$3.50 saved is $3.50 earned.

I sort of re-discovered Starbucks at the beginning of the summer. In the past, I would go there once every blue moon or so, just to splurge on a Chai Latte. But I ended up getting two Starbucks gift cards at the end of the school year, so I was a Star-bucks-spending fool. I discovered my new favorite (and my husband's and son's favorite) drink--the Vanilla Frappucino (read: the souped-up, glorified Vanilla milkshake). My, that's good. My new favorite, however, was soon to be replaced, within a week actually, by my current favorite--the Blackberry Green Tea Frappucino. Now, that's bliss in a cup.

Suddenly, I realized I was going to need more Starbucks money, and soon. I now understood the addiction of so many. But I just could not justify going once or twice a week and spending that kind of money on...a drink. My former beloved Chai Latte fell out of favor with me long ago upon discovering a much cheaper (89 cents!) version at QuikTrip that tasted every bit as good. (The QuikTrip version, by the way, was soon to replace my former favorite there, the French Vanilla Cappucino.)

Here's the rub: there is no QT version of the aforementioned Blackberry Green Tea Frappucino. I'll be getting no Bliss-in-a-Cup for 89 cents. If I want Bliss-in-a-Cup, I'm going to have to pay out the nose for it, by George.

Or will I?

I bought some Green Tea Chai Latte at Wal-Mart the other day. I used to buy the regular flavor pretty often, but had never tried the Green Tea flavor. I figured I'd get some to have with milk in the evenings, like I used to with the Original. So one evening I mixed up my Chai Latte drink--half Latte, half milk, like I had done so many times before, and tasted it. My, that was good. And oddly familiar.
It took a minute before I recognized the flavor; it tasted, uncannily, like my STARBUCKS BLISS-IN-A-CUP!
Then I thought, "Hmmm...what IF....I put some of this Torani syrup in it?....Just a shot....not too much.....It's not Blackberry, but maybe Raspberry will taste just as nice?..."

Nice.

This is certainly not to say that I won't ever return to Starbucks. That would be, well, silly. But.

I'm a bucks-saving fool, now that I've discovered I can knock off my own Bliss-in-a-cup.