A home coffee maker can pay for itself quickly if you'd otherwise buy coffee out. The math is simple, but the assumptions matter. Cost per use shows what each cup costs at home, and it lets you compare that with a coffee shop drink.
An $80 coffee maker you use once a day for four years gets 1,460 uses, which works out to about $0.05 per cup. That's a small cost for something you use every morning.
Break-even is a useful way to think about it too. If a coffee out costs $4 and you'd buy one a day, the machine costs the same as 20 coffees, so it pays for itself after 20 cups.
| How often you brew | Cups over four years | Cost per cup |
|---|---|---|
| Once a day | 1,460 | $0.05 |
| Three times a week | 624 | $0.13 |
| Once a week | 208 | $0.38 |
The figures above cover only the machine. Beans or pods, filters, descaling, and electricity add to the real cost per cup. Add them to the price, or work out a separate cost per cup and compare the two.
A machine you use only a couple of times a month may not be worth it, however cheap it looks. The cost per use will be high because the number of uses is low.
Enter the price, how many years you expect it to last, and how often you'll brew in the Worth It? calculator.