I’m a coffee and tea person. They’re both addicting and keep me awake, pumped and focused throughout the day.

Can you survive a day without coffee or tea?

My family and I used to go out once or twice a week just to have fancy coffee. A trip to Starbucks or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf would usually cost us P800+ excluding pastries. Imagine, P800 a week? That’s P3,200 a month! But, since my mom bought an espresso maker last year, our family’s trip to coffee shops dramatically declined. In fact, I stopped going to coffee shops to have coffee. I never stopped drinking coffee. But, I learned how to drastically lessen my coffee and tea expenses by enjoying and preparing them at home.

Now that we have an espresso machine and a coffee maker, my family and I really saved a lot on coffee and tea expenses. Here’s five ways you could also do to save on your coffee and tea expenses:

1. Buy your own coffee machine - For people who stays at home a lot like me, having a good coffee machine at home can really do wonders. Nowadays, rhere’s a lot of cheap but reliable coffee machines available in the market. A 3D 1-cup coffee machine can cost you around P300 at SM Appliance Store while a 4-cup coffee machine of the same brand costs around P700. If you want to enjoy a cup of cappuccino or latte at home, invest in an espresso machine (around P15,000 – Krups brand).
2. Buy locally grown coffee - I buy my coffee beans from Figaro because they’re freshly roasted and cost cheaper. A bag of coffee beans from Figaro costs around P200. You could also check grocery stores for cheaper alternatives but I’m not sure about the freshness of the beans.
3. Don’t be brand conscious - Buying a bag of coffee beans from Starbucks doesn’t mean that you’ll have great tasting coffee. I actually prefer buying beans from Figaro because I am sure about the beans’ freshness. Like I’ve said, check the grocery stores for cheaper but good alternatives.
4. Buy tea from grocery stores - Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf sell really overpriced tea. I buy tea bags from SM Hypermarket because they’re way cheaper and the taste is comparable to the taste of Starbucks’ TAZO tea and CBTL’s tea line. A box of tea bags (2o tea bags) from SM Hypermarket (Gold Leaf and Lyon’s Brand) costs around P100.
5. Bring it with you - If you want to enjoy coffee outside your house, put it in a tumbler and bring it with you to school or to your workplace. A 1-cup coffee maker is really handy that you can bring it to your office. You could also bring tea bags with you so every time you decide to meet with your friends in a coffee shop, you could just ask for a cup of hot water (for free!) and steep your own tea.

Any other tips on how to save on coffee and tea expenses? Oh before I forget, if you can avoid fancy coffee shops as if it’s an STD,why not?!

Since one of my goals for this year is to save money, I told myself that I should become “OC” when it comes to financial matters so I could track where my money go—every single peso, that is. Before, I would often ask myself, “Saan napunta ang pera ko? (Where did my money go?)”  It was only during the last quarter of 2009 that I have decided to use different tools to effectively track my finances.