How to Save $100 Per Year with the Starbucks Gold Card

I go to Starbucks often. OK, I admit it, I go there at least once a day and many times twice a day. When Starbucks first came out with their Starbucks Gold Card I could not believe that anyone would pay $25 per year to join this club. Then I started looking into the benefits and cost savings that you can get with the Starbucks Gold Card and I have to admit that if you are a Starbucks-aholic like I am the Gold Card is a pretty good deal.

The cost of the Starbucks Gold Card made me hesitant to purchase one for a long time. At twenty five dollars a year I did not think that it would be worth it for me. Then on one trip to my favorite shop a very helpful barista told me about all of the benefits of the Card. First, you get a free drink of your choice when you join. You will also get a free drink on your birthday. Right there, assuming a $4.00 average drink price, you are saving $8.00, bringing the cost of the Card down to $17.00.

After you buy the Card and register it online you will begin to get 10% off of every purchase. All you do is hand the cashier your card, they swipe it and the discount is knocked off of your total bill. If you decide to load money onto the card and use it like a typical Starbucks Card then your total will be deducted. For me this is the easiest route, but you can also pay cash or use a credit card for each purchase.

So let's add up the savings that you get from the discounts. If you go once a day, five days per week and order a $4.00 drink each time you will save $0.40 on each visit, or $2.00 per week. Using our cost for the Card of $17.00 after our first free drink and birthday drink it will only take eight and a half weeks to break even on the purchase of the Card. During the remainder of the year (the remaining forty three and a half weeks) you will save a total of $87.00 by using the Starbucks Gold Card. Not bad.

As the late great Billy Mays would say... but wait, there's more! You also get two free hours of Wifi per day as a Starbucks Gold Card holder. This can save you big money if you use your laptop for accessing the internet at Starbucks. Also, during the course of the year Starbucks will send you offers including discounts and free coupons.

Taking these additional benefits into account along with the money you will save with the ongoing 10% discount on all of your orders you can easily save over $100 per year by purchasing the $25 Starbucks Gold Card. If you are a frequent Starbucks customer like I am it is almost a no brainer!