Spring has sprung.  It’s official, were out of winter and into spring.  So will someone please explain to me why giant swaths of the country are being inundated with snow?  It’s bad enough to deal with the stuff during the short days of December.  Being forced to shovel the driveway a week before baseball’s opening day is enough to make a guy sick.

And cold.  Which is why I’m making a giant pot of chili tomorrow.  The nippy winds that portend a snowy catastrophe in the morning have also persuaded me to brew a pot of coffee.  And that brings us to the topic of saving money on coffee.

New York Magazine proclaims that “Even the smallest changes in your coffee habit can save hundreds of dollars a year.”  If you guzzle the stuff the way we do around here, I’m willing to wager that your price differential could easily be that significant.  It’s one of those things that multiplies its way into significance.  You have coffee every day.  That means a buck-a-day change suddenly becomes $365.  If you’re wearing a wedding ring, you might be able to double your number.

So, let’s talk about a few ways to start saving money on coffee.

First, if you’re going to buy it from a store, buy it from a cheap store.  Resist the urge to leave a picture of Lincoln behind when you can stop at the spot around the corner and drop two Washingtons.  You want the convenience of having someone else make your joe?  That’s great.  That doesn’t, however, mean that you have to go to a notoriously overpriced place to do it.  Go Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks.  Stop at Generic Diner instead of Ooh La La Beans.  Hey, WaWa and QuikTrip can both make a good pot of coffee, too.  

Second, once you’ve found a cheap joint to serve you that morning cup of “get up and go”, find out if they have a customer loyalty thing happening.  If they do, join up.  If you can get one of those little coffee cards that they punch every time you buy a cup, eventually qualifying you for a freebie, you should take advantage of the opportunity.

Third, if you’re brewing at home, look into reusable filters.  Yes, you pay more for them up front.  In the long run, though, you save some money.  There’s the whole reduced environmental impact to consider, too.  It’s sort of like those new super-duper lightbulbs:  You spend more out of pocket in order to do a good thing while setting yourself up for future savings.  

Fourth, stop thinking in terms of “if” you’re brewing at home and start doing it.  Even folks who brew their own coffee using pretty nice machines and those overpriced pods of coffee end up saving gobs of money.  I’ve seen people estimate their costs for home brew at somewhere between 10 and 30 cents per cup.  Compare that to a several-dollar coffee from the coffee shop and start doing the multiplication.  If I can’t convince you, maybe Martinique from QueerCents can.  You should make your own coffee!

Fifth, if you’re the only coffee drinker in the house, you should consider going with one of those single-cup brewers.  Youwon’t waste the coffee that way and fewer coffee buying trips is an easy way to start saving on coffee.  Don’t worry, the age of the lousy one-cup brewer is over.  This equipement rpoduces good coffee.

There you have it.  

And those five ideas are just a fraction of the possibilities.  Smart shopping, liquid portion control, coupon cutting, making the switch to tea and several other options exist, too.  

I’ve got a fresh pot of very good homemade coffee available to me right now.

Let it snow!  As long as Juan Valdez and his donkey can make it around, I’m OK with it.