Cost-Cutting Coffee Confessions: My Go-To Methods for Discounting Drip

How I Save On Coffee

Everything costs more, amirite?!  It’s perhaps the most evergreen of all platitudes.  (Prove me wrong in the comments.)  Friendly reminder – we’re gifted with brains to overcome such challenges, and one area I quietly, mundanely do so is finding a cheaper cup of Joe.  I didn’t start drinking coffee until the back-end of my college years, and I’m still making up for lost time.  Or that’s what I tell myself, at least.  I’m a wild man who can still drink the leaded stuff after dinner – even in my firmly-middle age years – and promptly fall asleep a few hours later (or sooner).  Yeah, I really know how to party, but maybe not as much as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper.  At any rate, here’s how my wife and I responsibly save on coffee while perhaps irresponsibly consuming it.

Wholesale Clubs

Our primary at-home strategy involves Costo and Sam’s Club.  Like many of you, we’re somewhere in the middle in terms of our coffee consumption style.  I’m nowhere near aficionado level.  I hear coffeehouse customers often speaking a different beverage dialect I cannot comprehend.  But I haven’t ever bought a can of Folgers, either.  I like it hot, strong, and with a bit of cream and sugar.  I’m easily overwhelmed by flavored creamer.

And so my wife and I are fine with Costco’s Kirkland Signature 40-ounce bag of Medium Roast Ground Coffee.  We think of the days when it was much cheaper but are still firmly confident it’s the best balance of price and quality for us.  This is our go-to product most every morning, where we consistently make closer to a full pot than a half.  We’ll opt for Costco’s Peet’s selection to break things up here and there.  We generally avoid Sam’s for big bags of coffee, primarily due to our Costco options.  Indeed, making a mistake on a big bag of coffee from a wholesale club can be a considerable one.  I flank to Sam’s Club for one specific alternative, though.

A K-Cup Aside…

I pick up a box of K-cups from Sam’s Club when a certain one is on sale.  Every few months, I’ll order a box of McCafe French Roast when it’s usually $8 cheaper.  Again, standard prices have risen, but we still find it a relatively solid deal at just under 37 cents per K-cup.  Embracing my inner cheapskate, I’ll sometimes stretch out one of these K-cups (hey, it’s French Roast) by making 12 ounces (hitting six, then hitting it again) on our machine.  Feel free to judge, but I know I’m not alone here.

Airport Lounges

Despite so many airline lounges jumping the shark, I can still confidently obtain a quality cup of coffee in most any I visit – when the machines are working, that is (I’m talking to you, Amex).  And strong coffee is worth seeking out in a lounge just for that fix, then promptly getting the heck out of there (still talking to you, Amex).  Quite often, I’ll rationalize an average-to-slightly-above bakery item with that beverage.

Certain options are more noteworthy, however.  Looking back, the coffee bar at the Capital One Lounge IAD may be the brightest spot of that space.  I’ve had excellent coffee in Chase Lounges, as well.  The big-three airlines’ clubs produce perfectly-fine carbon copies with their machines, I’ve found.

Card Benefits

While card benefits enable access to certain airport lounges, they also offer other options for discounted or “free” coffee.

Credits

Fasten your seatbelt for wacky denominations.  Newer on the scene is the Amex Gold’s $84 Dunkin’ credit, doled out in monthly $7 increments.  Perhaps the best thing here is the simplicity.  I load up my Dunkin’ app with $7 gift card balance each month, unlocking it from expiration.  I then make my simplest coffee order whenever I feel like it (small hot with cream and sugar), and I’m good to go.  I’ll earn points, get wild, stack this with a Dunkin’ promo, and maybe a single sour cream donut every so often.  That kind of “free” is definitely for me.

Card Linked Offers

Myriad banks’ products come with card linked offers.  For instance, my wife and I recently saw 10% off Starbucks offers on our Citi cards.  That’s nice savings for many who don’t mind paying the other 90% and/or who don’t want the work of other methods.

Capital One Cafe

I’m only half-joking when I say my biggest Capital One shutdown regret is no more half-price (or free) coffee at Capital One Cafes by paying with one of their cards.  I’ve enjoyed the urban, roomy locations of these cafes, all with surprisingly-solid coffee choices.  If you’re a Capital One customer and even just a casual coffee consumer, swing by and enjoy one!

A Dash of Loyalty Programs

I’m not huge into loyalty programs with the bigger chains.  Starbucks has notoriously devalued their program over the years.  Still, I mindlessly scan for points, then let them expire.  Dunkin’ is a different story.  I’m earning plenty in their just-okay program but haven’t redeemed yet.  Actually, I better get right on that…

Dunkin’ aside, doing more with any such loyalty program would probably require me to care more about them, something I don’t see happening.

One Last Shout-Out to Hotels

Finally, let me return to the travel angle.  Myriad hotel brands provide complimentary coffee of varying quality.  I particularly admire locations providing it 24/7.  That’s why I probably give more credit than deserved to coffee from Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, and Holiday Inn Express.  If it’s available, hot, and just strong enough, I’m in.

And I must mention the much-better-than-I-expected coffee from Super 8 Farmville, VA many years ago.  Never change!

How I Save on Coffee – Conclusion

I’m not getting into other stack minutiae today which I’ve previously discussed ad nauseum, including discounted gift cards, fuel points, etc.  Perhaps more than any other item, I’ll opt for “mediocre at a minimum” with coffee.  Indeed, I’m game for your options.  How do you save on coffee – from cheap-but-okay to the higher-end?  Let me know!

I’ll make a pot in the meantime.