How I Intend On Drinking Dunkin Donuts Coffee All Year, For Free

As I write this post, I sit in my neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts. I stop here as a part of my daily routine – 7 days a week. I love there coffee. One large with cinnamon, cream, and sugar [$1.97]. It is the sole reason for my visit.

I recently made an adjustment to my routine, a move that would cut my coffee budget in half. I started bringing my own cup. Yes, a ‘refill’ only cost $.97 (including tax), plus saving all of that styrofoam probably has some insignificant environmental ramifications. So, now my coffee budget is down to $30 bucks a month.

But I pushed on. If I bought all of the proper quality ingredients, surely I could replicate this intoxicating goodness in the comfort of my own home. My hope was to further reduce my coffee budget, but my efforts were interrupted.

If you know anything about fff, you know we are not big on credit cards. Beyond that, we don’t get all wrapped up in credit card reward programs. Historically, it just doesn’t pay off. But, for a guy like me, this one seems too good to be true.

Admittedly, I have an American Express Blue Card. I got it along time ago – in my more foolish days. In a conservative estimate, I probably haven’t used the card 5 times in the last 3 years. I don’t even carry it in my wallet. However, last week Dunkin’ Donuts sent me an interesting offer via email.

In conjunction with any American Express Blue card:

“For every 4 times you shop at a Dunkin’ Donuts store in a calendar month, you will receive a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts card.”

“The more you go, the more DD cards you can earn through 3/31/11!”

Huh! If my arithmetic is correct, and I’d like to think that it is, I can dominate this offer. If I visit DD every day for an entire year, I will have spent $354 on coffee. However, if I do so while utilizing this offer, I will have earned a $5 DD gift card 91 times. That’s $455 worth of gift card credit. That translates to 1.28 years of free coffee. Thus, over the next 2.28 years, I can drink Dunkin’ Donuts premium coffee for only $12 a month – a savings that couldn’t be matched by brewing my own DD at home, especially when considering the shortcoming in quality.

And that’s how I intend on drinking my beloved Dunkin’ Donuts coffee for an entire year, for free.