The Starbucks Factor

A friend of mine was telling me she spends eight dollars a day for two coffee drinks at Starbucks.  She's having a rough time making ends meet, but she refuses to give up her Starbucks.  Even though she knows she is in financial hot water, she refuses to make what I consider to be a simple change to better her circumstances.  I wonder how many people are spending money on Starbucks and other luxury items while claiming they can't pay their bills. 

Yeah, I have no sympathy for such. I went to Starbucks when I needed to get away from a stress job I had. I could walk to it. Now, I rarely go. I can make something better at home cheaper. I wonder if it's a social or calming thing for her. She needs to look at why she goes. It's beyond the coffee. The coffee isn't THAT good.

I think that's why they are in trouble in the first place. No self discipline. You can't do the same thing day after day and expect different results.

I would imagine your friend is in the majority. They are in trouble but refuse to do anything to help themselves. That Starbucks coffee has become too much of a comfort and has not only rented space in their head but taken it completely over.

I wish her luck.

I agree with the above, and I have noticed that I'm seeing more Tim Horton's cups at my workplace in the last couple years. That brand is definitely less expensive than Starbucks, it has a very consistent product and I think a lot of people are no longer paying a lot more for a "designer" coffee.

I don't feel sorry for her circumstances because she continues to put herself back in it every time she buys a cup of coffee. Eventually she is going to notice what she is doing and hoepfully she decides to change her ways. But alot of people buy things that they have no use for just because they are so used to living with it. It has to be a median somewhere.

It's hard to feel sorry for someone who complains of being in financial hot-water yet refuses to do anything positive to resolve the problems in the first place.

I'm sure two cups of coffee a day isn't the only financial leak in her money-bucket...

Raven

I agree that your friend needs to change her habits if she's going to get ahead but I can feel for her at the same time. I'm a bit of a Starbucks addict myself, and I can't really explain why. There's something about the atmosphere that I like, in my local one at least.

Something I did that might at least help a bit was to switch from the $4 drinks to the $2 coffees. If it's the atmosphere that she wants, this could save her 50% of what she's currently spending.

If it's the drinks themselves, that's another issue (possibly healthwise as well as financially).

I think flexprimo raises a good point. I notice that some high end coffee stores including Starbucks have coffee tables and great chairs for people having meetings, etc.

So if she wanted a break from stress, she could go there and get a cheaper coffee, nurse it for half an hour, possibly with friends and still save money while having a piece of the "luxury" of the upscale store.

Of course financially, nothing beats taking instant coffee you make at home in a travel mug.

As a coffee freak, I understand the dilema of NOT wanting to give up the Starbucks trip.  I used to get my daily coffee there as well and love the atmosphere of being able to sit and chat with my friends, but I was getting NOWHERE in getting my credit cards down.  I did the exercise of writing down ALL my expenditures.  I was amazed on how much I wasted on Starbucks and so forth.  From that day forward, I make my own coffee and bring it to work.  I do buy the high end coffee, but I save more in the long run and get a great cup of coffee.  Now once in a while, I will treat myself to a Starbucks or other coffee house drink, but not like I used to.  It's a matter of choice - be in debt forever, or modify my habit.  I chose the latter.