Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for February 02, 2015
Transcript:
Goat: What are you doing pig? Pig: Trying to figure out a budget and see which big, annual, expenses I can cut out. Goat; What about the caramel macchiato you buy every day? Pig: Haha. Those are only four bucks. Goat; Which over a year is $1,460. Pig: I'm on to you.
Sherlock Watson over 9 years ago
Congratulations, Pig — you are now smarter than everyone who goes to Starbucks.
alviebird over 9 years ago
I sometimes go to Starbucks…
…pick up a bag of whole bean coffee, take it home, grind it, and brew my own coffee, thank you.
But I usually get it from the grocery store. It’s a bit cheaper.
jenbrown1017 over 9 years ago
I have managed to tame my latte habit down to about 3 times a week. However, there IS a difference between coffee and GOOD coffee! my stomach can tell.
cdgar over 9 years ago
I can’t stomach coffee. That’s saved me a fortune in my 68 years.
juicebruce over 9 years ago
Just look at how money is spent in general……..what does a cell phone cost per year?……..how many phones in in use?………grind those numbers :-O
Sisyphos over 9 years ago
Yeah, I could never attach myself to $4.00/cup coffees on a regular basis (I may succumb occasionally when traveling and staying somewhere that has nothing less expensive readily available). Heck, I remember coffee at a nickel a cup (of course, I was too young to drink it then; but even when I finally could, it was still only ten or fifteen cents, then a quarter, a cup for a long time)!
esmeyny over 9 years ago
“What do you mean with ONLY four bucks?”
“What do you mean with ONLY a cup of coffee?”
Chithing Premium Member over 9 years ago
Starbucks’ coffee always tastes burnt to me.
Plumbob Wilson over 9 years ago
Starbucks is WAY over-rated. And over-priced.
puddlesplatt over 9 years ago
I live in it’s home town, and have had one cup from Starbucks and that was bought for me. still make my own.
pschearer Premium Member over 9 years ago
It was only after I retired that I discovered how expensive going to work is.
timtribbett over 9 years ago
Holy crap! He’s right! No more freaking Starbucks for me
tedunn5453 over 9 years ago
If Starbucks has such good coffee, why does everyone order it with about 5 or more modifications? I think it tastes like crap.
ekw555 over 9 years ago
now figure out what your cellphone’s “data plan” is costing you a month.
dsom8 over 9 years ago
Actually, it’s a cup of milk with some coffee added.Was it here someone said, “It’s NOT starbucks – it’s five bucks!”
Carl R over 9 years ago
What kills me is that people plunk down $4 for a cup of coffee that costs what, $.06 to make? Then they complain when they come to some service business that charges $4 for something that costs them $2-3 to do. IDC if they want to pay $4 for coffee, but as least the respect the people at other businesses, too.
loveabulldesign over 9 years ago
Actually… most beans are burnt—the darker the roast, the heavier the processing, and if you get flavored beans- they’re literally sprayed with a chemical flavor. Usually after they’ve had the original flavor burnt out of them. Light roast is a little safer…for now…
Defective Premium Member over 9 years ago
My cellphone plan costs about 8 bucks a month, and I don’t need a landline. And I still think Americans have horrible taste in coffee and Starbucks proves it. Horrible, horrible stuff.
jessegooddoggy over 9 years ago
The few times a year that I travel I enjoy a a cappuccino from Starbucks early in the morning. Motel coffee is horrid.
RACerri32 over 9 years ago
before you people compare price per gallon, consider that some of that stuff, no normal person would use a gallon of it in their entire lifetime!(By the way, the only coffee I can stomach is a single mug of Taster’s Choice in the A.M. , unless I have breakfast at a restaurant where refills are free, I sometimes drink 2.)
cruiserd over 9 years ago
Grind my own coffee and use a Brita filter. The most expensive ingredient in Starbucks coffee is the cup and the lid.
Lori Eberly over 9 years ago
Pastis is mentioned in “Frog Applause” today. He;s becoming a popular guy!
Guilty Bystander over 9 years ago
My wife and I buy two-pound bags of coffee beans for about $10 each and grind them at home. Each bag typically lasts 6-7 weeks. I’ve figured out on a calculator that one pot a day at 6 cups per pot over 45 days, we’re paying a base price of 3.7 cents per cup. When you add in a little sweetener, powdered French vanilla or hazelnut flavoring and a dab of milk with each cup. that brings it up to about a dime apiece. So for the same amount someone spends at Starbucks to get six or seven cups, we’re getting 270 cups by performing a little DIY at home…and we don’t have a barista to tip.There are fewer more needless wastes of money out there than coffee shops or stands, but people are either too lazy to do it themselves or they’re coffee snobs, which is an oxymoron.
Say What Now‽ Premium Member over 9 years ago
My wife and I drink plenty of coffee at home. We even have a budget espresso maker. But we also like to go to coffee shops for the pleasure of it. I usually buy a doppio espresso on ice ($2.47 with own cup). A cup of coffee does not cost $4; a latte does.
alviebird over 9 years ago
My chief complaint with Starbucks brewed in-store is that it’s too strong. I just realized, that’s so people can drown it with cream or other additives. I put nothing in mine.
2599745 over 9 years ago
I drink mine black and the few times I was forced to go there with friends it WAS burnt. Burnt is a distinct flavor. That’s probably why they add everything sweet as a cover. Even black it was still too expensive for a few beans and a cup and a half of water.
alviebird over 9 years ago
Starbucks does have light roasts, you just have to ask for one. They have three categories of roast; blonde, medium, and dark. If you look on the side of the bag, there is a line graph that shows more exactly where that particular roast falls. The one I like is just inside the dark category.
billdaviswords over 9 years ago
I did the math. Make black coffee (good coffee) at home? 7 cents. Half and half and sugar? 27 cents. Starbucks… sheesh.
claire de la lune. over 9 years ago
I remember Joe’s Roastery!Wait, “roastery” isn’t considered a word here…
ratfan43 over 9 years ago
Pro-Starbucks! Pro-Joe’s!
Why should those of us who like our Calcium and Vitamin D warm and tasty with a nice boost of caffeine have to feel guilty about avoiding the osteoperosis and rickets just because somebody doesn’t approve of the rather successful business plan of a multinational corporation?
Plus they seem to pay the staff enough that they are pleasant, a way better psychological start to the day than being snarled at or worse the weird vacant stare from the cashier after standing in the 10 minute line at the cheaper place.
Factor in the lowered health care costs from the nutrients in the milk in the lattes and they are practically free ;-)(Plus too expensive to drink too many to overdo the calories!)
knight1192a over 9 years ago
I volunteer every year for judging a school kids extra-curriculum program. A few year a couple of my fellow judges were talking about Starbucks, one of them having worked there. He revealed that Starbucks itself actually tells all it’s franchisees to over charge for the coffee which actually costs about an eighth what you pay for it at the counter. And that the quality they serve is pretty much the same as low end store brand coffees even though Starbucks claims it’s even higher than the high end store brand stuff.
Aldew Yellowson over 3 years ago
How did goat calculate that in, like, 4 seconds?