Home Brewing Expenses: What It Really Costs to Brew Coffee at Home

When you start home brewing expenses, the total cost of making coffee yourself instead of buying it daily. Also known as daily coffee budget, it’s not just about the price of beans—it’s the machine, the filter, the electricity, and even the time you spend cleaning. Most people think switching from a $5 coffee shop drink to home brewing is an instant win. But if you don’t know what you’re spending, you might be surprised.

Let’s break it down. The biggest cost isn’t the beans—it’s the coffee maker, the device used to brew coffee at home, from drip machines to French presses. A basic drip machine runs $30–$80. A good pour-over setup? $50 for a gooseneck kettle and a scale. A high-end espresso machine? $300–$1,000. Then there’s the coffee beans, whole beans roasted and ground for brewing, the core ingredient in home coffee. A 12-ounce bag of decent beans costs $12–$18. If you drink two cups a day, that’s about 2–3 bags a month. That’s $30–$54 just for beans. Add in filters ($5/month), water filtration ($10/year), and electricity ($2/month), and you’re looking at $50–$75 a month. Compare that to $150 a month at a café, and yes, you’re saving. But only if you’re not buying fancy gear you never use.

People get sucked into the hype—expensive grinders, smart brewers, specialty filters. But most of it doesn’t improve the taste enough to justify the cost. A $20 burr grinder and a $40 drip machine will give you better coffee than a $400 machine you only use once a week. The real savings come from consistency, not complexity. You don’t need to be a barista to save money—you just need to stop buying overpriced add-ons and focus on the basics: good beans, clean water, and a reliable brewer.

What you’ll find below are real breakdowns of what people actually spend, which gear delivers real value, and the hidden costs most guides ignore. No marketing fluff. Just facts from people who’ve been there—brewing every morning, tracking every dollar, and learning what truly matters when it comes to home brewing expenses.