Money Saving Tip #3

During this recession, some of us would still like to have our little indulgences of drinking our Lattes from Starbucks while some of us have no choice as we sometimes meet our clients in Starbucks due to our job nature and we need the free wi-fi and power point. It is not cheap when compared to our neighbourhood's kopi of $0.70 to Starbucks tall Latte of $4.70.

Fret not! I was introduced to Starbucks Espresso Passport by one of the cashier staff at the Liat Towers outlet. How it works is that by paying $29.90, you can purchase the passport and enjoy six Grande sized espresso drinks by just showing your Starbucks Espressso Passport. That works out to about $5 per Grande-sized Starbucks coffee. I usually drink Lattes and a Starbucks Grande Latte is at $5.70 each, so effectively, I saved 70 cents per drink. That's about 12.28% of savings... better than the returns of Lehman minibond will ever provide. :p


With the passport, you can choose any Grande sized espresso drinks which includes Caramel Macchiato, Caffe Latte, Vanilla Latte, Cappuccino, Cafee Americano, Caffe Mocha and White Chocolate Mocha. Sorry for fans of Chai, Green Tea Latte or any other drinks not listed above.

Whenever you make a redemption, a chop in the shape of the take-away cup will be stamped on your "passport". Once you've collected 6 chops, your passport is "spent". Please also note that the passport is only good for 2 months. So you need to have your 6 grande-sized cuppa before the passport "expires". I don't think it is too difficult because you can also treat your friend to a cuppa. ; )

However, if you are fan of Toffee Nut Latte, you are supposed to be able to use the passport to get it at Grande size. I've asked the barista because I know that DK is a huge fan of this drink. The barista was telling the cashier staff to key in as Vanilla Latte for Toffee Nut Latte. If I'm correct, a grande toffe nut latte is at $6.70? That would make the passport even more worth it.

How? DK, touch or not? I specially asked for your sake.

Of course, to save money, instead of having Grande size, you can always order Tall size. That way, the passport won't save money for you. Or, like my plurker friends say, I need to cut down on my visits to Starbucks.

I think I can still afford to indulge in a cuppa once in a while. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone! :)