Why I Broke Up With Starbucks

You know that feeling you get when you know that it’s time to break it off but you feel such a sense of security that it’s hard to just…let it go?  (Go ahead and belt out the chorus to the Frozen song like you’re a preschooler in a mini van…I’ll wait here…)

That feeling is the reason I broke up with Starbucks.

I’ve been in a one-sided relationship with this coffee-house for about 10 years.  I visit several times a week, I buy, I bring my loyalty card, I banter with the Barista and throw down close to $6 every single time I go. Heaven forbid that I’m hungry and working on location.  Then were talking $10.  In exchange I get 16 oz of syrup, soy milk, ice and coffee.

The fact that they are expensive is no surprise to me.  I’ve been shelling out this money since I tasted my first Iced Grande Soy Caramel Machiatto my freshman year of college.  I wasn’t a drinker in college but when I was stressed you can bet that I found a place to get my delectable, sweet swirling coffee beverage when I needed it.  Me and that two tailed mermaid spent many a hour studying in dimly lit corners together.  I’d leave the coffee-house with my brain too full, my eyes too tired and my hair smelling like a roasting room every time.

We had a good go at it.  Some 10 years later I’ve decided it just can’t be a part of my life like it was.  Oh sure, we can still be friends.  We’ll see each other on Black Friday, Christmas and those nights I just need a break to hang out with other adult people.  I certainly don’t hate Starbucks.  It’s just time we spent a little time apart.  I know it sounds so cliché but it’s not them, it’s me.

I’ve come to realize that I not only spend about $18 per week there but I also spend close to 1,000 calories a week.  $18 per week is $936 per year.  1,000 calories per week is about 1/3 of a pound.  That’s 3 hours on the elliptical runner.  My go to, never changing, beverage of choice is just too expensive in calories and dollars. I deserve more money and less hours of wasted gym time.

To make the forward progress I need to make, both financially and with my weight loss efforts, we have to sever our ties.  There is only one real way to do that.  I have to cut up my Gold Level Rewards Card- Cardholder since 2009.

I’m not kidding myself.  I know I’m just a cardholder to you.  Yes, I’m aware I’ll no longer get my 12th drink free-after I spend $66.  I’ll just be another non-color-coded-level-uped member of regular society.  One of those people who orders a large rather than a Venti.

On the bright side, you’ve now made it possible for me to enjoy your iced coffee at home each morning for a fraction of the cost of one in-store.

So whatever happens, don’t go changing on me (unless you plan to reduce your prices).  Keep brewing that same black magic.  One day, when you don’t expect it, I’ll be back around to the coffee shop.  When I come around then, distance will have made my heart grow fonder.  I’ll enjoy sipping those calories and won’t worry about them one. tiny. bit.

I’m not worried about you.  There are plenty of freshman college girls in the sea of sleep deprivation.  You’ll find one of them and it will be as if this cardholder since 2009 never existed anyway.

Kim Anderson

Kim Anderson is the organized chaos loving author behind the Thrifty Little Mom Blog.  She helps other people who thrive in organized chaos to stress less, remember more and feel in control of their time, money, and home. Kim is the author of: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have. She’s been featured on Time.com, Money.com, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day, and more!