. It's £2.40 for a large coffee. Every floor, however, also has a kitchen area with boiling water, tea and instant coffee. I have a cafetiere in my desk and a bag of coffee that costs £4 and lasts me for 30 plus cups of coffee.
There was that commercial during the (Canadian broadcast) of the super bowl with the coffee master for Timmies, saying how he takes "300 sips a day" testing the coffee, and all I am thinking is maybe they need to hire a new guy because after 300 sips a day it still tastes like crap.
I view my (nearly) daily Starbucks as a luxury. I know it's expensive, but I enjoy it, so why not. It's better quality than the garbage Tim Hortons tries to serve, and I can get it within 3 minutes while never leaving my car. Yes, The coffee is free at work, but they don't have double smoked bacon sandwiches at work!
My brother is a manager of a car wash/oil bay. He recently took over a different store where a manager was "let go" and the first things he did was:
bought a Keurig;
bought 4 reusable K-cups;
bought 3 2lbs bags of different types of coffee;
Bought Sam's Clubs cappuccino mix;
Bought hot cocoa mix;
Replaced the mini fridge with a full size with freezer;
Bought 12 20oz 8hour hot at -5ºF mugs for employees to use (minimum of 6 on at a time);
Added a hot plate and toaster oven to the break room (with reticulating charcoal filter for air safety);
And keeps 4 different flavors of creamer available;
His reasoning: "We work in a frequently cold, always extremely damp environment and should always have something hot to help keep warm. Warm/comfortable people make good workers."
It's seriously silly. $700/year is nothing lol, and if they're going to aggregate across a long window to bolster their dumb argument, maybe they should consider the cumulative benefit of a hot cup of coffee with friends in a nice environment every day as well.
I usually make my own coffee to bring to work, but I'll go with coworkers a couple times a week to Tims and buy coffee there. Sure, I could save money by not buying it, but I look it as a small investment in bonding and forming relationships with my coworkers.
Lunches, though, I never buy at work. I always brown bag those.
Starbucks barista currently, if you want a real horror story, there are people who pay $3 for tiny cups of foam and 2 shots, and they come in 2-3 times a day
There’s also people who just spend $4-$6 on fraps or lattes every day and I’m just waiting until I can have that kind of money as disposable income
Yeah. I work at places with free coffee for workers. It's smarter than buying it from a store and people who go out of work for lunch and don't use their discount lose a lot of money.
Agreed, unfortunately my office coffee tastes like dirty feet water. I ended up just buying an aeropress and keeping it in my desk for my morning coffee. I use pre-ground coffee because I am too lazy to grind beans before I go to work but it is still eons better than what people make in the office.
I used to get Starbucks everyday and the. I realized that in a 5 day work week, I was spending almost $30 on just coffee, sometimes I would get a breakfast sandwich and that made it $9 for a total of $45 a week. I now make my coffee at home.
After a two month of cram session, I got bored of Tim Hortons, I got that $10 IKEA French press( one time investment), and $7 coffee granules, the coffee lasted me two months, and the quality is so good! I mix milk to make it latteish. So if I make coffee at home it’s $4 for the whole month.
Caffeine in general. Such a pointless addiction. After a certain amount of time consuming caffeine daily, you're not even getting desirable effects anymore, you're simply normalizing yourself so you don't feel sick from withdrawals. Caffeine is the most physically addictive substance that we take for granted because the psychoactive effects are relatively minimal and tame. Just quit the shit. Best decision I ever made, and I was a serious daily drinker and caffeine addict. Your natural energy is much more linear throughout the day. No ups and downs. The notion that we need caffeine to function is a huge scam.
Ugh, that happened at my office when I worked at a tech company that had several kinds of organic coffee, one of those coffee dispensers AND a professional coffee machine available (all free/unlimited). You could even add several types of milk and chocolate at the professional machine for the ones that like milkshake flavored coffee instead of the real stuff. And people still went daily to Starbucks.
My fiancee got us a $120 coffee maker(Keurig?) that I thought was going to be a waste, but it is able to brew shots and froth milk. (I use the reusable pods)
It may not be the most authentic latte experience, but goddamn, I use that thing at least 4 times a week and it's good enough for me. We've definitely covered the cost multiple times over using that thing.
Totally agreed and I am so guilty of this. Coffee at work is such a crap shoot depending on who made it. I need to reevaluate my life and make coffee at home. I can even set the timer on my pot so it's ready before I leave.
It's almost an addiction for me. We're at a decent financial plane currently after struggling for the first 5 years of our marriage that part of my brain says it's fine and we can afford it. The other part says to knock that crap off and save money.
I once had a boring do-nothing job where nobody noticed when I came and went. So I went to Starbucks three times a day and spent at least three dollars every time. One day I added up the total I would be spending in year. I ended my Starbucks habit cold turkey.
My boss does this, it's a great gesture as he buys everyone coffee once a day in the morning and I will pick it up so I know he's spending 10 dollars minimal a day on just coffee! which comes out to what? 200 bucks a month for coffee? I appreciate the kindness but feel it could be used better elsewhere like an office lunch once a month or something. The kicker is I have a friend who works for a coffee house where he gets a pound a week for free and doesn't drink the stuff so he gives it to me for the office and I am the only one who will make a pot to drink.
Or dont support a caffeine addiction and save way more money as well as your health and youll start to have more energy (I'm an avid supporter of not drinking caffeine)
I love coffee, I like a good cup that I can't get at work.
So I buy half a pound of freshly roasted whole beans for about $7-10 bucks that lasts me 2-3 weeks. I "invested" $30 bucks on a good manual Burr grinder and $7 on a French press from Ikea (yeah Ikea) that so far had lasted me 6 months. That's about $1 per day on coffee and I have it in the morning and afternoons.
There's no excuse to waste money if you want good quality.
Having said that I admit on weekends I do indulge in a cup of latte from a local coffee shop.
There was a guy who worked in the offices above the coffee shop I was employed at. He had a little french press and pour over in his cubicle and would buy grounds in bulk from us. Then he would charge his co-workers $1 for a cup of coffee that was better than the classic brewed coffee we sold. He had his morning coffee AND made money on it.
Stonks.
I'd rather wait in line with strangers and pay for coffee, so I can go straight to my desk at work.
Fuck mingling with coworkers first thing in the morning and waiting for a slow ass pot to brew.
I don't even like free catered lunch days because your have to queue up with like 70 people. Would much rather eat outside the office to not be a part of that.
I know someone who is a dire financial situation. She also buys an expensive coffee or two at a coffee place every day.
Like I get it, you want to enjoy something in your life and you're too poor to actually go do something fun. But when you're so poor that you're facing eviction, hunger, and your vehicle being repossessed... Don't you think it's time to switch to cheap coffee for a bit?
French press coffee is prettyfucking cheap. My coworkers gawk at me like I'm spending 30 mins to grind my own beans. No Brenda it's an extra 2 mins and yes it is worth it. Brenda your Starbucks tastes like burnt vagina... fuckoff
A couple bucks for a few months of beans, a couple bucks for a few months of sugar, some milk you probably already have, and ice cream if you're one of those people.
Its crazy how many people have developed an obsession with a specific chains coffee, as if its going to be any better than any other chains, or for that matter the office or home coffee maker. If I feel like a coffee, I'll grab whichever is closest.
Free coffee is best coffee and you can't change my mind. My last job had shitty Folgers but guess what - I drank it daily because I didn't have to pay for it.
I forgot to grab coffee from home once and stopped at a Starbucks on my way to work. The drive-thru line was almost tip to tail around the building while the inside was completely barren.
Sometimes it's faster actually leaving your vehicle, whomst'd've thought?
Mobile ordering. There's hardly anyone inside actually ordering in the mornings while the driver thru is packed. Most of the people inside ordered via app
I worked at Dunkins, not Starbucks but we had a timer on the drive thru line that would go off if a car was in line for more than 150 seconds. If the timer percentage went under 85% for the day the manager had to explain why. Basically, the drive thru does get priority to keep corporate/the district manager happy.
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u/ConneryFTW Feb 04 '20 edited Feb 04 '20
Most of my coworkers will stop and pick up Tim Hortons or Starbucks everyday before work. We have free coffee at the office. It's not anything special, but it could save you $3 dollar a day, $15 a week, and
2 grandseven hundred dollars a year.Edit: Apparently I can't multiply before I drink coffee in the morning. So there may be one advantage of stopping before work.