Yesterday I snagged a “fun” size (what a misnomer, eh?) bag of peanut m&ms from the bag I bought for work, and honestly, I don’t know why I ate them all. I could not taste peanut or chocolate, just sweet. So sweet. Ugh.
It’s a “problem” I’m having of late. As I move away from all the stuff with added sugar most of the time, the occasional treat just feels like a trick. I see it as a good thing on the whole, but geez, it’s disappointing in the moment! When I get an ice cream treat, or grab a quick bite on the way to somewhere, and not only does it not taste like I expected, I don’t even want to eat it… that can be difficult.
An unlikely hero has emerged, however. I’ve figured out how to work the Starbucks app.
“Oh, Starbucks,” some might say, and roll their eyes. Well, I’ve tried Dutch Bros a couple times, and I’ve yet to get anything vaguely resembling coffee out of them.
And I have to laugh, because yes, I’m hitting Starbucks a time or two a week, when I’ve always rolled my own eyes at the “how to get control of your budget!” articles that listed, number one, stop buying “your $5 latte” every day. “How the flip,” I would think, “do you believe that I have a tight budget AND I’m buying coffee every day? I’m scrambling for gas money to get to work!”
Well, one, my budget is not nearly so tight as it used to be. YNAB has saved me from myself. And two, what I’m finding is that grabbing Starbucks hits a “treat!” button, and helps me forgo the “I don’t want oatmeal again, I’ll grab a breakfast sandwich,” and the “oh, screw the salad, Imma go get a burger.” It even forestalls (mostly) “I deserve ice cream, and I am by lork going to get it.”
It’s also fun to hit the “order” button, throw on my shoes and grab my lunch, and head out the door. By the time I get to Starbucks, my order is ready. I take the back route, park by the Office Depot to avoid the crowded Starbucks parking lot and especially the drive through, walk in, grab my coffee, walk out, get that first sip, and feel Accomplished. Before I’ve even made it to work!
Bonus–by working the app (I know, it’s so technical, I’m practically a hacker,) I can get exactly the treat I want, and I can cut the sugar. Not entirely–if I wanted to cut the sugar completely from a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (zomg, so good!) I’d have to cut the pumpkin cream, and that will not be happening–but I can cut it in half at least.
It’s always satisfying, because I love coffee. It’s a treat, because the Budget Police say I shouldn’t be doing it! And it means I have to get my backside moving faster in the mornings, in order to have time to go get some. So it’s a win a bunch of different ways. And since I put out the word at work that Starbucks is the way to my heart, I’m not even paying for it myself a lot of the time.
Even more win.
Of course, this might be a trap. Travel, if ye will, to a simpler time…and guess what happened there.