Money Saving Drink Tips
- First don’t forget to drag out the thermoses. What a nice surprise for your family to open up their lunches and find a thermos full of cocoa or hot tea. I know they can get milk at school and a teabag from the break room but how would you feel if someone made you a hot drink like that? It would be nice wouldn’t it? It’s like liquid love.
- Instead of throwing out that extra coffee in the morning, pour it into a thermos to use later (whether at work or at home). You could even make extra coffee in the morning and put it in a thermos to take to work. This will save you money over buying coffee there. Even if you stay at home it saves you from having to make it when you need a break.
- Experiment with regular tea bags and make your own flavored tea. Add apple juice, brown sugar and cinnamon stick to a regular cup of tea or instead, add a slice of lemon, honey and a cinnamon stick. Another good combination would be cranberry juice, cloves, and a cinnamon stick.
- Save money on expensive coffees buy making your own. Add a drop or two of vanilla extract and vanilla non dairy creamer to your coffee for an expensive coffee taste. If you really want to “walk on the wild side” experiment with different flavors of extracts like hazelnut. Use a light hand and only a small amount because pure extracts can be strong.
- If you like flavored coffees, add a little pinch of cinnamon to your coffee grounds before brewing or use a cinnamon stick to stir it. You might try a tiny bit of vanilla with vanilla flavored creamer.
- For a delicious variation on cocoa, try stirring it with one of those peppermint sticks you got on clearance after Christmas.
- Don’t have a peppermint stick? Then steep a mint tea bag in your cocoa.
- If you love peanut butter cups, add a small spoon of creamy peanut butter to your cocoa.
- Add a teaspoon or two of coffee creamer to your hot chocolate for a much creamier texture.
- Having trouble communicating in your family? A hot drink may seem like something small but try sitting and having a cup of cocoa one day with your kids after school. You will be amazed at how they will open up and visit with you. Or try sharing a hot drink with your spouse at the end of the day. These things help to create warm fuzzy memories for our families. Then, when times of stress come, they have those good memories to pull out, cling to and help them through the harder times in life.
- Make up some lemonade and stir into a little kool aid to color it – red (raspberry, strawberry, cherry flavor) for Valentine’s Day, green (lime) for St. Patty’s Day or blue for the 4th of July.
- Having trouble getting your children to eat their food at dinner time? Try serving just water for a beverage. A lot of times children fill up on juice, milk or pop before they even get their food on their plate. They are not as likely to tank up on liquid if that liquid is water.
- Don’t forget to keep a few frozen bottles of water in the freezer now that we are heading into summer. Fill plastic bottles of water half full and freeze. When you are ready to run out the door grab one and top it off with more water. These are also great for picnics or for on a trip. Place them in with your food cooler to help keep it cool.
- I really love the small bottles that chocolate milk comes in at Burger King for kids’ drinks. They are smaller and narrower which makes them easier for small hands to hold on to. This especially helps reduce spills in the car. We don’t get these bottles often but when we do I just take them home, peel off the labels and wash them. I then freeze them with water or fill with lemonade.
- Do you often go to a large activity where everyone one has a bottle of water or pop that all look alike? Do you have a drawer of scrunches or cloth pony tail holders that seem to keep multiplying? Then kill two birds with one stone and slip a scrunchy or pony tail holder on to the bottle or can so you can easily identify yours. Give every member of the family his or her own color. The guys probably would prefer a black or brown one instead of hot pink and if they really aren’t in touch with their feminine sides, use a large colored rubber band instead.
- Save money on expensive coffees buy making your own. Add a drop or two of vanilla extract and vanilla non dairy creamer to your coffee for an expensive coffee taste. If you really want to “walk on the wild side” experiment with different flavors of extracts like hazelnut. Use a light hand and only a small amount because pure extracts can be strong.
photo by: alykat
Great ideas, once again. You never disappoint, Jill.
Energy drink- inexpensive nutritious alternative: CIDER SWITCHEL
Combine 1/2 gal. filtered water with 1/2 gal. Apple Cider, add 1 cup unsulphered molasses and 2 heaping tablespoons dried ginger. Shake/stir well, if too sweet for your taste, add 1/4 cup cider vinegar. Farmers have relied on switchel for almost 2 centuries! Full of vitamins, iron and electrolytes.
I hate the bitter taste of coffee but sometimes need its effects. I make large batches of nutmeg-cinnamon syrup and use it instead or in addition to sugar. I recently did a 4-gal batch, using a large pot I own and the following recipe, roughly adapted to non-metric measures:
1 stick cinnamon and 1 whole nutmeg, plus 2 pounds sugar, per quart of water.
Roughly crush the nutmegs and cinnamon sticks, then put them in a large pot you won’t need for a few days.
Add the cold water and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 15 min. Take off the heat, and let it set for a couple of days with the spices.
Filter through a pantyhose or similar thin cloth.
Measure the liquid and eventually adjust for evaporation.
Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Stir until all sugar is dissolved.
Pour in bottles and use for baking and drink flavouring.
I’ve kept some for over one year without any spoilage, especially if the filtering was careful. The spices can be left to dry and used again, you’ll have a slightly different flavour.
Metric measures are 1 of each spices per liter of water and 1 kg sugar.
I also use the same method with leftover used vanilla beams, ginger peelings (I used the ginger for something else,) and elderflowers (which are free!)
I buy the BIG can of Lemonade drink and Ice Tea from Costco. I mix one teaspoon of each in water with ice for hot days and I also mix equal spoonfuls in a mug and fill it with hot water and a lemon candy for cold days! You can mix equal parts of each and put it in a pretty tin or box with lemon candies and a nice tea cup and saucer as a gift. It does taste REALLY good and the lemon drop adds a very nice touch!
Love these ideas! I think I will put a few drops of vanilla in my coffee tomorrow.
Oh, you know what else is super tasty in coffee, a bit of evaporated milk. It adds just the right touch of cream/sugar to your coffee…and it’s just like getting a fancy, sugary coffee drink from the shop, but for much less money :) :)
I also like to freeze leftover coffee in ice cube trays…and use that for iced coffee later on down the road, because when my coffee cubes melt, my drink will still taste like coffee :) :)
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
Good idea Heather. Also if you are forever having a little bit of tea left over pour it into an ice cube tray to use for ice tea.
Hey, I just read about this following tip and it works GREAT!
Microwave latte:
Fill a small lidded jar halfway with milk (I measured 1/2 cup), then cover and shake until frothy, about 30 seconds. Remove the lid and microwave for 30 seconds. Pour the milk into your coffee, holding back the foam with a spoon, then scoop foam on top.
Yum! You can add sugar/artificial sweetener to taste; add cinnamon or nutmeg or cocoa powder on top to fancy it up a bit.
If i have leftover coffe i put it in a jar and refrigerated and reheat in microwave next day.I also freeze water bottles and sometimes refill add a little juice and freeze.
I save our leftover coffee in the fridge. Mix half a glass of coffee with half a glass of milk, a teaspoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla for a delightful afternoon pick-me-up !
You might want to check into freezing water in water bottle to be sure it is healthy. I was doiing that and noticed little white floaters in the water—plastic chips. Later I read that it is not okay to reuse bottles this way because the plastic breaks down. Just want all of you to be safe.