I regard coffee drinking as a part of the social experience; I like to sit in a cafe, chat with friends and observe the passing world. I am a boulevardier.

Most things can be done more cheaply, and often better at home – eating gourmet meals for instance; but there is more to going out than just the consumption. Get a life.

In my own experience I’ve saved substantially by investing in a decent home machine. I’ve been a barista in the past and find that I can make comparable drinks at a substantial savings. There’s really not much labor to it.

I don’t roast my own beans. Grinding whole beans and running the machine honestly doesn’t take much longer than using a french press.

It makes perfect sense to spend a bit more on something that will save you in the long run and last. I’m too poor to buy cheap.

My initial investment paid for itself within a few months and has saved me a great deal since then.

I’ve even taken it a step farther (this might seem a bit much to some). I’ve recently purchased a soy milk maker. It’s easy to use, versatile and is going to save me a bunch. Not only can I make my own soy/rice/nut milk; I can also make any mock dairy product that I’d like and my own tofu (which turns out amazing).

Perhaps it’s a stretch for some but changes like this allow me much needed financial room to breathe. (Not to mention much more rapid debt reduction….)

And no, a $20 stovetop unit doesn’t do the trick. You need a machine with a pump and a temperature regulator to get the pressure and temperature just right.

The other secret is that you absolutely must buy fresh beans. The difference between beans roasted yesterday and beans roasted a week ago is night and day.

The writer’s point is that such a high-end machine makes sense for people like Dave, who don’t necessarily derive the same utility or pleasure from coffee shop visits.

And I can attest to Terrin’s point that good beans used in a home espresso machine makes better brew than what you get at many coffee shops (though it can’t touch what they serve at Common Grounds, Powell’s, Sound Grounds, etc., sigh — man, I’d like to drink some coffee right now … )

The good machines cost a lot. However, most require you to merely push a button to have your brew. I don’t own such a machine, but I have a friend who does. If you buy good coffee, the coffee is better then most coffee shops, and a tremendous amount of time is saved by avoiding traveling to the coffee shop to buy the daily cup of joe.

For what it is worth, it takes me fifteen minutes to change my own oil. I save half the cost of what the shops charge me, I use better oil, and I don’t have to wait the fifteen minutes having somebody try to sell me services I don’t need or want.

Gregg write, “When you pay some ridiculous $4 for a retail latte, most of that money is going to labor — *not* supplies nor equipment. We could all save a few bucks changing our own motor oil and churning our own butter too while we’re at it, but we largely don’t — and for good reasons.”