Save money on single-serve coffee pods
It's no surprise that single-serve coffeemakers are still growing in popularity-their convenience is tough to beat. But the cost of those disposable pods can add up. The average owner uses more than 1,000 K-Cups per year. Consumer Reports just checked out some alternatives to traditional K-Cups that claim to cut costs and let you use your own coffee.
Consumer Reports looked at how much it would cost to brew one cup of coffee per day for a year. With K-Cups that's about $220 to $275.
First up-Simple Cups, which claims to cost "a fraction of what a K-Cup will cost." You can get a pack of 50 disposable cups, filters, and lids for $14. When you add the price of coffee, it's still less than K-Cups, about $185 a year. But testers found that Simple Cups were difficult to close, and brew time was a little longer than that of the traditional K-Cup.
Next, the reusable EZ-Cup for $13, plus about $8 for 50 of its biodegradable filters. It's about $135 a year when you include the coffee. But the EZ-Cup wasn't much easier to use than the Simple Cups.
Another solution, My K-Cup- Keurig's K-Cup adapter-was the clear winner. Testers found it was the easiest to use. And once you purchase the reusable My K-Cup for $18, your only expense is coffee, for a total of about $80 a year. That's a big money saver.
Another plus with Keurig's My K-Cups-they're a lot easier on the environment than the original K-Cup and other pods.
If all of this has you longing for a single-serve coffee machine that works with My K- Cups, consider the Cuisinart SS-300 Compact Single Serve, $130. In Consumer Report' tests it delivered a speedy first cup of coffee and is very easy to use.
Consumer Reports looked at how much it would cost to brew one cup of coffee per day for a year. With K-Cups that's about $220 to $275.
First up-Simple Cups, which claims to cost "a fraction of what a K-Cup will cost." You can get a pack of 50 disposable cups, filters, and lids for $14. When you add the price of coffee, it's still less than K-Cups, about $185 a year. But testers found that Simple Cups were difficult to close, and brew time was a little longer than that of the traditional K-Cup.
Next, the reusable EZ-Cup for $13, plus about $8 for 50 of its biodegradable filters. It's about $135 a year when you include the coffee. But the EZ-Cup wasn't much easier to use than the Simple Cups.
Another solution, My K-Cup- Keurig's K-Cup adapter-was the clear winner. Testers found it was the easiest to use. And once you purchase the reusable My K-Cup for $18, your only expense is coffee, for a total of about $80 a year. That's a big money saver.
Another plus with Keurig's My K-Cups-they're a lot easier on the environment than the original K-Cup and other pods.
If all of this has you longing for a single-serve coffee machine that works with My K- Cups, consider the Cuisinart SS-300 Compact Single Serve, $130. In Consumer Report' tests it delivered a speedy first cup of coffee and is very easy to use.
I got my first Keurig for Christmas. I love it. I went on to purchase a smaller one off of Craigslist for my desk at work. It doesn't take much shopping around to get a great deal. And it is way cheaper than Starbucks, or as I like to call it 4Bucks
We have put of getting one of these new machine partly because I more than happy to make drip coffee for my wife and all the reviews and Consumer Reports' report for these machines say they only last 1-2 years before something goes wrong.
@APenny4MyThoughts I've read that too. Ours has lasted over 4 years. It acts up every once in a while and started getting louder before the first year was up. I'm not sure what we'll do when this one finally croaks.
Prior to this we used regular 12 cup makers and the last 3 had to be replaced in under a year. The last one was after 6 months.
Now that the patent on K-cups has expired, Keurig owners are going to find a larger number of companies producing them, and the competition for the customer will drive down the cost. The free market at it's best!
@CenterFire I like your profile pic. I am wearing my "I like Guns and Coffee" shirt today. I was just told it was "too much" for work. They can deal with it. It doesn't say "I like killing"Â
I'm not sure why people think the pods are expensive. I set up an auto-shipment via Amazon (after I sampled a few flavors/brands) and it comes to .51/cup or $186/year (for 1 cup a day). It's so easy - no mess filling it up (with your own coffee), or emptying the container and cleaning it out -- just pop in a pod. Amazon auto-ship is the 'tip o' the day'!
@dmarie Completely understand buy in bulk online and the price comes down but I really don't like the idea of throwing more stuff away every day and if my wife wants to have more than 1 cup or we have people over we could use between 3-10 k-cups in a day.  My friend takes their k-cups apart and everything separate is recyclable and/or compostable but I doubt many do that.
@APenny4MyThoughts @dmarie I stick with a reusable kit so all I have to recycle is the coffee grounds. I couldn't think of any uses for the little plastic cups. I know people use the cups for seed starting but I re-use all our Yogurt cups for that and they are more the size I need.
I have a Keurig machine and I like it since I only drink a cup or two a day. My house use to drink so much more coffee because we would make a pot and hated to waste the remaining cups. This machine is not meant for hardcore coffee drinkers who are drinking a pot or more a day.
Now I've used the My K-Cup before and it was a great disappointment. You have to remove parts from your Keurig machine to install this thing. This might be OK in most cases but if one person uses K-Cups and the other uses the filter, like in my house, it's really an inconvenience.
There are a couple more options that KOMO hasn't mentioned. They are filters that you install like a regular K-Cup but don't require paper filters. There is the Ekobrew cup, Solofill cup, Eco-fill, Brew and Save, and Cafe Cup 4pk. I currently own the Cafe Cup 4pk.
I prefer my 10 cup Bunn. Â It only takes 2:25 to make 10 cups of coffee. Â Just enough to have two cups before work and one for the road.
K-cups are exensive but have a multipurpose use. (1) emply grounds out and add them to your garden, (2) they are perfect for to use as a seed starter.Â
@Chuck C. I'm glad you are reusing your k-cups. I haven't really found a solid use for mine. I garden but on a small scale. I do use coffee around my acid loving plants, but only the bags Starbucks puts out that have been ground but not brewed.
I only go to work in the morning because there's a free Keurig machine for employees. Â I love it.