13 Ways To Save Money When Making Coffee At Home

Coffee is a must-have for millions of people around the world, but the rising cost has driven plenty of drinkers to start brewing it at home. Switching from daily trips to Starbucks or Dunkin' to making homemade cups of coffee is a surefire way to save money, but it's certainly less exciting.

Having worked as a barista in a bookstore cafe for several years, I understand that many factors contribute to the calming joy you feel with a warm mug of coffee in your hands. The ambiance of the coffee shop and the amount of effort required to make certain drinks go hand-in-hand with the flavors you choose to highlight. Most coffee drinkers already know that simply topping a brew with whipped cream and caramel sauce does not a latte make.

On top of this, having crisp, flavorful coffee at home won't save you as much money as you hope if you're going all out on every cup, adding all the fixings you'd normally get at a cafe. But, there are some ways to keep your drink on the up and up, while still saving money by making coffee at home.

Many people are familiar with drip coffee makers, and they are often seen as the first step to brewing at home. However, there's a more sophisticated method for making coffee: with a French press. There are a lot of benefits to using a French press, but the first one you might notice is the fact that they are typically more affordable than an electric coffee maker, and cost far less than the average espresso machine.

French presses don't just look fancy, either. This brewing method provides a more robust cup of coffee, as the flavor of the grounds ends up being purer than it is with drip coffee makers or even coffee-pod-based brewers. First off, there's no heating element under the coffee, meaning there's no chance of it burning while brewing. Secondly, the lack of a filter or pod container, means that all of the coffee's flavor reaches your cup.

Using a French press for your morning coffee also has an unexpected environmental benefit: cutting out the need for filters. Plus, you don't need to worry about buying any special cleaning supplies or doing any maintenance work. French presses are straightforward to use and can be cleaned using standard soap and water.

Many money-saving tips for making coffee at home also improve the flavor, which is great news for those on a budget. Although there isn't much difference in the up-front costs of whole beans versus pre-ground coffee, picking up the latter at the store may save you money in the long run. This is because whole beans stay fresher than pre-ground coffee.

Sure, you'll need a grinder to make your coffee, but coffee grinders are fairly affordable. You don't have to grind your coffee beans every morning either. Plenty of people grind their coffee at the start of each week, which allows them to have a fresh stock of ground coffee as well as a longer-lasting stock of coffee beans waiting for their turn.

On top of a long shelf life, grinding your own beans will make every cup taste a lot better. It's been scientifically proven that freshly ground beans have much more flavor than pre-ground coffee alternatives. This makes grinding your own beans at home a sort of shortcut to higher-quality brews. Even cheaper coffee brands will exhibit a stronger, more dynamic flavor when you buy the whole-bean variety instead of the pre-ground option.

It is well-documented that coffee beans have a much longer shelf life than ground coffee, but that doesn't mean every coffee drinker is aware of this fact or taking full advantage of it. Buying anything in bulk can be a bit of a storage challenge, but if you have space, and a coffee grinder, buying coffee beans in bulk can help cut down on the overall cost of your cup o' joe. 

Wholesale grocers, such as Costco and Sam's Club, have wide selections of coffee to choose from, with a range of flavors and types of roasts ready to suit just about anyone's tastes. The catch? You have to buy gigantic bags of the stuff! For some, this would only be an inconvenience, but for many others, buying coffee in bulk is a fantastic way to save on coffee.

As long as you keep the beans in a dry pantry, there's little to worry about as far as expiration dates. Whole-bean coffee can be stored for weeks at a time in such an environment, and you don't need to grind any of it until you want to make a cup of coffee. Plus, you can separate the coffee into smaller portions or even freeze the whole beans to extend their shelf life even further.

It seems as though most coffee drinkers are constantly on the lookout for ways to upgrade their brew, and one of the easiest is to choose a premium brand with a lot of buzz around it. However, if you're on a budget, picking the top-choice coffee brand isn't always the best idea. After all, some of the most coveted bags of coffee can be prohibitively expensive.

Downgrading your choice of coffee doesn't mean the only choice you're left with is instant Folgers, but you may be overlooking perfectly tasty coffee just based on its sticker price. There are plenty of great coffee brands out there that don't cost even half as much as the premium stuff. Check your grocery store aisle for alternative high-quality coffee beans and give a new brand a try! Some of these options can be picked up for less than $10 a bag, which can mean significant savings, depending on what brand you currently rely on for your morning coffee.

Drinking your coffee black — without cream, milk, or sugar — is a common way to save money on coffee at home. But you don't need to cut out everything that makes coffee taste better. The most expensive addition most people include in their coffee is the cream, whether it be from creamer, milk, or half and half. By removing the cream, you can really cut down on costs without sacrificing flavor. This is especially true if you have no other use for the cream outside of your coffee. Even simply reducing the amount of cream you use can cut down on costs, allowing you to ease into darker and darker coffee.

Even with the cream removed, coffee can still be a sweet, flavorful drink. Sugar is a negligible cost when compared to creamer, and it lasts much longer thanks to its long shelf life and the fact that just a teaspoon of sugar is typical for a cup of coffee. Other spices, like cinnamon and vanilla, have similar properties that make them excellent choices for adding flavor to coffee without adding much cost.

You can also choose to make a cup of something more flavorful, such as Nescafe's Cafe de Olla, which comes with cinnamon flavor pre-mixed and can easily be enjoyed without cream or sugar and still taste very sweet.

Drip coffee machines can be seriously convenient to have at home, especially when they come with extra features such as timers and scheduled brewing options. While unbleached coffee filters are great for composting, most people simply throw away their coffee filters once they're done making a fresh pot of coffee. Filters are pretty cheap, but they aren't free and can add up over time. On the other hand, reusable filters can cost about the same as just three packs of paper filters.

Metal filters are typically the best, as they last a long time and are non-reactive. Regardless of which type you choose, the fine mesh will be designed to allow coffee to be filtered through without cutting down on the flavor.

Reusable coffee filters are also better for the Earth than many paper filters, giving you the added benefit of feeling environmentally responsible about your morning brew. Plus, if you do compost, you can continue to toss your used coffee grounds into the mix, which is considered very helpful for composting.

This may be an obvious piece of advice, but if you use less coffee when you brew a pot, you'll end up needing to restock less and, consequently, spend less. Most agree that two tablespoons of coffee per cup, but you may be able to cut back a bit without noticing much of a difference.

Consider how a small change might bring you big savings. If you drink one cup of coffee seven days a week, you can reduce how much coffee you use by just ⅓ of a tablespoon and save a day's worth of coffee each week. That's 52 fewer cups of coffee every year!

This is an especially helpful trick for coffee drinkers who really like their add-ons when making coffee at home. The addition of cream, sugar, and other flavors already works to make the coffee flavor less potent, so anyone who enjoys this style of coffee would likely not notice such a small reduction in the amount of coffee being used. Alternatively, you could also reduce your other ingredients alongside your coffee to more evenly balance the flavors. Of course, you could also simply choose to drink less coffee and save quite a bit, but that might not be realistic for true coffee lovers.

There are several ways to brew coffee in 2025. From the French press to drip coffee makers to Keurig machines, the possibilities seem endless. Though each option has its own pros and cons, they all have at least one thing in common: the machines all need to be cleaned to avoid bad-tasting brews or even malfunctions. This doesn't necessarily mean you should be cleaning your coffee maker every day, though, nor should you use harsh chemicals every time. In fact, for most coffee brewing tools, simple soap and water will be enough to remove old oils and possibly dangerous bacteria. For deep cleans, using water and vinegar is a good option.

Without regular cleaning, your coffee maker will retain oils that make fresh coffee taste bitter, according to Lisa McManus, executive tasting and testing editor at America's Test Kitchen. Consumer Reports also advises regular cleanings to avoid malfunctions caused by mineral buildup from the water you use.

Keeping your coffee machine clean not only helps maintain optimal flavor when brewing coffee at home, but it can also help you avoid extra costs that stem from a broken coffee machine. It's already tough enough to avoid spending money at a cafe, and making bad coffee at home or having a mishap with your coffee maker will only push you towards spending more.

Using quality water for your coffee makes a big difference in the final flavor and in the longevity of your coffee machine. Unfortunately, bad-tasting water and hard water, or water that contains a lot of calcium and magnesium, is an unavoidable problem for many people, forcing them to buy filtered water for their morning coffee. While this is a good solution, it can become costly over time.

Instead of buying separate filtered water for your coffee, consider picking up a water filter instead. Not only do water filters allow for higher quality coffee water just using your tap, but they also leave you with better drinking water throughout the day.

For water that simply doesn't taste good, a water filter jug will do the trick just fine. The only downside with these is that they must be refilled fairly regularly. For issues like hard water, getting a more advanced filter is necessary. The up-front cost for such adjustments can be a little high, especially if you're dealing with hard water, but the benefits of having clean and tasty water are vast, reaching far beyond any improvements to your coffee. Additionally, not buying jugs of water will save you some money while simultaneously reducing plastic waste.

Iced coffee is an all-time favorite among coffee fans, regardless of the time of year, but another contender promises a better experience. Cold brew is a popular alternative to iced coffee, offering a bolder, smoother, and more caffeinated beverage than its seemingly traditional counterpart.

The truth is that cold brew has been around for hundreds of years, even though it was most recently popularized by Starbucks and Dunkin' approximately a decade ago. This method of brewing ultimately delivers a stronger and more flavorful cup of coffee. On the other hand, iced coffee is just what it sounds like, having more in common with standard coffee. That means that while drinking cold brew coffee, you can have a smaller (and less expensive) cup than you'd normally have and still get the same effects as your normal-sized cup of iced coffee. Even if you don't want to drink less coffee, cold brew will give you better flavor, making it easier to use cheaper coffee brands without sacrificing the taste.

The only downside to cold brew is the long steep time. Iced coffee can be made easily and almost immediately, as the brewing method is fairly similar to standard coffee. With cold brew, you'll have to let it steep overnight at the very least.

It's not uncommon to accidentally make too much coffee, especially if you live in a household with multiple coffee drinkers. Turning off the hotplate will certainly make the coffee taste a bit better, but if no one drinks it, is it a lost cause? Absolutely not!

If you find yourself with a little extra coffee before heading out, you can simply freeze it. Just pour the leftover coffee into an ice cube tray and you'll be able to use it with iced coffee later. The coffee cubes will melt and keep your drink cool without diluting it as regular ice would. In fact, using coffee ice cubes is a great way to maintain the flavor and temperature of your iced coffee during your commute.

You could even mix in your standard sugar and creamer amounts to the coffee before freezing it, making the cubes even tastier when they are melting in iced coffee later on. Plus, if you really love the taste of coffee in everything, you can use the coffee ice cubes for other dishes, such as homemade milkshakes.

Many people on a budget who make coffee at home have given up on ever being able to affordably make a latte using their own kitchen. It's true that espresso machines can cost quite a bit, and are a major investment compared to basic drip coffee makers, but espresso-based coffee drinks actually use less grounds than standard coffee.

Espresso is just concentrated coffee, so while the up-front costs are a bit higher than standard coffee on average, you use less of it for each cup, saving a bit of money in the long run. If you have the extra cash, you could splurge on an espresso machine, but that's not totally necessary. Plenty of coffee drinkers around the world rely on the much more affordable moka pot to brew espresso drinks.

This simple tool goes right over your stovetop, using the hot water to capture all of the delicious flavors of your chosen espresso blend. Using a moka pot can greatly reduce the amount of money you spend on your daily coffee, particularly if you're switching from ordering lattes to making coffee at home. Even if you're already making coffee at home, the stronger, more robust flavor of espresso-based coffee will stretch your dollars throughout the year.

There's no need to go the tech route when it comes to frothing milk. Using a good, small whisk can get most of the job done as long as you warm the milk up a bit beforehand, either in the microwave or on the stove. A little elbow grease is required, but the milk can easily be ready for your cup before your coffee is done brewing.

It's also worth mentioning that most households already have a whisk available, so you likely won't even need to make an additional purchase to get that foamy topping on your coffee. Whisks are also a bit easier to clean compared to many hand frothers, since they're not electronic, and don't require you to be mindful of water exposure. Sure, electric whisks aren't too expensive on average, but they do need batteries and can break easily, due to their often delicate construction. Skipping out on having one will save you a bit of money on your homemade coffee