Luxury on a Budget: Coffee Creamer

I'm not a huge coffee drinker. Particularly not by Seattle standards. However I do consider it a pleasant treat. Sometimes I really need the caffeine boost. Sometimes just the smell and taste is enough of a placebo.

I'm going to digress for a moment into coffee shop preferences. I love my local places. I feel like I'm supporting friends and contributing to my neighborhood. But with prices, I have to consider this almost charity. I don't feel like my goods totally live up to the price. I'm ok with this though, every once in a while, because, like I said, it makes me feel good. But it's an occasional treat. If I get invited out more than I'm comfortable with, I'll stick to tea.

I also love Starbucks. I know. I'm a materialist sheep. But here's the thing. They're a GREAT company. The give their employees great benefits and they spend time and money on making their customers feel appreciated. For Christmas last year, my aunt gave me a Starbucks membership. It was $25 for the year and it meant I got 10% off any purchase plus free wifi. They ended up changing this program so now there are different levels and at the top, you get free customization. I got automatically bumped to the top because of my pre-existing membership but to get free customization and wifi you only have to go five times in one year. Not too hard for most people. And I did the math: if you buy your five drinks, after going to Starbucks 17 times, it will be as though those drinks were free. With this gold status my soy vanilla latte is the same price as a regular latte and I can enjoy it while perusing the internet. Plus they have the free iTunes song cards and do things like "Free Pastry Day" (my reduced fat berry coffee cake is waiting for me). Basically Starbucks has bought my love.

Now I know that Starbucks is a HUGE corporation and to apply the same standards to these local shops is like comparing apples and oranges but it doesn't change the fact that for now it is more affordable for me, I feel like a rockstar, and I like rewarding impressive marketing (I was also a business major and can be a major business geek).

Back to the subject at hand. Even with the perks from Starbucks, I still can't afford coffee very often. I could make my own drip coffee at home...except that I can't. I swear you need a degree in organic chemistry to find the right balance of water, coffee, milk, and sugar to make it drinkable. Or I'm a 22 year old still incapable of making coffee. At home, my parents make instant and add some coffee creamer:



but that can be expensive, too.

But wait! This is something you CAN make at home.

14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
14oz. milk of your choice
2 tsps. vanilla extract

I tried this for the first time today and it was pretty dang good. Let’s see how prices compare.

Latte out: $.45/oz.
Store bought creamer: $.25-$.30/oz.
Homemade version: $.14/oz.

I think we have a winner!

For more flavoring ideas look here.

Money Money Money...Monaaay

This blog will probably frequently discuss budget. Not only am I young, I work in freelance. This means I will never know when my next paycheck comes. Eventually I will develop a reputation and won't have to worry about when my next job comes (unless I mess up, but that's negative thinking). For now though, I am pinching the *$#! out of those pennies.

I also have some issues that contribute to my money concerns. I have an anxiety disorder. No major panic attacks or anything but I will almost always be harping on something. My medication helps. As does staying busy but that has gotten me in trouble before. Whatever I'm harping on will be present to the point that it distracts and I can't relax. Sometimes "the thing" is my love life. Sometimes it is my shortcomings as an artist. Sometimes it is my body (those are bad times). Right now, it is money and my lack of income. This leads to buyer's remorse in a big way. Not buyers remorse where I go on a shopping spree and think "hmm, maybe that last pair of jeans was too much." This is buyer's remorse where I'm thirsty and pick up a $1.99 orange juice and beat myself up about it all day. I'm so petrified of developing poor spending habits and watching my life spiral into ruin. Everyone, including my parents, tell my I'm too cautious and can afford to loosen up so I'm trying to rid myself of the guilt but its hard. One thing that has helped is this app on my iPod Touch.



It's called Spend. I believe it's only $.99. Basically you can set your different categories for budgets then categorize every expense. It'll show you the balance remaining in each category and the overall balance at the bottom. I'm still learning how much I need in each category so this is enormously helpful. I've had "unexpected" expenses each month in the form of a new car battery and mop for my flooding bathroom but I know I'm ok because I've ended up with $20+ in "eating out" and "entertainment" so I can pull from other categories to not go over my total budget while still tracking my spending in each category. Now I know I need to increase my "unexpected" budget but I can decrease those other categories.

It makes it so that when I see that -$20 in my "Other" budget I don't have to freak out because I still have $200 in my "Total Available" section and I can calm down about that $1.99 orange juice.