Whether you love a warm cup of tea in the morning or an iced cold caramel frappe is your favourite tipple, takeout tea and coffee can become expensive!
For a lot of people, no morning routine is complete without your favourite tea or coffee. Whether it’s on the way home from the kid’s school drop-off or on your morning commute to work – calling for a takeaway tea or coffee can seem the most convenient.
However, this convenient caffeine kick does come at a price. Although coffee or tea from a drive-through isn’t necessarily a lot of money itself – buying one every day does make this a very expensive habit. So if you’re looking to save the pennies this year, find out how!
How to Enjoy Coffee or Tea at Home
If you love tea or coffee, then it’s important that you can still enjoy it as much as possible without the high price tag.
Thankfully, there are so many different ways to make your hot or cold beverage at home now that there really is no need to frequently buy it at inflated prices.
Buy Your Own Home Coffee Machine
You might be surprised at how much fun it can be to make your own coffee at home using an espresso machine!
With an at-home espresso machine from Ninja Kitchen, for example, you can make your own barista-style coffee every day, without the expense of going out to a coffee shop.
Bulk Buy Your Tea Bags
Like with most things, you can often save a load of money if you bulk buy your tea bags from an online store like Whittard, or the supermarket.
If you have the space in your kitchen cupboards, then buying the biggest sized bag that you can will often work out much cheaper than buying smaller bags. Especially if you’re lucky enough to get them while they’re on offer!
Invest in a New Travel Flask
If you’re strapped for time in your morning routine, then calling at a coffee shop for a drink while you’re travelling can often feel like the only option.
However, with a nice new travel flask from a store like Coffee Friend – you can easily make your beverage in the morning before you head out and enjoy that just as much. This will save you money as well as time!
Get Creative with Different Flavours & Syrups
Your home coffees don’t ever have to be boring again! From flavoured coffee from stores like Grind to lattes to iced mochas, you can do it all yourself!
Some of the most popular coffee flavours can be found in your normal supermarket shop:
- Vanilla
- Hazelnut
- Caramel
- Chocolate
- Cinnamon
- Coconut
- Almond
Buy Ready Made Iced Tea or Coffee from the Supermarket
If you’re a sucker for an iced coffee or tea throughout the spring and summer months, then we know that these can be more difficult to recreate at home.
But did you know you can buy ready-made ones from your local supermarket? These are often just as good as those you could get from a coffee shop, are generally fewer calories and a fraction of the price!
If you fancy yourself as a barista then you could check out Balance Coffee where they literally provide recipes for you and you can buy all the ingredients from them!
How to Make Takeout Coffee or Tea More Affordable
So, if you really don’t have time in the morning or if you can’t wave goodbye to your favourite Starbucks, Costa, or independent coffee shop right now – then there are a few things you can do to make it more affordable.
Take Advantage of Loyalty Card Schemes
Most coffee shops and particularly well-known chains such as Starbucks and Costa offer their customers loyalty cards.
This means that every time you visit you can collect a stamp that will eventually translate into a free drink or snack of your choice!
Look out for Discount Codes & Offers
Every now and then you can easily find discount codes and offers to be enjoyed at your local coffee shop or chain coffee takeaway store.
You should take a look online first to see what you can find. Or for large chains such as Starbucks or Costa, if you head to their app you can often find out information about their latest deals or how you can get yourself a free cup of coffee, for example. Or check out Wowcher or Groupon to see if they have any deals or discounts.
Limit Yourself & Stick To It
As we’ve mentioned, if you can’t lose your coffee shop visit just yet, then limiting how often you go could really help you cut down and save money.
Rather than going every day, why not take your own flask Monday through to Thursday and then enjoy a takeout coffee or tea on a Friday morning as a treat heading into the weekend?
Change Your Routine Where Possible
A lot of the time, calling at the same drive-through for a coffee in the morning becomes more of a daily habit more than anything else.
If you can, then look to change up your daily routine. You could try a different route to work some days, or even work from home where possible. Making slight changes to your routine can help you easily get out of any unwanted habits.
Order a Smaller Cup
Do you really need a litre of coffee in the morning?! Ok, well not quite a litre, but some of those takeaway coffee cups can be really big.
If you’re not ready to lose your morning fix just yet, then why not order the smallest size cup moving forward, or take your own small reusable coffee cup from Volcano Coffee with you to make sure you don’t order big! This will help you save money and reduce your calorie intake. Something like a small espresso or tea will generally be the cheapest to buy.
