Why buy a Keurig coffee maker?

It always surprises me when I see that someone who is a coffee lover doesn’t have a Keurig coffee brewer yet. What are you waiting for?

I’ll admit, I was hesitant to make the jump into the Keurig world. My parents had one and I loved it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get one for myself. My husband doesn’t drink coffee or any hot beverages for that matter. It just didn’t seem economically feasible, until I crunched the numbers.

How much does a cup of coffee cost at Starbucks? Just regular coffee, not some fancy latte half-caff, decaf with a twist of lemon stuff, but a tall dark roast. As of this writing it’s $2.02 and they are always raising their prices.

How many pots of coffee can you get out of a bag of beans? For me it costs $12.00 on a good day. I like Peet’s Coffee the best, which isn’t cheap. The problem is that whenever I made a pot of coffee some of it would go to waste. I’d make 6 cups and would have at least 2 that I never drank. I would waste about 1/3 of whatever I made. According to Google, you can get 40 cups out of a pound of coffee beans.

Pros of owning a Keurig

San Francisco Bay Coffee (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Cut down on waste. You only make what you are going to drink. If you are worried about the used K-Cups that you throw away, there is a brand that has a more environmentally friendly container called San Francisco Bay Coffee. I don’t know what the coffee is like because I haven’t tried it yet, but I like the idea of having the opportunity to cut down on waste even more.

Cost savings. The average cost of a cup of coffee made in a Keurig is $0.67. This is based on the $16 price of a box of  24 K-Cups you can buy online from Keurig. You could get it lower if you had a coupon or found a sale. You are saving $1.35 per cup of coffee. I drink two cups of coffee a day, so I’m saving $2.70 a day or $81.00 a month. That’s $972 in a year. Just imagine all the things you could buy with that money? 10 pairs of fancy shoes, 100 books on your Kindle, or spectacular tickets to your favorite concert. Plus it’s right there when you want it. You don’t have to run down the street to get it. You’re saving time, money, and natural resources if you usually drive to get your coffee. And it’s not that awful coffee you get for free in the office. I’d rather pay a little something for good coffee than get bad coffee for free.

Coffee Variety Sampler Pack (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Fun. It’s fun to make an individual cup of coffee. You can have a variety of drinks to choose from and pick a new one each day. I really enjoy the variety packs. I get to try new coffees without having to buy a whole box of the stuff, which is almost as fun as wine tasting. Plus, it’s fun for your guests to choose their own coffee, pick their brew strength, and get a cup of coffee they want. You could have a min-coffee bar in your own home very easily. How fun is that?

Cons of owning a Keurig

Initial cost investment. The cheapest Keurig I found is about $70. A regular coffee brewer can be had for $20.  However, keep your eye out for Black Friday deals and online holiday sales. Plus, if you analyze the money you are saving in your day to day coffee drinking, the machine will pay for itself in savings within three months.

Breakdowns. I’ve heard a few people complain about their machine breaking down. You know what they have in common? They never descaled their machines. I descale mine every three months or so, basically whenever I have to change the water filter. This is an important step in Keurig maintenance. However, these people I know whose machines broke down, all got a free replacement machine when they called Keurig about the breakdown and most of them were past the one year mark of ownership.

Bonus Keurig tip

Keurig K130/B130 Brewing System (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Bad coffee in the office no more! Did you know there is a Keurig small enough to fit on your desk at work? You have probably seen them in some hotel rooms. One of the things I didn’t like about working in a cube farm, I mean office, was the bad coffee. Sure it was free, but life is too short for bad coffee and I wasted too much time on bad coffee. I wish I would have thought about it when I was working in a cube. Then I wouldn’t have had to suffer through all those mornings of either bad coffee or feeling regret over buying expensive coffee. Heck, you could get a few coworkers to chip in on it and share the machine!

Extra super bonus Keurig tip

Bad coffee in the hotel room no more! When you travel, check your hotel’s website before you leave to see if they have Keurig machines in the room. If they do, they usually advertise it and you can pack your own coffee to go with you on the trip. I love having a good cup of coffee in the morning, especially when I’m traveling.

Keurig K45 Elite Brewing System, Black (Amazon affiliate link)

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