Dunkin Donuts just got more expensive
When I get paid I like to take a few dollars out of the ATM and pick up a coffee on the way into work. I don't care for Starbucks coffee at all so I usually go to one of the many Dunkin Donuts in the area and get a medium regular coffee and an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. I can't get the bacon or sausage on my sandwich because of my meat allergies.
At any rate, the sandwich (on a croissant) runs me about $1.99 and the coffee comes to $1.55. With tax I pay a little under $4 but never ask for the change. I just give them the four dollars and if they hand me change I just drop it in the jar.
Today I went to hand the woman at the register my usual four dollars and I noticed the total was over four! I was not expecting a price change but they raised the price of the coffee by 30 cents. I found myself paying $1.85 for the coffee plus $1.99 for the croissant sandwich. The total was just under $4.25 so I gave her the cash and a quarter and dropped my change (a few pennies) in the tip jar. Needless to say I will not be going there again. The deli behind my office has a similar sized coffee for $1.25 and an egg and cheese sandwich for $2.50 and that includes tax.
This sudden price change really annoyed me because I take great pains to budget my money and that extra quarter screwed me up. You might wonder how a quarter can screw me up but it is real simple: quarters add up. Four quarters make a dollar and so on. That extra quarter will cost me $1.25 per week or $5 a month. It may not sound like much but that morning coffee and sandwich are wants not needs, I can easily eat at home and not eat out.
I end up saving money but the economy suffers in the long run because I am spending less money. Thanks Dunkin Donuts, for a 30 cent price jump I am now responsible for wrecking the economy...
Image used under Creative Commons License from Flickr user misocrazy
Wow you have your budget down pretty tight, huh? Do you find that relieves or increases the stress of finances?
It relieves stress because I already know ahead of time how much money I need to cover my needs.
I totally get you. I also plan my expenses, so every little price change makes me astray from my weekly budget. Sound ludicrous to other, but that’s the way I roll ;)
Glad you posted that the photo was from Creative Commons. I wasn’t sure if that was really your hand and was thinking…hmmm. that thumbnail looks a mite long…
I don’t budget to that level. But I can see being annoyed with KNOWING the total and then having it change on me!
You aren’t very sharp. Price goes up because minimum wage went up
Why don’t you make coffee at home in a reusable travel mug and make your own egg sandwich in the microwave. Whip it and put it in a bowl and voila in 1 min cooked egg to go.
You would save a lot more than .25.
Totally wrong! The economy doesn’t suffer - if as he says: He budgets - then the economy doesn’t suffer. As long as the money is not being put on credit (and arguably even then) “the economy” will have the same stimulus. Besides, the vast majority of the money that is used at large chain stores immediately leaves your local community; in a sense it is still a part of the economy but it would be better spent at a local store where it goes into the pockets of locals and is then spent again by locals. In the words of Gogol Bordello “Think Locally, Fuck Globally”
Well well, Dunkin Donuts is definitely a little better than Sbux. Neither are really the greatest around though. Try to find some smaller shops offering gourmet coffee and you’ll be pleasantly surprised!!
dave