Iced Coffee on a Budget

This week has sure been a stressful one financially. I never thought that living on my own would come with so many bills. And then there’s the freak stuff that comes out of nowhere that you never budgeted for!

My lifestyle now is definitely not the same as when I lived with my parents. No rent to worry about, no loans, no utility bills, no paying for your own cable and internet (since Mom and Dad took care of it!), among other things.

Don’t get me wrong, I knew this wasn’t going to be sunshine and rainbows. This week has just been one to test me. I shall come out a better person with a lesson learned though, I promise 🙂

Since I am going to be on a tighter budget from now on, I decided I needed to look at some of the stuff I spend money on daily, weekly, and monthly, and see where I can cut back.

The first (and easiest) one to accomplish was my morning coffee.

I love coffee, but I love creamer more than I love coffee. In fact, most people ask me if I want some coffee with my creamer (it’s that important!) But creamer is expensive, as is stopping off at the coffee shop on the way to work each morning. It gets to be pricey when you add it all up. I am lucky in that my office provides coffee for us, but most times the pot is empty and I am much too lazy to make a fresh pot and wait for it to finish. Plus, I enjoy an iced coffee over a hot coffee any day.

After some searching around on Google and Pinterest, I found an easy iced coffee recipe that only takes 5 ingredients (and I have all of them in my kitchen!)

Iced Mocha Vanilla Coffee

• Frozen coffee (enough for 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• sugar (to taste)

That’s it!

I make a big coffee pot the night before and separate the portions into ziploc baggies. Make sure to let the coffee cool a bit before you pour it in, otherwise it’s really hot to hold onto!

Then I freeze my coffee overnight. In the morning, I take out one of the baggies and put it in the blender along with my other ingredients. I usually do this about 10 minutes before I leave, because the frozen coffee needs to thaw just a little in order to be blended well and fast enough.

After that, just blend until smooth and pour into your favorite tumbler. Mine is leopard print, which happens to be one of my favorite things!

If you’re really feeling sweet, you could also add in a swirl of chocolate syrup and top it with some whipped cream. The drink is about 40 calories before that stuff, so just remember you’re adding about 50 more calories. (Some mornings I would say it’s worth it!)

What do you do to save money and stay on budget each month?