I have done the unthinkable…. I have…. given up Dunkin Donuts. *gasp* I am no longer chained to my white styrofoam cup every morning. I no longer have to spend 10 minutes just to get into the parking lot thanks to a backed up drive-thru. I am no longer spending $5 on my breakfast. No more charred bagels. No more overpriced iced coffees. No more long lines. No more. I’m done.
This decision caps an 11-year love affair with New England’s most familiar chain. If you’re not from Boston, you cannot possibly understand – there is LITERALLY a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. There are three within a 1/2 mile radius of my house. Surprisingly, none of them even serve decent coffee. Go figure.
I first started going to Dunks when I was 16, every morning before school. In fact, my high school had a strict “No Coffee” policy and teachers would confiscate our cups as we walked through the door. No fear though, all my friends and I would smuggle our drinks in via our purses. You could walk down the halls and see ten girls with their faces in their bags. It was a gamble, like when there would be a spill in your bag (coffee-scented cigarettes anyone?), but worth every sip.
But I’ve had enough. My decision is mostly based on my current lack of funds. I can’t rationalize spending $40 a week on stupid coffee when I can make it at home for $5. So far, I’m on Day 3 and I don’t even miss it. I have my large metal coffee cup (or my hipster-mug, as my boyfriend calls it) and it’s filled to the brim with my own homemade coffee which, as it turns out, is much better than anything I could get at Dunks.
Don’t pity me for my decision. Yesterday at work, my co-workers felt so bad, they were going to buy me a Dunkin Donuts coffee. It seems Massachusetts culture is so addicted to Dunkin Donuts, they can’t fathom someone giving it up! Well, I have and there’s no looking back!
If I can survive one week without Dunkin Donuts, I can survive anything!
Disclaimer: I guess I should mention I haven’t forsaken the company itself… I’m still using Dunkin Donuts coffee grinds to make my own. 
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to be honest, i’ve never ate or bought anything from dunkin donuts. there isn’t even a dunkin donuts where i live or used to live. i’ve heard of it though, just never been there.
Jess, they are EVERYWHERE HERE.
Thats great mate, to quit anything you are used to is kinda hard, our system gets used to it. I quit smoking in my car sometime back and that brought down my smoking to half.
If you liked this comment, don’t buy me a chocolate, I get hooked on to anything which makes me feel good …lol.
Take care and cheers and keep smiling.
I think I have an addictive personality. :/
I only go to Dunks once a week for my Reward Friday sammich routine. Other than that I just make a (Dunkins) coffee at home every day for the ride to work.
Does it taste pretty much the same when you make the Dunkin’ at home as opposed to getting it in the store? I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing (especially because I’m getting slammed because I stop at the Natick rest area on the Mass Pike, and the prices there are higher than everywhere else), but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Your tale of survival may sway me, though…
Actually, it’s really good because I have figured out the exact measurements to make it taste the same. For every tablespoon, I had 8 ounces of water. And it’s much better than most stores because theirs is old, especially if they use one of those Bunn bin-thingys.
it was like that in Connecicut too. Dunkin Donuts on one corner, CVS on the another. every third intersection. here in Florida? there are three Dunkin Donuts that i have seen in about a seventy-five mile radius. it’s not the coffee for me though. it’s the donuts. i miss the donuts. two on Sunday morning. Krispy Kreme just does not have the selection.
Good for you! Home-brewed coffee is so much better and you’re producing much less trash than before when you bought a Dunkin Donuts coffee in a styrofoam cup every day.
Good for you! The coffee bean is bad for you, actually. I used to be addicted to the joe but one day in November 2004 I stopped…and haven’t looked back.
Tea, baby!
Great – I hope your wallet fattens up quickly! I started doing the same thing this week. There’s a few books and CDs I want off Amazon and I was whining I couldn’t justify the extra $50 – but then I realized that’s my Dunkin coffee budget for the month. We’ll see if I renew this goal next month …
I’ve decided to put all my savings into my savings account. I spend $40+ a week there! That’s just outrageous.
Their coffee you buy to make at home is pricey too. I prefer to try different variants of coffees you can get for cheap at the grocery store. I guarantee you can find one for cheap that tastes better than Dunkins. Plus if you get a good thermos you can bring it to work with you and it will still be warm for those days you need an afternoon pick me up at work.
We were like that with Wawa coffee. Actually, a debate always raged over what was better – Wawa or Dunkin’ Donuts. I was a Wawa person. I had to quit when we moved here because there are no Wawas here. It sucks. But it saves money. And it sure will make it nice once I treat myself to it when we go back home.
$40 a week, thats $41,600 additional savings in your retirement account, considering a 20 years term, and the figure looks much better assuming a modest growth rate if 5%. I know what you are thinking….. financial planners suck…lol, maybe they do, but the figures above speak for themselves. Another tip, destroy or don’t accept an ATM card or check book for that saving account.
Cheers mate and take care.
I don’t HAVE to have dunkers every day…but I sure do dig their iced coffay!
i miss dunkin donuts (even though i don’t like donuts). their ice coffee is my fav! good luck giving up, i’ve got a spending problem too. when i look at my bank statement and see all the money i spend in the college cafe a week…crazy!
So have you had any setbacks in your resolve?
Here in Canada, we are hooked on “Tim Horton”s Coffee and donuts.
The coffee is out of this world. But I only get one,once in a while,so that is a real treat! I think that if I had it every day, it wouldn’t taste so good.
Marie
I am from Maine and yes, there are dd’s everywhere, for a town of 8,000, we have 4, including one DIRECTLY across the street from my office. I am addicted. I need to stop. I want to know if you are still successful in your quest…I have iced coffee and a bagel every morning and I find myself hitting there on my way back from lunch. It is expensive…my wallet is shrinking and my hips are growing!! HELP!!!!!!
Sorry to disappoint, Heidi. I think I lasted two months.
Great. Do you know I found this site by trying to find a dd anonymous group…lol…maybe we should start one!!
I used to own a nice donut shop until a Dunkin Donuts was built across the street. Nice. They drive the mom n’ pops right out of business.
Great read! thx