Dec 9, 2008
The Daily Poverty Post.
Bossy has made much before — right here in the pages of this blog — about her morning routine. Do blogs have pages?
And at the center of Bossy’s morning routine is her large enamel mug filled with coffee and that coffee is filled with half & half, and really you just have to trust Bossy when she tells you how integral these cups of coffee are to her morning — even though it’s decaffeinated coffee — and how she warms her cup before pouring coffee from the pot, and about how she warms the coffee pot before making the coffee to begin with.
Other things Bossy does with her coffee: she spills it out when it gets too cold so she can warm her cup again and pour fresh coffee, and readers reader? Bossy has been keeping this secret that has filled her with guilt and confusion because HOW CAN SHE SAY SHE’S NOT WASTEFUL WHILE DUMPING FRESH COFFEE DOWN THE DRAIN EVERY MORNING?
And because Bossy works at home, her mornings last a long time, sometimes straight into evening or even later.
Bossy buys her coffee beans from Trader Joe’s, and it’s $11.99 a pound. Bossy calculates that she probably drinks only half of the overall amount of coffee she purchases, every other minute, from the store.
And Bossy has tried all the tricks: pouring only small amounts of coffee into her cup and other tricks she can’t think of this minute and you will find out why in the next paragraph, but still she dumps this coffee out. Expensive coffee.
So yesterday Bossy began a 5-day cleansing diet, and that diet includes the elimination of coffee — or maybe you already guessed Bossy was on a coffee-eliminating cleansing diet by the way her sentences go nowhe. re.
This cleansing diet has to do with many things, namely Bossy’s lack of self control to temper habits in a more moderate way, but mostly Bossy is looking at it as an opportunity to press her reset button and reevaluate routines.
Bossy won’t be giving up coffee for good, but after living without coffee for a week, Bossy is hoping she will be so grateful for its reintroduction she will commit to reheating the coffee that has gone cold.
Or at least that’s her optimistic plan, where optimistic equals Is it possible that Bossy’s empty stomach is beginning to digest her brain?
You’ve tried heating everything else… have you tried heating the half-and-half? If it’s chilled, it would surely cool your coffee faster. Also, maybe try an insulated travel mug with a lid? Keeps it nice and toasty! I can’t drink cold coffee either – blech!
Lauren beat me to it; I was going to recommend heating the half-and-half. I finally discovered this trick (I use milk) about two years ago. I was frustrated with cold coffee in my favorite ceramic mug. Ditto on the insulated mug.
Good luck jumping back in the saddle.
Bossy, you need to shop at TJMaxx or somewhere and partake of all the flavored (or not) coffee. Some as low as $ 2.99/bag (TWO NINETY NINE). It’s like a surprise every morning and at that price you can afford to throw some down the drain!
Dear Lord in Heaven Bossy. Cleansing diet or not, you just shouldn’t give up coffee. It’s unethical. Unheard of. Un-American. Just plain un.
I love me some Trader Joe’s, but I don’t buy my beloved coffee there even though they have the cutest cans. I buy a big old ugly bag of Seattle Mountain coffee at Costco (the brand they roast in the store.) It is VERY good, and VERY cheap.
What about getting one of those little coffee warming plates to sit your mug on? I’ve never used one but have seen them many times in stores.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE GIVE UP COFFEE. It is a ridiculous notion and falls under the category ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’ Try other things. For instance….
Start using discarded grounds as a foundation for BOSSY’S own compost.
Cut out the half and half altogether. This will probably make you want to weaken your coffee strength which will use less coffee altogether.
Make a mixture of Trader Joe’s coffee (which you love) and a cheaper, store brand or something to save money, save coffee, and still have most of the taste you crave.
I second the Costco coffee. It’s fine. It’s good, even! I drink it every day. Also, I always use an insulated mug, because I get too depressed when my coffee cools. I highly recommend it.
I don’t understand decaffenated coffee. It’s like dealcoholized booze. What’s the point?
But, good idea about warming the milk first from the commenters! I’m going to try that too
Reheated coffee is vile. You must get an insulated travel mug. A good one (metal, not plastic) will last a long time and keep coffee warm for a long time. And you can preheat it like your ceramic mug.
I love(d) half & half like the moon, but gave it up for vanilla soymilk last year. Now I don’t miss it. Much less fat.
I love my real decaf. Much less caffeine, no afternoon crash, and I don’t die if I don’t get it first thing in the a.m.
Honest to Juan Valdez, we JUST had the coffee conversation 15 minutes ago.
We calculated that we buy Dunkin Donuts coffee at $6 a bag at Tarjay, we drink it out of insulated mugs that we got for $1.99 at the gas station, we get 20 mugs of coffee per bag, ignore the cost of half/half.
29 cents per X-large mug of coffee and none goes down the drain.
I wrote this before I had my morning coffee.
Decaf? It’s brown water!! Sorry, I just don’t get decaf. Moving on… my husband and I talk every week about him making coffee before work and taking it with him in a thermos so he’ll have enough delicious coffee to last him the whole day (he’s much more of a coffee snob than me, I just drink the sludge at work). And every week he spends way too much money buying coffee on the way to work. But I’m about to enforce a new budget on him that will REQUIRE he make his own coffee!
Traditional Spanish coffee calls for heated milk/cream. Your coffee stays hot longer too.
Um…
Only make what you will drink at the time… via coffee press…
Fresh cup every time…
Before you started your Poverty Party, I was going to Peet’s every week for beans, as in, the original Peet’s on Vine and Walnut, the Peet’s where Howard Shultz (I think that’s his name), CEO of Starbuck’s learned the coffee trade, the Peet’s where any self-respecting Berkeley graduate buys their coffee. At +/- $13.99 per pound.
But now, thanks to Bossy, I hold my head high and buy the big 3 pound bag at Costco and pay half that amount. (and shhh, don’t tell my husband, but I prefer the cheaper stuff)
Bossy needs a Thermos insulated mug. I’ve had one for three years and it goes everywhere with me. The husband had one for 9 years before he put it on the top of the car and pulled out of the driveway. (I haven’t had the heart to throw it away, even though I bought him a new one last year)
$20.00 mug = purely hot coffee for three + hours.
I don’t like coffee. I think it tastes like boiled dirt water. But my husband, back when he made coffee at home mixed a cheaper coffee with the more expensive coffee and said it was fine. Which saved us a little money.
I don’t know what to tell you. When I used to smoke I damn well made sure I smoked the entire cigarette, right down to the filter line. If I was going to waste something it was going to be my health, not the sweet, sweet tobacco flavor packed into a Marlboro Red…
What the hell was I talking about? Oh, coffee. Bossy, if you stop drinking coffee or pouring it out when it’s cold I promise you, promise, you, that I’m going to start buying coffee from Trader Joe’s JUST TO BREW IT AND POUR IT DOWN THE SINK. So you might as well just keep doing what comforts you because you aren’t going to be saving anything, really. You need to move to a mountain top to be live a really ascetic life; to live a life of moderation you need to have a human weakness.
I don’t drink coffee, unless it is well diluted with vanilla creamer or some other flavor. But I am addicted to Chai tea. I can make the kind Starbucks makes at home for a fraction of the cost. I use an insulated mug that I can sip from all morning.
How about making iced coffee from your coffee that has gone cold?
I work in a place where people will “give up” things for Lent, and one of their favorite things to “give up” is “coffee,” meaning, “giving up their lifes’ blood for six weeks and becoming impossible to live/work with.” And though I know they are making this “sacrifice” in order to help make their reservations for “heaven,” the rest of us feel we have been given prime real estate in sacrificial “hell.”
Reheating coffee that has been sitting cold in the pot, NEVER tastes as good as when it was first made. I have tried OVER & OVER to do this,. and the coffee always gets “foamy”, like it’s INSTANT or something NUTSO like that.
I have however, set myself at a 2 cup maximum…..anymore than that, and I feel as if my stomach is growing holes. (Yes, I make it TOO strong).
Coffee’s one thing I can’t go cheap on and this is coming from someone who has a debt load similar to Bossy’s. Drinking bad coffee in San Francisco is like voting Republican … just not done. But I did switch from Peet’s Major Dickison’s at $13.99/pound to their House Blend at $10.99.
And I second Heather’s press pot idea.
But my main concern here is didn’t Bossy have one of those “god, please just let me die” caffeine withdrawal headaches?
I drink decaf too and I don’t mind reheating it. I buy generic decaf and mix it up with $6.99/lb decaf beans and a little coriander in my coffee grinder. I also heat my milk before I steam it with my latter maker (that was a gift, that just keeps on giving).
I don’t think cleansing is all that great. Don’t you read Dooce.com? She got really, really sick. Just eat more fresh stuff, whole grains, green tea, yogurt and nothing, absolutely nothing prepackaged from a box. Oh and lots of water! Have you ever tried drinking hot water? If you eat something from a can, make sure you drain it well or even rinse it (like beans or fruit). Get out and go for brisk walks in the chilly air or stay inside and dance. And don’t cleanse. Life is too short.
ooh oooh!!! I know how to fix this…. because I do the very same thing…. blame American super-sizing…. your cup is too big. Probably a 12 ouncer at least. Bossy needs to find herself a nice, small coffee cup. No, smaller. Smaller. SMALLER! There you go. Welcome to Europe.
May I reiterate the travel mug idea? I use mine around the house all the time for coffee and tea. The only problem with it is that mine is metal so if my coffee does get cold, I can’t just pop it in the microwave to rewarm … at least not without dirtying another cup. But I’ve gotten good at drinking it all before it gets beyond the point of no return.
By the way, are we still supposed to post links to our own blogs if we’re participating in Bossy’s Poverty Party? Even if our posts have nothing to do with Bossy’s posts? If we are, here’s my latest: http://blogs.brocknet.net/eriepressible/?p=2052 . If we’re not, then disregard that last sentence.
I’m guilty of this crime as well. I make myself feel better about it by adding the coffee to the compost bucket.
Mmm. Coffee. I will continue on my quest to give up one type of meat a year until I am a veggiesaurus but I will NOT EVER give up my caffeinated beverages.
And what kind of cleanse are you doing? Because I need to do one, too, and could use some input on what works and what doesn’t.
Poor Bossy. I think I need to give up coffee or caffeine period. I tend to get high-strung easily (or all the time). But… I can drink luke-warm coffee and warm soda…
Good luck.
Good ideas. One that has helped me, that BOSSY has done with her finances, is …to drink..and to live, with PURPOSE.
Allow yourself the delight to take your time over your coffee, CONCENTRATE on it…and you will enjoy it more, drink less, because you are really “living” the coffee experience. Just as dieters are told anytime they eat ANYTHING to set a full place setting (does anyone even know what a place setting IS anymore?), when you drink coffee with INTENTION…it changes things.
Live with INTENTION. Budget with INTENTION. It all gets better.
Hrm, I drink my coffee COLD on PURPOSE, so I’m not much help here. But when I drink TEA, HOT, I keep it right in front of me or in my hand until it’s gone because tepid tea = bleah. But warming the half and half? Good idea, but would it form that weird film over the top? Because that’s just nasty, too.
I’m no help, no help at ALL.
I have never written to a blog before, but this was such an easy issue that I had to respond. First, purchase a one cup cone filter and some #2 coffee filters to fit it. Then purchase a small electric pot to boil your water. You can boil only the amount you want, so you waste no water, plus it will boil in 1/4 the time of a gas range and really, who drinks coffee from those horrible coffee makers anyway? So, you make your coffee one fresh, boiling cup at a time – no need to re-heat. Literally, we were dumping about 2 cups of coffee per day, or 60 cups per month! We went from a pound of coffee every 10 days, to a pound per month, and believe me it is much much better coffee.
Seems the topic of coffee, or moreover cold and/or NO coffee, engenders lots of passion.
But Kristine (#16) — how do you know what boiled dirt water tastes like, to compare it to coffee?
Same question I had for my mother back when she used to say beer tasted like dirty dish water. How did she KNOW.
…I almost forgot….you can get two cups of coffee from one filter.
Half and half? You crazy Merkans. wtf is half and half anyway?
American “half-and-half” is a commercially prepared dairy product that is half whole milk and half cream. That’s single cream, to all y’all Brits.
Ah. Right. Thanks, internet.
I like to froth up the heated milk with a milk frother
http://www.papanicholas.com/assets/items/large/Bodum_Electric_Milk_Frother.jpg
before I add the coffee from the cafetiere and then a dash of Amarula.
I’m with VUBOQ on this: decaf is just wrong.
I would punch a puppy before I gave up coffee. Half the reason why I’m still employed is because I need to drink their coffee for free every morning.
Get a smaller mug, or an insulated travel mug! Problem SOLVED!
Martha and I talked about your “cleansing” this morning as we drank our coffee and I talked on the phone and drove all at the same time…. still living on the edge!
I also heartily agree that you need to simply brew less coffee at a time.
I felt guilty about pouring out old coffee, until I figured out how to only brew what I drank at a time.
Also, we too, combine the pricey Starbucks beans with the cheaper Costco beans, and there seem to be no ill-effects.
Finally, yes to the insulated mug. I pour myself a cup of 1/3 vanilla coffee mate, 2/3 coffee in the am in a stainless steel insulated coffee mug and it is still warm after my lunch break at school, where I teach 7th graders.
tsk tsk bossy! the shame! coffee is tip numero uno on my poverty post: http://karenmaehr.blogspot.com/2008/10/soupe-aux-fves.html Egads! slap, slap. get a hold of yourself! (however, one diehard caffeinate to another – i do the same thing. i live for lattes, but they must be delicious, hot lattes.) by the way – do you steam the 1/2 & 1/2? hey, can one really give up coffee? i’d have to enter rehab. sorry … no can do. that nagging headache never goes away no matter how long you deprive yourself … n.e.v.e.r.
Now I’m confused. As a non-coffee drinker I thought the addiction was to caffeine. But you drink de-caffeinated coffee. So how does giving up this basically inert beverage cause any mental effects, unless they are entirely psychosomatic?
I’ll be the 50th to suggest using an insulated travel mug. I use mine at home as my usual coffee cup… if you use it with the lid, it keeps coffee really hot for at least an hour, drinkable (without reheating) for two. I can’t drink anything but hot, hot coffee… once I accidentally took a big gulp of coffee that had been sitting on my desk for hours and I’ll never get over the trauma. BLECH!
I was SO SURE that when I gave up coffee while pregnant (not because it was necessary, because moderate coffee and caffeine is just fine for pregnant women, Ahem, but because it made me have to pee like a mofo all the freaking time) I could stay off of it. Then I came back to work and realized that coffee and work need each other. Like lips and chaptsick.