7 tips for great coffee on a budget

Making it through tougher times may mean cutting out or cutting back, but just putting some effort into making things yourself can go a long way.  Like coffee:  it may hurt to give up that daily cup of joe on the way to work, but it's a pretty easy transition to make your own great coffee.

I'm not a “coffee snob” so these tips are a trade-off between taste, cost, and time.  There are the kinds of things I do to get good (or even great) coffee with a minimum of fuss and time.  You may already have some of this gear, and may not want to run out to buy all of it, but any of these suggestions taken by themselves will help.

• Filtered water. Some people like to use bottled water, and it can make the coffee taste great, but it can get quite expensive.  We pop a Pur filter onthe faucet for great-tasting water that costs only 10-15 cents a gallon to filter.  (Filters for the faucet mount model are good for 100 gallons each.)
• A thermal carafe with a timer. Not everyone who reviewed the Mr. Coffee thermal coffee maker on Amazon likes it as much as we do but we've had no issues with ours.  Since we go to church early in the morning we set it up the night before, and it's one less thing we do in the morning.  The easier it is to brew, the less likely you'll cave and buy a cup at the store if you fall behind. The “thermal” part of this coffee maker means that there is no heating element keeping the pot warm.  If we're brewing and staying at home, I swish some hot water around in the carafe before brewing, and the coffee stays hot longer.  The burner on those types of models tends to, well, burn the coffee.  (A less expensive, and more participatory, alternative that some people absolutely swear by is a press coffee maker, like the Aerobie AeroPress.  I haven't tried this one, though.)
• Beans, and a grinder. Ground coffee has more surface area exposed than an equivalent amount of bean coffee, so keeping the coffee in bean form until right before brewing will improve the flavor.  We have a Mr. Coffee grinder but there are lots of alternatives.
• A really great travel container. The Stanley vacuum bottle rocks.  Swish hot water in it before pouring your coffee in and it will stay piping hot for hours.
• Brew your coffee with some cinnamon. Costco has king size containers of ground cinnamon — over 10 ounces for about $4.  For less than a cent per pot you can spice it up nicely:  sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top of the coffee grounds and let it brew in.  Plus, you get some health benefits with your joe.
• Eat some almonds as you drink your coffee. I like the taste.  The hot water in the coffee washes over the almond bits and mixes in.  Almonds are good for you, too, anyway.
• Microwave your coffee!? I do this once in a while and it's not as nasty as I would have thought.  It's not the same as fresh, but since the coffee is the most expensive part of a cup of coffee (now, anyway) you can save the most money by not tossing it out after it gets cold.  Try it once, and if you can't stand it, I won't think any worse of you. 😉

(Note:  Thanks to Suburban Dollar for including this post in the Carnival of Personal Finance!)