We all love that caffeine fix and special treat of getting a latte in the morning at the local drive-thru.


If you just get two a week, say Friday and Sunday mornings, at $3 each plus $1 tip for a 12 oz single shot latte, you are spending ~$36 / month on you coffee fix! If you get one every day, it's more like $120 / month.

You don't need a fancy espresso machine to get 90% of the flavor effect and 100% of the caffeine buzz. Let's look at my budget Strawberry Mock-Latte:


  Taster's Choice Instant Coffee packets - 20 for $3.49, use 2 each, cost $0.35
  12 oz Skim Milk (Use 2% if you like but it costs more), at $1.65 / (64 oz) half gallon, cost $0.31
  2 teaspoons or 2 oz strawberry jelly (not jam), at $2.39 / 32 oz jar, cost $0.14
  Sugar or diet sweetener to taste, 2 teaspoons of sugar costs $0.04

Heat milk in microwave for 1.5 minutes, dissolve coffee crystals, then add jelly, add sweetener last - experiment on the first two tries to figure out how sweet you want it. Add to fake looking latte cup (Fred Meyer reusable insulated drinking container $4.00). Wash cup afterwards and reuse.
Time to prepare - less than 3 minutes (you will spend longer than that in line at the stand).

Total cost is:  $0.84 vs $4.00
Savings per month is:  $28.44 for 2 lattes / week - $94.80 / 1 latte per day


     WARNING: Caffeine is addictive!