Spending a few bucks a day at the local coffee bar may seem cheap. But imagine all the money you could save if you simply brewed your own coffee at home.
Americans spend an average of $8.43 each time they stop at a coffee shop, according to data compiled by Mint.com. With caffeine fiends filling up an average of 46 times last year, this adds up to a total annual bill of $385.97.
For daily drinkers, the bill can be in the thousands. Thurber said he has clients who spend nearly $4 on a cup of coffee every weekday morning, costing them about $80 a month. That adds up to nearly $1,000 a year.
"You can just see their eyes getting bigger and bigger as I add up how much they are spending on it," he said. "That really starts to show them why they're having difficulty paying down credit card debt and helps them say, `I've got to make some changes'."
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