Did you know that budgeting does not always have to involve sacrifice? It can be easy and painless. We often think of budgeting as giving up X now in order to get Y later. Let’s say I go out to eat less and cook more at home. I will then have more money for anything else I want. But what if I hate grocery shopping and cooking all the time? Will I really be much happier with this choice?
Convincing others to budget is not just a matter of showing them the numbers you have crunched on how much they could save. It also requires showing them why certain lifestyle changes will make them happier. This Painless Budgeting series aims to do just that.
Saving a little every day on small expenses you probably do not think twice about is the best way to budget. If you spend around $4 per trip to your favorite coffeehouse and do so daily, then the cost per year is close to $1500. With that $1500, you could afford to travel, pay off loans, invest, buy designer clothes, or whatever your heart desires.
These coffee hacks will give you the cup of coffee of your dreams while letting you beat the line of customers, save money, and relax at home.
Get a top-quality coffee maker for gourmet coffee.
A good coffee maker can bring the gourmet coffee experience to your home at a fraction of the price. Some gourmet coffee makers to consider are Flavia Fusion Drink Station, Nescafe Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine By Krups, SENSEO Coffee Machine By Philips, Keurig Mini Personal Coffee Brewer, Bosch Tassimo Single Serve Coffee Machine, Nespresso Essenza C90 Single Serve Expresso Machine, and Cuisinart Grind and Brew.
For the best iced coffee, brew it cold.
Cold-brew coffee usually tastes better because it is about 67% less acidic. To cold brew your coffee, place the coffee grounds in a jar and add cold water. Use a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio. Stir and then cover the jar. Leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Once brewed, you can use a sieve to strain it.
Use coffee diagrams to be your own barista.
There are dozens of different coffees you can make. You can find simple coffee diagrams online that show you the volumes of each drink ingredient.
Find your favorite coffee recipes online.
One of my favorite coffee drinks is the Cinnamon Dolce Latte at Starbucks. If I want to know exactly how to whip it up at home, the recipe is online. Whatever coffee drink you are craving, chances are that you will be able to find a quick recipe for it with the click of a button.
Make homemade coffee syrups.
One of my favorite parts of going to coffee shops was the syrups they would add to make my cup of coffee truly great. Thankfully, it is really easy to make these coffee syrups at home. Just boil a few cups of sugar and water for about 15 minutes and add vanilla extract, caramel, or whatever flavor you want.
People are better at making money than they are at saving money. They are even better at spending money. The failures people have with budgeting stem from the desire to increase happiness, which budgeting often fails to do. By following painless budgeting tips, you can not only introduce new lifestyle changes that positively impact your life, but also become wealthier in the process.
This coffee on the go/ coffee house culture is absolutely stunning to me. I never understood how people could continuously spend tons of money on buying coffee. Don't get me wrong, I'm from Finland and I need my morning coffee (if I'm not mistaken Finns drink on average most coffee per capita), so it isn't that I don't like coffee. It is just that I couldn't imagine spending even $2 a day on a cup of coffee.
I hate everything daily that costs me each time. Like lunch for example. There I make an exception, I don't like carrying lunch with me. I want a warm lunch each day so I sacrifice my income to afford the luxury of a warm meal during the day. Apart from that, I always calculate what is the cheapest. Here we can for example purchase public transport tickets for a longer period for cheaper, so going with a longer period ticket saves me money in comparison to buying a ticket each time. Many here buy monthly tickets because that is cheaper and it only costs tens of euros. But when one purchases more than a month, one saves more money. The reason many don't do that however is, that they think that a few hundred is a lot at a time. But if you save money that way, then why not?
I think people just don't realize how easy it is to make their favorite coffee at home. This is something that I would still do even if I had millions of dollars and it no longer made a substantial financial difference because I don't want to wait in line or sit in a coffee shop!
Thats true. Although I have the impression that some people go to coffee shops to sit there :) Dunno what that is about.
I will have to try the iced coffee as I do spend quite a bit on these during the summer. At $3-$4 each, it does add up.
Yes, it is crazy. Also who really wants to wait in line at a crowded coffee shop? This is a no-brainer.
A very interesting post. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say. X
Thanks for reading!
thanks for sharing even though it was making me hungry. lol @hollyjb
Glad you enjoyed! :)
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