Save Bux at SBux

Just before I left Washington a coworker informed me that when you purchase drinks at Starbucks with a gift card, they won't charge you for extras like soy milk or syrup. This would've been nice to know 3 years prior. I say this because about 100 feet from my old store was a Starbucks. Every single night that I closed (well, just about every night) I would send someone from my staff to go get me coffee. I would be horrified to actually know what I spent on coffee while working there.

Every latte stand I went to in Washington used to have punch cards. I probably still have a ton in my wallet, that are clearly no good to me now. I used to get frustrated that Starbucks had no reward system for returning customers. Well, the gift card does just that. If you know you are the type who is going be frequenting your local SBux, you really should just buy one for yourself and refill it from time to time. Plus, if you get their Product(RED) card they donate 5 cents to the Global Fund every time you make a purchase with it for the rest of 2009.

So when you go there, use your RED card to get your Double Tall Hazelnut Soy Latte, and also buy some ground coffee while you're at it, because it's just cheaper to make it yourself at home. Yeah, it pains me to tell you that. I love espresso drinks more than anyone should, but it really is a bad $4/day habit.