Found my way to get my fix

I couldn't justify Starbucks, it's hard to. But sometimes you just have to treat yourself. It's always been my philosophy to not become obsessive with saving money to the point you couldn't enjoy it. I tend to look at Starbucks as my indulgence. At about $5 a hit, it seemed less of an issue than buying a bottle of wine at a restaurant. 

But I still didn't want to make it "feel" like I was spending that money. Sure I could reload a card in a $50 shot but finally figured out the best way to give me my fix.

I constantly collect change. I don't know why, I just do. And it adds up. I want to take it to the bank and deposit it, but most banks charge a processing fee, even if you have an account there. So I let the change sit and grow. But now that Coinstar allows you to turn your cash into a gift card (in my case, Starbucks) with no processing fees, that was the way to go. So I dumped a bunch of change into a paper bag and off I went. Just a dent in my collection netted me a $53.23 Starbucks card. Should keep me going for a while.

Coinstar is great. If you're looking to get cash, it's not the way to go. They charge a 8.9% processing fee, much greater than any bank. But gift cards/certificates have no processing fees and there are some good options. The ones by me are amazon.com, Starbucks, JCPenney, and iTunes. You can check out their website for locations near you.