Posted by Guest

Save: as much as $1,561 (depending on how much coffee you drink), as much as 91 hours queuing time, and the environment
Gain: great coffee on the go, without the hefty price tag
Cost: anything from $15 to over $100 for a coffee maker depending on your budget
We all have our own ways of getting through the day – if you’re anything like my husband (and 54% of American adults), that’s likely to include a few hits of caffeine via a well-timed cup of coffee.  Coffee is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world, with $18 billion in annual sales in the US alone.

Over recent years brands such as Starbucks have helped to feed our coffee habit through their ever-increasing number of premium coffeehouses, which seem to be appearing on every street corner (they now have just over 17,000 shops worldwide according to Wikipedia).  Few would argue that the standard of the coffee in these outlets is consistently high – but what about the impact on your wallet?

According to the website Coffee Marvel, Americans drink an average of 3.1 cups of coffee a day, at an average cost of $1.38 for a cup of brewed coffee (more for espresso).  Multiply that up, and you could be spending as much as $1,561 a year on your daily caffeine fix.

Then there’s the environmental impact to consider – according to Betacup, we throw away 58 billion paper cups every year.  The production of all those cups uses up 20 million trees and 12 billion gallons of water, not to mention enough power to keep 53,000 homes running.

Now I’m not for a minute going to try and stand in the way of you and your caffeine needs (I’ve learnt that the hard way before!).  But instead of standing in line at your local coffeehouse for 15 minutes every morning (which would take up 91 hours / nearly 4 days of your life if you did this once a day every year), why not invest in your own home solution?

There are hundreds of coffee makers available for every budget – below are a handful of top-ranked suggestions from Amazon:

● Less than $50: consider a coffee maker from Mr. Coffee or Hamilton Beach, who both offer a wide selection of good quality options in this price range

● $50 – £100: the best selection in this mid-range budget is available from Cuisinart

● More than $100: splash out on a top notch model from Bunn, Saeco or DeLonghi

To see reviews of coffee makers and top reusable cups, please visit these pages:

Review of top-ranked coffee makers on Amazon

Top 3 reusable coffee cups to help your wallet, and the environment