diet

Beating the latte factor: One money nerd’s quest for the best cheap coffee

Like J.D., I’m a recent convert to coffee. For most of my life, I preferred to consume my caffeine cold in the form of Diet Coke. And then…fate intervened.

Four years ago, when my family moved to Oklahoma, my sister-in-law gave us our first Keurig coffee maker. I thought, “That’s an interesting gift for a family that doesn’t drink coffee.”

But a set of sample k-cups came with the machine, so we started trying them.

The kids liked the sugary cups which were more like hot chocolate than coffee. And I found that I liked the taste of coffee now and then. I played with combinations of coffee, sugar, and milk until I found out I liked it a lot. I later dropped the sugar and went straight for the coffee/milk combo.

Within a month or two, I was hooked. But I started wondering: “We’re drinking a lot of coffee. Is this the best deal? What are my options for finding the best cheap coffee?” Because I’m a money nerd, I decided to find out.

My Quest for the Best Cheap Coffee>

Spending to save: When it’s smart to splurge

Sometimes you have to spend more in the short term to save money in the long term.

The post Spending to save: When it’s smart to splurge appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.

Frugal living tips with a big impact

These practical ideas to save money on everyday expenses can really add up.

The post Frugal living tips with a big impact appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.

Two months with HelloFresh: A quick look at the cost and quality of HelloFresh recipes

When I published my first HelloFresh review last June, I liked the popular meal-delivery service. Kim’s employer had given us a one-week free trial. The three recipes we received were fun and tasty. In the end, we chose not to sign up with HelloFresh but resolved to remember it for the future.

At the end of 2018, as I was evaluating my spending patterns, I was shocked by how much I was spending on food. It’s embarrassing to show the following numbers, but facts are facts and truth is truth. I was spending over $1100 per month on food.

2018 food spending

“Something needs to change,” I told Kim. “Maybe we should try HelloFresh again to see if it can help us cut costs.”

“Do you think so?” Kim siad. “Isn’t HelloFresh kind of expensive?”

“It’s not that bad,” I said. “Besides, if having meals delivered can keep us from dining out so often, and if it can keep me from splurging at the grocery store, it might actually save us money.”

I signed us up.

For two months — January and February — we received three HelloFresh recipes each week. Based on our experience, here’s a new, revised review of HelloFresh.

Dear Dad, Why Did You Let Debt Kill You?

According to his death certificate, my dad died of myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack. His health had been deteriorating for some time, so it wasn’t a total surprise. He gained weight and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. He had two bypass surgeries — one triple, one quadruple. It wasn’t hard to […]

The post Dear Dad, Why Did You Let Debt Kill You? appeared first on Good Financial Cents®.