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A friend asked me, “Is making drip coffee REALLY cheaper than K cups?” As a busy mom, I think she was really asking… Is it worth adding the hassle of cleaning a coffee pot to my already hectic morning?
I mean, let’s get real… She’s a busy mom who already has to drag two kids out of bed, make breakfast, pack lunches, and drive them to school. It’s exhausting!
The last thing she needs is a complicated coffee routine. Can you relate, mama?
This is the 4th post in my series about saving money on coffee. In my first post, I look at the best generic whole bean coffee. Then I checked out how much coffee is in a k-cup. Next, I looked at where to find k cups cheap.
Now, let’s break down the cost of k-cup vs drip coffee…
How Much Does a K-Cup Cost?
As I discussed in my post about how much coffee is in a k-cup, the average regular price of a k-cup is around $0.75 each.
I found that in my local stores, the non-sale prices ranged from about $0.30-$1.00 per k-cup.
How Expensive Is A Cup of Keurig Coffee?
To answer the question of how expensive a cup of Keurig coffee is, we need to agree on what a “cup” really means. In the coffee world, a cup is actually only 5-6 ounces.
Most coffee drinkers I know think that 12-16 ounces is a more reasonable cup size. After all, Starbucks tall size (aka small) is 16 oz and the average home or travel mug holds around 12-16 ounces.
Since 1 k-cup only contains around 11g of actual coffee, that’s really only enough to make 6-8oz of quality coffee. Therefore, a more reasonable coffee cup size would require 2 k-cups.
So, how expensive is a cup of Keurig coffee? If it takes 2 k-cups to make a reasonably sized mug of coffee, then it costs $0.60-$2.00 for one cup of Keurig coffee.
This is, of course, ignoring the initial cost of the Keurig machine (which is not a small cost!).
In my post about the cheapest k-cups, I found that the best sale prices you’re likely to find are around $0.25 per k-cup, so the cheapest cup of Keurig coffee would cost around $0.50.
How Much Does a Cup of Drip Coffee Cost?
Using the assumption that an average cup of coffee is 12-16 oz, we’d need to use around 20 grams of ground or whole bean coffee to make a cup.
The average grocery store ground coffee costs in the range of $3-10 per pound. Dividing that to find the cost of 20 grams of coffee gives you a range of $0.15-$0.45 for the coffee to make one cup.
With drip coffee, you need to add the cost of a filter, which is less than $0.01, but for fairness, I’ll add it in. That gives us a total cost of $0.16-$0.46 per cup of drip coffee.
Cost of K-Cup Vs Drip Coffee
To get a more accurate comparison of the cost of k-cup coffee vs the cost of drip coffee, I compared prices at my local Target and Kroger.
I tried to find brands that were available for purchase in both a k-cup variety and a ground coffee variety.
I looked at the cost of 2 k-cups vs 20g of ground coffee of the exact same brand/variety. Comparing the non-sale prices, this is what I found:
Coffee Brand | K-cup cost | Ground cost | Savings |
---|---|---|---|
McCafe | $2.00 | $0.35 | $1.65 |
Cafe Bustelo | $2.00 | $0.32 | $1.68 |
Maxwell House | $1.55 | $0.17 | $1.38 |
Dunkin Donuts | $1.44 | $0.41 | $1.03 |
Eight O’Clock | $1.22 | $0.31 | $0.91 |
Caribou | $1.11 | $0.45 | $0.66 |
Starbucks | $0.91 | $0.47 | $0.44 |
Target Market Pantry | $0.75 | $0.16 | $0.59 |
Kroger Colombian | $0.62 | $0.16 | $0.46 |
Maxwell House ground coffee at Kroger = $3.92/lb
How Much More Do K-Cups Cost Vs Drip Coffee?
As you can see in the chart above, the difference in price between ground coffee and k-cup coffee is HUGE.
Depending on the brand, K-cups cost 2-9 times more than ground coffee. On average k-cups cost about 4x more than ground coffee of the same brand.
How Much Could I Save Switching from K-Cups to Drip Coffee?
When you see the chart above, you may think that a savings of $0.50-$1.66 per day is not that big of a deal in the scheme of things. Let’s look at how that can add up over time.
This is again comparing the cost of 16 ounces per day of k-cup coffee vs ground coffee of the same brand from the same store:
Coffee Brand | Daily Savings | Monthly Savings | Yearly Savings |
---|---|---|---|
Cafe Bustelo | $1.68 | $50.29 | $611.81 |
McCafe | $1.65 | $49.44 | $601.46 |
Maxwell House | $1.38 | $41.27 | $502.11 |
Dunkin Donuts | $1.03 | $30.78 | $374.47 |
Eight O’Clock | $0.91 | $27.30 | $332.19 |
Caribou | $0.66 | $19.74 | $240.14 |
Target Market Pantry | $0.59 | $17.79 | $216.40 |
Kroger Colombian | $0.46 | $13.90 | $169.07 |
Starbucks | $0.44 | $13.07 | $158.96 |
Six hundred dollars a year?! That’s a lot of money! Is the convenience of k-cups worth $600/year?
What About the Cost of a New Coffee Machine?
If you’ve already spent a good chunk of money on your Keurig machine, you may be reluctant to spend money a new coffee drip machine.
An investment in a new coffee machine doesn’t have to be big. I would encourage you to check out Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or other places for used coffee pots.
I found my barely-used $100-machine on Craigslist for only $30.
You can also buy a new, small, basic drip coffee machine for less than $20. They have timers so you can set them up the night before and wake up to freshly-brewed coffee. Here’s an example:
Small Basic Coffee Machine
I have not tried this particular machine, but the reviews are pretty good for such a cheap machine.
Cuisinart Grind-And-Brew
Personally, I’d recommend the coffee pot that I love. It uses whole beans and grinds them fresh for you in the morning. I walk downstairs to freshly ground and brewed coffee. I love it! It feels like the future we were promised by the Jetsons!
If you’re not sure what kind of coffee to buy for a machine like this, please check out my post about best generic whole bean coffee.
High-quality whole bean coffee can be found for around $6/lb, which works out to around $0.26 per 16 oz cup of coffee for an excellent cup of Joe.
How Long Would It Take to Break Even on a New Coffee Machine?
The amount of time it would take you to break even on a new coffee machine would vary a lot based on which kind of coffee you were using.
If you’re buying a small, inexpensive pot, you could break even in less than a month. Even if you bought the grind-and-brew coffee pot I recommended, it would still take less than 3 months to break even with most brands of coffee.
Do Reusable K-cups Save Money?
Personally, I’d recommend getting rid of the Keurig and switching to a drip machine.
If you’re not ready to part with your machine, reusable k-cups are another way to save a significant amount of money over buying regular k-cups.
It also allows you to use whatever coffee you want, as opposed to only what’s available in k-cup form. You could even grind your own beans to use.
Here are some options to check out:
There’s even a scoop that helps you reload the cups without a mess:
There are also optional paper filters to use in the reusable cups:
How to Save Money on K-Cup Coffee
My last post was about the cheapest k-cups available, but I think the best option is to just ditch the Keurig altogether. You can buy the same coffee for about 75% less than you’re paying for k-cups.
What Did My Mom Friend Do?
She was convinced that switching from K-cups was worth the hassle. $600 a year was worth her time! Do you agree?
Since she already had an expensive Keurig, she decided to buy a reusable k-cup for now. She mentioned she may ask for a fancier drip machine for Christmas this year.
More About Saving Money on Coffee
Check out the rest of my posts about saving money on coffee:
Dave
Saturday 16th of March 2024
For convenience I brew a 12 cup pot of coffee and drink one or two then put the remaining coffee in the fridge. The next cup is filled then microwaved for a couple of minutes. And I am on my second Kurig. They don't last as long as my cheap Black and Decker drip machine. A total cost of coffee should include the purchase cost, replacement frequency, and maintenance. Kurigs require citrus acid cleaning to keep the pump/mechanisms from caking up with scale and becoming inoperable. Alternatively, use distilled water and increase costs even more. My drip machines are cheap to buy and maintenance free in my experience.
Patricia
Sunday 6th of November 2022
I go to Costco for Starbucks kcups, but the impact to the environment, my daily 2 cup consumption is not cheap. Love the convenience, but If I buy a cheaper brand of coffee it often has a watered down flavor for same 10 oz size. I’m ready for a single cup new coffeemaker that has the grind and brew with option for kcups for flavorful cup of coffee that I found is available; the investment will pay for itself. Thank you for this info as it helped me decide to switch.
Jonathan
Friday 24th of September 2021
One place I would never get a kcup for would be hot chocolate. That is one simple process and if i use a kcup for it, it would only clog the water cooler/heater we use.
Michael Davidson
Tuesday 21st of January 2020
I do not agree that it takes 2 k-cups to make a 12 ounce cup. One k-cup is more than sufficient. Another thing to consider is that with bulk coffee, some tends to get wasted. I calculated using Costco brands, that the k-cup is about 2.5 times more expensive. This also does not take into consideration of the environmental impact of the k-cup. It is estimated that there is enough plastic waste in land fills from k-cups to circle the globe 10 times.
Sue Ann williams
Sunday 9th of February 2020
I do agree that ground coffee is by far the cheapest on the planet
Cindy Scott
Tuesday 21st of January 2020
I completely agree on the environmental impact! It's certainly not something to be ignored!
E
Tuesday 10th of September 2019
Has anyone also mentioned the environmental impact of all the throwaway plastic? For me, no convenience in the world is worth the environmental degradation and damage to our oceans that all the single use throwaway plastic is causing. Sure, use the reusable K cups — but then you’re back at the same time investment in washing them as you are washing a coffee pot, in my opinion.
Cindy Scott
Tuesday 10th of September 2019
Definitely! The environmental impact is certainly a factor.