Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
Oh Starbucks. I love the soft music, the smell of coffee beans, and the luxury of a fancy lady coffee drink. Know what I don’t love? Spending $6 for a beverage. While I don’t go daily or even weekly, I have developed some specific strategies for saving over the years. Here are the best ways to save money at Starbucks!
Birthday Freebie
Even if you never go to Starbucks, you need to at least sign up for a rewards account. On your birthday, you’ll receive an e-mail or notification on your phone for a free beverage or treat. You’ll also receive 15% off any StarbucksOnline order and if you opt in for e-mails other discounts.
My Starbucks Rewards
Every time you make a purchase, be sure to use your pre-loaded Starbucks card or the app associated with your My Starbucks Rewards account. Again, you’ll gain a Star with each drink purchase. After 5 purchases, you hit the Green and after 12 you receive Gold Level status (FANCY). After you reach Gold you receive a FREE beverage with every 12 purchases. You can read all about the program here. As a side note, you receive a star regardless of the cost of your beverage. So a tall tea is worth as much as a trenta fancy pants latte. Then when you get your freebie, you can order the biggest, most expensive item on the menu. 😉
Cash Out Rewards Points for Gift Cards
I’m a big fan of Shopkick, Disney Movie Rewards, and Pampers Gifts to Grow for the sheer purposes of collecting points to nab Starbucks Gift Cards. They’re not always available but when they are, I snap ’em right up (if I have enough points).
Add Gift Cards to Your Account
Be sure to add any gift cards you receive from Starbucks to your account. You can actually load them on your phone or online and then use your smart phone to pay for your purchases with your gift card. Each time you buy a drink, you’ll receive a “Star.” The more Stars you collect, the more rewards and perks you gain. If you don’t have a gift card, you can link your debit card to your account and re-load your card. That way you can determine a specific budget for a set time frame and monitor your purchases closely. Stretch those gift cards with more affordable beverages and collect stars.
Green and Gold Card FREE Refills
Your My Starbucks Rewards Card allows those on the Green (5 Stars in 12 months) or Gold Level (30 Stars in 12 months) to get free refills on brewed or iced coffee or tea when you’re in store. You simply return to the counter with your beverage, tell the barista, and then scan your card or phone and you won’t be charged for a refill. This offer is only for brewed drinks, not handcrafted drinks (so no free lattes or mochas) but I think it’s the best deal going.
Buy Drinks Separately
If you’re purchasing more than one beverage, be sure you have your barista ring up your order separately. For some reason, you get a drink for each star, if they’re bought separately. If you buy the drinks together, you will receive only one star.
Brew Starbucks at Home
If you love the coffee beans and even syrups, you can consider purchasing them to make your own handcrafted drinks at home. You can purchase directly at your Starbucks, your grocery store, or even online. A long time ago I purchased a Aerolatte Milk Frother and it has held up for years, making frothy coffee drinks, chocolate milk, and more. Many of the coffees you can purchase at the grocery store also have “Star Codes” on the package. Look for it before you purchase. You can enter them on the Starbucks Rewards page and collect stars which can be used toward free drinks.
Sign Up for E-mail & Text Alerts
Ever wonder how everyone else seems to know when Starbucks is hosting special events, free samples, or discount offers? More than likely, they’ve signed up for e-mail alerts or text alerts. Once you establish your account within the App or on your computer, adjust your contact information to select what sort of alerts you would like to receive.
Follow Starbucks on Social Media
You can also keep abreast of all of the best deals at Starbucks on Facebook and Twitter.
FREE Coffee Grounds
Your local Starbucks more than likely offers up their coffee grounds on a regular basis for customers who garden. More than once, I’ve been shopping at Target and been able to score the grounds from their Starbucks to use in our compost. You might be able to check with the manager to see when they usually bag and offer theirs or if you’re like me just get lucky and snag them when you see them.
Watch Groupon
Upon occasion, Groupon features a $10 eGiftcard for only $5. It usually sells out quickly so if you see it come through, don’t delay and snap that puppy up! You would then add that eGiftcard to your rewards account so that you could get Stars for any purchases you make with it.
Free Apps and Music
At the Starbucks checkout, there are almost always free little notecards featuring a code good for a free download in the iTunes store for an app or song. I have the Android version of the app, but those with the iPhone version should be able to access those same weekly free apps and tracks through their device.
Gain Stars at Teavana
I like to spread the fancy beverage love around. I’ve become a tea snob over the last 2-3 years. Both hot and iced tea are my love language. Since Starbucks acquired Teavana, you can receive stars for beverage purchases there, too. You can also use your birthday freebie for 1 oz. of loose leaf tea from Teavana. If you have a La Boulange near you, your birthday reward is valid there, too.
Do you enjoy an occasional fancy lady coffee drink? How do you save money at Starbucks?
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
Great ideas! I also like to buy the Starbucks Groupons whenever they are available. You can’t beat 50% off from the get go – usually it’s a $10 Starbucks egift card for $5.
Ooooh great tip! I am going to put it into the post. 🙂
With the Starbucks app, you also get free songs and other apps (games and/or organization help). I think the freebies come about once a week or so. Love them!
YES. Thanks for the reminder!
I heard that a large drink costs less than two smalls, and that’s what it is equal to….so I often buy a large, drink half, and save half for the next day.
I buy discounted Starbucks gift cards/codes at Raise.com. Usually you can get a 5-10% discount. Every little bit helps!
I save money by not going to Starbucks, but if you must be a Starbucks customer, these are good tips.