The Recycled Keurig K-Cup!

In an effort to start saving money, I took a closer look at those things in my home that I could trim some fat off of. The first place I zoned in on was my kitchen.  It was here that I found a way to dramatically reduce my weekly grocery bill simply by re-evaluating my Keurig machine.

Last year my husband received a Keurig Coffee Machine as a Christmas present. Since then it has become one of our favorite kitchen appliances, however, recently while in my "money saving mode", I realized that it has also become one of the most expensive appliances we've ever owned. Although we didn't purchase the machine ourselves, I think we could have bought three of them by now with the amount of money we've spent on the actual K-Cup coffee!

I have to admit though, that one of the delights of this machine is its 'convenience' factor. It can make a cup of coffee in a flash, which is of utmost importance to a working family who races the clock to get to work on time.

Now let me put my 'miser' cap on and grind out the dirty details on the K-Cup coffee prices.

Here is what my local supermarket sells a

(12 pack) box of K-cups for:

Now look at what a 10oz. can of

ground coffee costs:

Which do you think is more cost effective? I'm going with the 10oz. can of coffee, wouldn't you? 

Now, hold on to your coffee cup! I know that they make a filter that you can fill with your own coffee, however, there again I have some issues:

Not only have I experienced this (maybe because I was not fully awake yet in the A.M) but, I know of others that have said that they can never get the measurements exactly right to produce a great cup of coffee.

Plus, let's go back to the reasons I wrote why I loved this machine.. "the CONVENIENCE factor". There is nothing like beating the clock running out the door to work, seeing that you have five minutes to spare, you want a cup of java, no problem! You pop in a K-cup and it's done! 

With the filter, you have to get the filter, get the coffee, measure it out, make sure you have the proper attachment in the Keurig in order to hold the special filter and then make the coffee and let's not discuss if there are others waiting to make their 'cup to go'!!  Remember.. the CONVENIENCE factor... how is that convenient?

Did I mention how much one of those filters cost?

Well, enough I say! I've found a way to cut costs, keep it convenient, be earth friendly and still have a great cup of coffee!

Follow along with the pictures and you'll discover a great, money saving idea if you're an original K-cup user (this technique will not work with the newer style  K-cups that simply have the filter sack like bottom).

The inside of an original K-Cup - Peel back the top, remove old coffee grinds, gently wash out the inside of the cup being careful of the small, secured filter. Dry completely.

Put 2 tablespoons of your own ground coffee in the K-Cup, place a 2" x 2" piece of tin foil over the cup, making it tight across the top, gently hold the bottom of the top and give it a slight twist to secure the foil under the small lip of the

 K-Cup.

Put K-Cup in the machine, no need to use the special filter attachment, close filter lid and proceed as normal.

See how the machine accepted the recycled K-Cup! A perfect match!

I started saving all of my original K-cups and have also been collecting the used K-cups from work where we have a similar machine. I have 20 K-cups in my possession that I have simply use, wash out, dry in a rack and once a week I will refill them all at my convenience with two tablespoons each of coffee. 

I have found that this technique does no harm to the Keurig machine. How many times can one recycle an original K-Cup? To this date, I have one cup that I have recycled at least seven times and counting and all with the same, great tasting coffee I long to enjoy in the morning.

Want to start saving some money like a "Bean Counter"? Recycle your K-Cup! I do and have now started calling them the "L-Cup"!