I Tried the 'No Store-Bought Coffee' Challenge in January. Here's How Much I Saved

The experiment went well, but it came at a cost.

Like many people I know, I started off 2023 with a New Year's challenge: Cut back on one non-essential expense and see what a difference it makes.

I specifically wanted to choose an expense to cut back on that would only impact me, and not the rest of my family. And so I landed on my morning coffee.

Normally, I pick up a Dunkin' coffee every day on my way back from walking my daughters to school. I happen to have a Dunkin' inside my local supermarket, so I'll often buy some groceries as well.

I usually don't buy Dunkin' coffees on weekends, mainly because it requires me to leave my house when I otherwise don't have to and I'm fine with taking a break. But usually, I buy myself a large hot coffee with milk -- nothing fancy -- that comes to $2.93 a pop.

Clearly, this is not the largest expense. But in the course of a month, the cost of store-bought coffee can add up.

In January, there were 22 workdays (I worked on Martin Luther King Day, so it counts). By not purchasing coffee, I saved myself $64.46. And you know what? I actually regret saving that money.

An experiment gone awry

A big reason I tried cutting back on spending in January was that I felt that once again, the holidays were more expensive than I'd bargained for. Now thankfully, I was able to pay off all of my credit cards in full following the holidays and didn't leave myself with lingering debt. But I figured I should take the opportunity to add some money to my savings account in light of all that holiday spending I did.

And lo and behold, I did manage to boost my cash reserves by $64.46. Yay. Only if I'm being honest, it didn't seem like much of a victory.

Because my husband and I keep a lot of our expenses, like our mortgage payments, low compared to our income, we're typically able to save a nice amount of money each month. So adding $64 and change to my savings account didn't feel like a huge accomplishment.

Not only that, but I really missed my daily Dunkin' coffee. The coffee I made at home, though considerably cheaper (especially since I had a bunch of leftover pods I needed to use before they went bad), just wasn't as good. And that was something that annoyed me every single workday during the month of January.

Lesson learned

If you're someone who's carrying credit card debt with no money in savings, then banking an extra $64.46 in a month is something you should absolutely aim to do -- even if it means giving up your morning dose of store-bought caffeine. But I really don't think $64.46 in savings is going to make a big difference in my finances. So in reality, even though I met my January challenge, I don't really feel a sense of pride.

If anything, I think depriving myself of my beloved coffee was a little silly. So going forward, that's not something I'm going to force myself to do unless my financial situation takes a turn for the worse.

Rather than give up a small daily purchase that makes me happy, I'd rather do an extra assignment each month that puts that $64.46 in my pocket. Sacrificing a few hours of my time is worth getting to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the morning all month long.

Incidentally, once February rolled around, I resumed my daily Dunkin' habit. And the Dunkin' employee who normally serves me my morning coffee actually asked if something was wrong since I'd been away for so long. When I explained about my challenge, he laughed.

"Life's too short to have bad coffee," he insisted. I couldn't agree more.