Must...Have...Coffee
As I have mentioned before, I'm cheap. That cheapness extends to my coffee drinking habits. Don't get me wrong, I love a good cuppa. It's not that I dislike the coffee at the many coffee places in the vicinity. I just can't bring myself to spend that much money when I can make a perfectly acceptable cup in the comfort of my own home. I once worked with a girl that would bring a coffee for herself and sometimes a friend from one of those places each shift she worked. I know some of you are thinking it's not that crazy to have a coffee each shift but when you work in a restaurant that serves coffee it's a little more unnecessary. She once told me she spent $50 a week on these drinks. Now, I'm not math wiz but that adds up to $200 a month and $2,400 a year! There are quite a few different ways I would spend that money, I can assure you!
We have a 12 cup maker and buy the big containers of grounds. Each one might cost us I would say an average of $10 and would last around 3 to 4 weeks. This means we would spend approximately $170 a year to support a 2 person coffee habit. We do not put sugar in our coffee but we do use cream and I realize that is not factored in but I always look for sales on the grinds and cream.
Just to show you the extent of my cheapness even when it comes to my indulgences I will tell you about a past roommate of mine. The two of us shared our grocery bill and she loved her tea! The problem with her tea loving is that she drank it with sweetened condensed milk in it. Here I was, paying for cans of thick sugary milk for her tea and thinking I couldn't afford that and cream for coffee, so I started drinking it black. It took a while to get used to but I drank it that way for years, until I spent 5 months in England where I could only get instant. In case you have never drank instant coffee before, let me just tell you, you can't drink it black. It's just bad! I've never been able to get used to going back to plane black coffee again.
So here we are, saving money by making the cheapest cups possible in our home and what happens? Our coffee maker broke. I had a good run of a few years so we figured we were due for a new one. This was back in July and I headed straight to the internet to find the best deal around, and fast! The one we found was on for 60% off and seemed pretty good. The important part for us is that they come with a timer so my husband has the pot ready when he gets up for work. This one had all we needed so we headed off to pick it up. Less than 3 months later, that maker died too! Colour me unimpressed.
At the time of purchase there had been a few bad review of that maker but it was the same make as the one we owned before that didn't have problems so I wrote it off. This one from the start was not impressive though. About 3 years later it seemed they had not improved on the model, they had actually removed features, used a flimsier pot, changed the look slightly... and charged more. I will not be going with that brand again.
As chance would have it I found a new coffee maker this morning. The shelf said it was $25. It has a programmable timer and looks alright so I thought, good deal! Once I brought it home I looked at the receipt and noticed that it had only come up as $15. So far I think I like it better than the old one too. The pot seems sturdier, has a better shape and the lid is more solid. Guess what else?!?! The coffee tastes the same. lol
Canadian Tire was amazing about returning the broken machine. We still had the receipt and they gave us a full refund. It's also not their fault the company made such a poor quality item. The brand I have now purchased is Black and Decker. They have a good name and I am confident it will last longer than 3 months so I am pleased with that. I don't think I will reveal the brand of maker that flopped on us at this time. I sent them an email about the machine this morning and I will wait to see what they say about it. There response will determine if I let the cat out of the bag.
We have a 12 cup maker and buy the big containers of grounds. Each one might cost us I would say an average of $10 and would last around 3 to 4 weeks. This means we would spend approximately $170 a year to support a 2 person coffee habit. We do not put sugar in our coffee but we do use cream and I realize that is not factored in but I always look for sales on the grinds and cream.
Just to show you the extent of my cheapness even when it comes to my indulgences I will tell you about a past roommate of mine. The two of us shared our grocery bill and she loved her tea! The problem with her tea loving is that she drank it with sweetened condensed milk in it. Here I was, paying for cans of thick sugary milk for her tea and thinking I couldn't afford that and cream for coffee, so I started drinking it black. It took a while to get used to but I drank it that way for years, until I spent 5 months in England where I could only get instant. In case you have never drank instant coffee before, let me just tell you, you can't drink it black. It's just bad! I've never been able to get used to going back to plane black coffee again.
So here we are, saving money by making the cheapest cups possible in our home and what happens? Our coffee maker broke. I had a good run of a few years so we figured we were due for a new one. This was back in July and I headed straight to the internet to find the best deal around, and fast! The one we found was on for 60% off and seemed pretty good. The important part for us is that they come with a timer so my husband has the pot ready when he gets up for work. This one had all we needed so we headed off to pick it up. Less than 3 months later, that maker died too! Colour me unimpressed.
At the time of purchase there had been a few bad review of that maker but it was the same make as the one we owned before that didn't have problems so I wrote it off. This one from the start was not impressive though. About 3 years later it seemed they had not improved on the model, they had actually removed features, used a flimsier pot, changed the look slightly... and charged more. I will not be going with that brand again.
As chance would have it I found a new coffee maker this morning. The shelf said it was $25. It has a programmable timer and looks alright so I thought, good deal! Once I brought it home I looked at the receipt and noticed that it had only come up as $15. So far I think I like it better than the old one too. The pot seems sturdier, has a better shape and the lid is more solid. Guess what else?!?! The coffee tastes the same. lol
Canadian Tire was amazing about returning the broken machine. We still had the receipt and they gave us a full refund. It's also not their fault the company made such a poor quality item. The brand I have now purchased is Black and Decker. They have a good name and I am confident it will last longer than 3 months so I am pleased with that. I don't think I will reveal the brand of maker that flopped on us at this time. I sent them an email about the machine this morning and I will wait to see what they say about it. There response will determine if I let the cat out of the bag.
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