$36.75. That's how much I spend on coffee per week. That's approximately $159.789 per month. Madness, I know.
As much as I'd like to stop, my efforts have been futile. I drink 3-4 cups per day AND a bonus cup while studying - which is practically every night - because caffeine apparently has a positive correlation with an individual's cognition. Anyways, nothing seems to help; I've even tried substituting it for green tea every now-and-then in hopes that it will actually become a habitual regimen.
If you are in or has been in this dilemma, how did/do you deal with it?
* P.S. It's not as simple as "stopping" - if that were the case, I would not had written this post.
ID:1451232
 Dec 22 2013, 7:17 pm (Edited on Dec 22 2013, 7:29 pm)
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The only thing wrong with your coffee addiction is the money you're spending. There are really cheap ways to make coffee. One of my roommates buys whole roasted coffee beans in bulk. They're delicious, and he grinds them himself every morning with a mini blender. It costs him about 12 dollars a month.
If you really want to quit altogether, there is no magic formula. You say it isn't as simple as "stopping", but it really is. What that stopping involves is some serious effort on your part physically and mentally. Keep reminders, fight the urges, and seek to find good substitutes for coffee. Your green tea idea is actually good. Again, though, there are really no well-documented health risks to caffeine consumption. You'd need to drink an insane amount of coffee to overdose on caffeine. | |
Oh, I know. I've done my research. 5-6 cups per day seems to be the threshold to produce any physiological effects. I'll try what your roommate does or I'll buy a 1.75 oz of Nescafé for $5. That should be able to last me a few weeks and cut my spendings significantly.
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The beans and blender method is great. I wish I still had my coffee blender, because freshly ground coffee beans is way better than buying the grounds. Coffee grounds can get old more quickly than whole beans, so if buying in bulk, beans are the way to go.
I drink decaf now, but I used to drink a lot of iced coffees at Starbucks. Caffeine is a hard hitter on my body, and even after one cup I get panic attacks and jitters. I eventually kicked caffeine to the curb and I drink coffee without it. I love the taste of coffee itself, and I feel bad for those who only like it for the caffeine. When it comes to getting your fix, it can be a hard habit to get rid of. Weaning is usually the best option, or substituting it for something else while you look for alternative ways to stay more alert. You can also cut it cold turkey for a few days, and then have a cup or two after that and see how you feel. Caffeine tolerance is something that is quickly built. It doesn't take very long for a person to develop a resistance to the caffeine level they usually take. That usually means that the user will consume more caffeine to get the same buzz they did when they first started to drink it. It takes a lot of caffeine to kill someone. 5 grams is the danger zone. Normal coffee will have around 150mg per 12 fluid ounces, so drinking 5 cups a day (if they're normal cups) is about 750mg. That's a higher limit for a normal drinker, as usually 600mg of caffeine or more starts to have an impact on an individual. It is actually beneficial to drink coffee with caffeine, but too much can have a reverse effect. The positive benefits would be things like motor skill improvement, coordination, and focus. I would say to stick with 2 or 3 cups if you enjoy the drink so much, but you'll want to give your body some time to dissipate the caffeine. You could alternate with 1-2 cups one day and then 2-3 cups the next day. I've done a lot of research on this stuff because I was having a lot of trouble with coffee myself. I'm at a good spot right now. I have a coffee maker with decaf grounds, fat-free half and half, and Truvia sweetener. My coffee is a low-carb, low-calorie drink, and it tastes pretty good. I'll have a cup of regular coffee every few weeks or so when I am feeling down or sluggish. I know that feeling though. The stimulation from a cup of coffee is such a rush. But I also remember the really bad side effects I would get afterwards. My stomach would absolutely hate me as it bloated up, trying to digest the caffeine. I gained a lot of weight because of that (and thankfully burned all of it off, losing about 30 pounds). I would get shaky, and my chest would really hurt. Acid reflux was also not a fun thing. In the end I'm glad I kicked the drug, but kept my delicious coffee. It's not the same, but you could try looking into drinks with high Vitamin B12. It definitely doesn't give you the stimulating hyperactive feeling caffeine does, but it will keep you awake some, and is a lot healthier. Taking a multivitamin every day also helps keep your body in balance, and it comes with lots of B12. | |
I was never a habitual coffee drinker. Heck, a few months ago I wouldn't had even thought of walking into a Starbucks for a donut, let alone a cup coffee. Also, a recent study published says that multivitamins have no benefit and are just money wasters.
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$36.75 a month on coffee is a lot?
The tea I buy is £18 a bag ($29.16) and lasts me around a week. That's over $100 a month on tea, not including other things like the water filter I use, sugar, milk, honey and so on. But it's really good tea. | |
What tea and coffee do you guys drink because every kind I've ever had tasted like anus.
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See, I start my morning with orange juice. VITAMIN CITRUS OP
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Southern Sweet Tea is best tea.
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When I was 13, I was stupid. Indeed, I was. To the extent that I would mix Nesquik's chocolate powder with this Nescafé hazelnut product (which contained acesulfame potassium). Back then, coffee was still quite new and exciting to a influenced boy more used to chocolate milk and orange juice. I had taste it once or twice and then decided to mix that Nescafé product. When I would mix something, I would feel like I had created a recipe. This time I didn't tell anybody about it because I knew they'd be disgusted by what I do at home. Quite filthy isn't? I started with one during half the summer. It was so addictive, I would wake up early when my dad had work just so he wouldn't catch me doing what I was doing. School started, I was still in usage of coffee. My dad was wondering why was it finishing so fast. I would sleep at 12:00AM, because of the coffee. I would wake up at 4:30AM to drink some and then trying, not being able, to sleep. Until the day I got my report-card. It would say that I felt somehow bored, sleepy or more likely dizzy. I usually had good grades and my dad was surprised. I had a motivation to have better grades and this is how, I weirdly, stopped in this addiction. I do, do it, times to times but it's rarely.
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All in all it looks like my best advice is to lose your job and start prioritizing money. Sorry, that's all I got. XD