Home Brew

With the end of every calendar year comes the very human and very ambitious desire to make a change. It is only natural that we look at the New Year as a blank slate, a chance to redo the prior year and undo the bad habits we have formed. Change can be defined in a myriad of ways: some want to lose weight, some want to make more time for their families and some want to be better people.

A habit that my wife and I decided to tackle before the New Year was our unbridled consumption of coffee and tea. Everyday and twice on Sunday I was buying a coffee from Starbuck's or Peet's and while not as guilty, my wife was a regular at least five days week. So, let's do the math:

Family Totals:

12 large coffee/teas weekly @1.80 = $21.60
Monthly expenditure = 21.60*4.33 = $93.52
Annual Expense = 93.52*12 = $1122.34

Something had to be done. We went out and bought two thermoses, decided to commit to making our coffee/tea at home and try to make it through the month of December without our designer delicacies. Here are those numbers:

One time expense of $30 for 2 thermoses.
One pound of coffee = $10.00 (usually 2 pounds a month)= $20.00
Two boxes of tea (20 bags each) @ $4.00 = $8.00

Assuming the thermoses will last the year, here are our annual savings:

Thermoses = $30.00
Coffee = $20.00 * 12 = $240.00
Tea = $8.00 * 12 = $96.00
Total = $366.00

ANNUAL NET SAVINGS ($1122.34 - $366.00) = $756.34!!

Something to think about when you're making your resolutions. Now, if only I could give up coffee.

Brew it at home,
Coach Kevin