Let’s talk a little about hacks.

Silly name, but useful idea. I like to think of it like… hack away… at the cost of something.

Like with an axe, not like whooping cough – especially these days.

Let’s talk about coffee, because people love to hate on the latte factor, because I love caffeine, and because it’s actually a good example for this idea.

To me, a money saving hack is anything that takes the thing you want to obtain and makes it cheaper, without lessening the quality.

So let’s look at that old Starbucks latte.

Personally, I am a pretty big fan of a nice, big caramel latte.

Now, we could go super austere and cut them out of the budget, but eff that. The sugar and caffeine combo makes me pretty happy on days when I am not or when I’m exhausted or… you get the point.

To just cut them out would lessen the quality, I think. 😉

So I’m still left with a few easy options to save a few bucks on this drink.

#1 – Join the Starbucks Loyalty Club

I got a gold card. I keep money stocked on the gold card. Super simple and once in a while I get a free drink. Score.

Solid hack. Not a huge payoff, but barely any effort.

#2 – Use discount gift card sites to load on that loyalty card.

This takes a little more effort and requires a little more cash upfront, which is not always an option for everyone. Not gonna lie, sometimes the discounts are garbage (I have seen it as low as .2% – like, what is even the point, Raise?), but I’ve also seen them between 5-8%. Not a huge payoff, but on a $100 gift card, that’s one to two free drinks.

Let’s go off on a little tangent here – let’s say your “latte factor” is something bigger than coffee, and more like you love to travel (because, yes, me too). I have used discount gift cards for flights, hotels, and AirBnBs. Especially AirBnB.

Or maybe you love sprucing up your home and you’re constantly swinging by Home Depot or you’ve got a serious Overstock.com crush. You can also knock a little bit off the top price by swinging by these sites in advance and picking up gift cards from there.

You can even use this just on things you plan to purchase in advance. Usually hit up that Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale for a metric ton of soap? Buy a gift card for roughly the amount you plan to spend in advance and save even more.

The nice thing is that they are just legit gift cards, so you can use them in combination with any other loyalty rewards or coupons you have too.

#3 – Consider substitution.

So now we’re back on that latte factor path where we are constantly told to just make our coffee at home.

The thing is, for me, that’s actually a pretty good substitute. I buy the fancy creamers at the grocery store, which are still a little pricey but less pricey and I am just as happy as I would be with the Starbucks run.

But again, that’s just me. I don’t notice less of a quality because I am not picky about certain coffees. Some are and this would be a lousy hack for you.

The main idea I’m trying to get across here is that there’s more than one way to “hack” something but a good spot to start is by acknowledging where you like to spend your money.

Then, rather than cutting anything, just look at if there are still ways to achieve the same thing while saving a little bit.

Will this make a massive difference overall in your budget? Probably not. Though if you’re cutting it real close each month, it could give you a little more wiggle room.

I think learning to question how you’re spending your money and learning to look for ways to optimize the way you handle your money does have good long term consequences, even if you just start with something small like a cup of coffee.