Starbucks fans

I have a lot of friends who love Starbucks.  I don’t know how often they go, but I’m sure it’s 2-3 times a week, which to me is in the ‘high’ category.  And I’m pretty sure they pay full price at Starbucks, and so this post will help them get their Starbucks fix for less.  This will range from the easy to the moderate to the sketchy.

Let’s say you drink $200 worth of Starbucks in a year (and let’s say each cup averages $5, so that’s 40 cups in a year).  Here’s how you can save money.

Buy Starbucks gift cards!

Go to giftcardgranny.com and search for ‘Starbucks’ gift card.  The average discount is 11%, so now you’ve paid $178 and basically 4 extra cups a year for free.

Or if you want some fuel points instead…

Usually grocery stores will have sales on gift cards up to 20% off.  And if they happen to be giving away 2X or 4X fuel points, that’s even better.  So if you can get it for 20% off, you’d be paying just $160 for $200 or 8 free cups a year, not even counting the gas savings.

Another easy way (if you have a Chase Ink card) 

Go buy $100 worth of Starbucks gift cards at Office Depot or Staples and use your Chase Ink card.  You’ll get 5 Chase UR points per dollar spent.  If you’ve registered your card at Visa Savings Edge, you’ll save an extra 1%.  With this method, you’ve spent $198, but this time you’ve gained 1,000 miles.  So you have to decide between $22 or 1,000 Chase UR points.  For me personally, I’ll take the $22.

Ebay

Or you can search for ‘Starbucks free drink’ coupon on Ebay and buy a stack of 20 coupons for an average cost of $2-$3.  I don’t know how or where these people get these from; whether they are printing these out at home or whatnot, but it seems these were given out because a customer complained to corporate.  I used one once when it was given to me when I bought a batch of Regal Cinema coupons on Ebay.  I didn’t think anything of it until a friend who works at Starbucks told me that these are not legit.  I wish Starbucks would print a barcode or number these so they can’t easily be forged.  But anyway, don’t shoot the messenger.