Take-away coffee

[OnTheRoll]

Had a late night working util 1am, then was up at 7am to drop off DD to the train station and looking at a very busy day ahead. There is a Costa at our train station, I hadn't had any breakfast and for a few seconds I contemplated getting myself a coffee - to pick me up and to spare the effort of making one at home. I love take-away coffee, it always feels like a treat. Then I remembered that this coffee would now be in the region of £4.50. And decided that for this money, I can wait until I get home and make one there.
If this take-away coffee had been £3.00-ish like before I would not think twice. I can still afford it technically but just can't justify this cost for a cup of hot drink.
I wonder if coffee chains will feel the impact or if there are still enough customers paying these prices?

Like everyone else, I rarely but takeout coffees anymore as they are so overpriced now. Particularly Costa who has changed their reward scheme to make it pointless and the service is always awful. Unfortunately for me my pregnancy craving is their sausage sandwiches (no idea 😆) so I tend to treat myself once every two weeks before a nail appointment however for most coffees I got a Nespresso for home.

I still buy it but a lot less frequently now. I normally go to Starbucks as I like their cold coffee (don’t like hot coffee unless it’s espresso)

I got a coffee from there the other day and it’s averaging £5 a time. It’s extortionate and that’s coming from someone who likes takeout coffee and lives in London. I have cut back alot, although I can afford it it feels like a huge waste

Costa prices are madness! Local coffee shops are generally better prices around where I live around £3.20ish for a latte.

This is the problem though, you're not paying for just the teabag, you're paying for the hot water boiling all day to use on demand, the actual water rates, the cost of a cup, milk jug snd spoon, any milk/sugar, the person to serve it to you, clear your table and wash the dishes, the heating and lighting while you're sitting, the WiFi to take your card payment, the wages of whoever is in charge of purchasing, plus the shop needs to make a profit.

Personally I never drink tea out because I want something I can't make easily at home, but it's so much more than just a teabag and water.

My Costa was £3.05 today, it was £2.90 yesterday 🙄
It wasn’t horrible though.

I own a coffeeshop, we charge £2.70 currently for a regular latte although we are going to have to have a small increase soon but will still be under £3. Try and use independents, by using Costa and the like you are just lining big corporations' pockets

Could you not just do once a week or once a month rather than stop completely? Just keeps them in business or at least tries to.

It’s not the teabag / water they are charging for.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2016/jan/14/is-2-a-fair-price-for-a-cup-of-hot-water-and-lemon

That was in 2016. The fact it’s now £3 with all the price rises doesn’t surprise me.

I use Costa because I can sit there for ages and work without anyone bothering me. The independents, which are lovely and do better coffee, don’t encourage this because they are smaller and need the table back to keep cost effective.

Costa round here is still around £3 for a regular drink, the motorway ones are significantly more expensive, I expect the train station ones are the same

I think when people are cutting down on big things they will still look for smaller treats like coffee.

A bit like sales of lipstick traditiobally going up in recession because we want an affordable way to treat ourselves.

But less frequent takeaway coffee for sure.

The cost is definitely something to think about, at £4.50 every weekday that's over £1100 on coffee.
I do enjoy the occasional one but I'd rather use the money for a holiday of something else more beneficial.

An independent can’t offer me a coffee at £1.29 and generally aren’t open at 6:30am where I can just sit undisturbed for twenty minutes on a morning. They don’t give me a free coffee every month or so either.

Although I do still use my local independent, it’s probably just a very occasional treat as I’m sadly both time and cash poor these days.

Just get the bloody coffee lol, you deserve it

@40andlovelife that's an insane amount of money he's spending! Do you have a Pret near you instead, as he could get 5 drinks a day every day for £30 a month subscription fee, plus a discount on food too. It's a shame Costa don't do the same thing.

@Unicorn2022 I know yes it's completely ridiculous. He travels quite a bit and gets them during his journeys when he pops in to petrol stations. There's no bloody telling him though. I will tell him about pret, that is such a good deal

Yes it's insane. My 'on the way to the office' takeaway coffee in central London is now £4.20. I've also noticed Staryucks have been happily bumping their prices up every few weeks for the past year - my standard Tall order is now almost £1 more than this time last year - I sincerely doubt they're passing any of that onto the poor dairy farmers or coffee growers.

My DH was paying £150 a month on Costa's even though working from home! What a waste of money. Bought a really good coffee maker for £350 3+ years ago. Costa's are a thing of the past except when travelling but a large latte here is now £3.90

I love a hot chocolate but find some of Costa sickly sweet

I'm definitely a take away coffee addict, though when I think about what I must spend in a year its ridiculous. I stopped having them for a while but have somehow got back into the habit of getting one whenever I'm out and about. I have a reusable cup but it needs to be kept upright or it leaks - maybe I should get myself a proper leakproof cup so I can make a coffee before leaving the house and chuck it in my bag. I'm currently on a health kick too so I'd save on all of those calories from the milk too (I usually get a flat white)

£4.50 for coffee?!! WTF 😳

We've just recently been to Italy where a very good cup is about €1.50. Costa are having our pants down!! Not even proper coffee either.

Agree at its price point you can't beat McDonald's coffee.

I used to like their filter coffee especially when it was free refills! Every time I ask now they apparently "haven't got it on today" but offer an Americano instead but don't do refills on that

Agree if I'm going to pay more than McD's I'll always try an indie as we have several near us and all very good

I treated myself to a regular Americano on my way to the hairdresser this week. £2.70 to have inside at Coffee 1 . I thought that was very reasonable. As I live in the country I seldom have coffee out but I have cut out having a cake or croissant with it.