Why would anyone want to quit coffee? Well there’s lots of reasons:

1.) Health and wellness benefits. Caffeine is known to be a sleep inhibitor. It’s suggested to stay away entirely to improve your sleep duration and quality. It’s also known to upset the stomach in producing more acid, so if you’ve experienced reflux, lump in throat, or other GERD like symptoms, cutting the coffee can be a big help.

2.) Cost. Suppose you get a $5 cup at Starbucks, 3 times per week, at a location that is 2 miles away. You’ve now spent roughly $750 on coffee, and $150 on gas.

And then on your off days, you have to make your own cup of coffee at $1/cup. That’s another $200 per year.

This is after your initial $100+ investment on a coffee maker. Don’t forget buying coffee filters too.

So we’re talking $1000 per year easily and lot’s of people spend way higher. Sometimes the trip to starbucks has you upsold on a little $9 ripoff sandwich when you’re low on time. Speaking of time….

3.) Time. Oh no, we’re out of coffee filters!!! Whatever I was planning on doing today, it’ll have to wait. Let’s rush over to the grocery store, even though we’re good on food.

So coffee making is actually a huge time sink. Busy people like to think it keeps them more “wired” and productive, but in actuality it’s a net loss. The average person gets 16 waking hours. Let’s allocate some to common activities: 8 for working, 1 for commuting, 2 for eating, 1 for shower/getting dressed/hygiene/prep for bed, 1 for exercise. OK so that’s 13 hours. That leaves just 3 to do things like see your friends and family, pursue your hobbies, bettering yourself, or relaxing.

4.) Mood. There are major ups and downs to a caffeine fueled day. The body’s natural morning serenity, a bit interrupted, followed by a crash in the afternoon that leaves you tired, and indecisively thinking about a second cup.

5.) Freedom. You don’t DEPEND on anything anymore. You can wake up and immediately begin living how you see fit. Without being interrupted by an ever increasingly urgent need to find yourself some caffeine.

My wife and I visited the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado (which I highly recommend by the way on a completely unrelated note *PHOTO*). It’s located about about 3.5 hours south of Denver, and easily 45 minutes from the nearest coffee place. AND HO WO WOH WOAH, that was an interesting experience as we learned we could not function without it. Pounding headaches while at one of the most gorgeous locations we’ve ever seen. Uneasy stomach, we get to top of a dune, and look on others enviously of how they can just go about their day without the inconvenience. Oh they loved this place. And we, well, we had to promise to come back another day when we were up to it.