I get emails all day long for people asking me to help them find deals on items for gifts. I love to do this! But I noticed something this year, that I have not really seen before. More women were asking for 1 nicer gift, then a few smaller ones.
There was also a trend to what they were asking for: Sodastream, Keurig and a Neato.
But after you have these nicer gifts, what is the cost to maintain and buy refills? Or even any expensive item, sometimes the cost to maintain/refill wears off the thrill of the gift. Below are a few tips on how to make your nice gift still affordable after December!
The Sodastream – These are SUPER popular this year! They are cool and fun, a little bit of a novelty, but some friends have had theirs for 3 years now and they still use it every day.
Cost to use: Machine $79 – $199, Soda Flavorings $4.99-$9.99, $30 for CO2 Carbonator Exchanges. Plus shipping on the CO2 is very expensive.
Ways to make it cheaper: Make your own syrup to flavor the soda or even use fruit juice. Buy a Freedom 1 adaptor, and use paintball CO2 from your local sporting goods store. This saves you a LOT of money!
Overall: Sodatream is a lot of fun, and makes REALLY good drinks. I have started making homemade low sugar drinks and they are so much cheaper this way then to buy at the store. Hook yours up to a CO2 tank and really save some money! Plus, you don’t have all the can waste.
Ah, Keurig. Why did I not think of this? We don’t even drink coffee and we have one. We use it for hot chocolate and hot water. K-Cups are the little cups of coffee that you use each time you make a cup. Once you use them, they are done and you throw them away.
Cost to use: Keurig Machine $99-$199. K-Cup Refills $35 for 50 average.
Ways to make it cheaper: Make your own k-cups! You can buy a Ekobrew Refill and use your own coffee from the grocery store! Plus, much less waste.
Overall: I don’t think anyone would give up their Keurig, it is just too easy. Buying the k-cups can be pricy, and you are making a lot of waste. Keep the cost down by making your own!
The Neato robotic vacuum is just about the coolest thing you can get! Lifelong iRobot users are loving this system better! This is a very expensive item to get, but once you start using it, or should I say after plugging it in and NOT having to use it, you are in love.
Cost to use: Neato $340. Neato filters $4 each.
Ways to make it cheaper: Ok I have not found any really, you can get a refurbished one and save some there, also try Ebay and other resale places. Although I have found not many people are giving them up!
Overall: The money saving bonus on this item, is your time. Being able to walk out of the house, and having it scheduled to start cleaning when you leave is invaluable. Having lots of kids and all wood floors, it can sometimes take me 30 minutes and a few times a day to sweep. This also gets all the dust and animal fur that causes allergies. Reduces allergens and picks up pet hair.
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..
We love our SodaStream,but we go through a lot of pop! One way I manage the cost is by refilling the carbonator at Staples and using rewards money. I like to do Staples deals and recycle ink cartridges there anyway, so it’s handy and economical. We go through a carbonator every couple months, and rarely have to pay out of pocket for it.
I’ve heard the soda stream comes with a canister and at bed bath and beyond, if you bring back your CO2 Carbonator Exchanges canister they will give you a new one for $15, half off. An employee told me this today.
Yes they do, BUT from all the info on the online forums, they are not completely full 🙁 People are saying they only get about 40ml to 50ml worth and not the 60-65. You can also use the 20% off coupons at bed bath & beyond if you do it that way.
Yes, any place that sells SodaStream ought to do carbonator exchanges for $15. I have seen people complain online that the refills are not as full as the first one, but I haven’t noticed a substantial difference. I have also seen videos on YouTube showing how to whack open the carbonator, fill it with dry ice and let it sublimate to fill the canister again, but I am not that brave yet. =D
I reuse my Kcups by peeling off the lid, rinsing, drying, and refilling with coffee by the pound. I bought reusable plastic lids called kcaps on amazon. I find I can refill each cup about 10 times. Makes them just a few cents each and it’s super easy.
Beth that is a great idea!!
Its nice to see that you offer ideas for using these products at cheaper costs to the consumer. My husband and I have a company that sells a product for making your own coffee pods for single coffee brewers and keurig brewers. We love our keurig brewer but we did not like the price of the k-cups so we developed a system for making your own pods for much cheaper. Easy to do and simple to use, check us out at yourcoffeepod.com. See what you think, thanks.
For those in the Houston area, check out Coffee Icon. They are near SH249 and Spring Cypress. They have a TON of K-cups and much cheaper than any other place I can find them. Plus, you can buy just one K-cup to try before having to “commit” to a whole box!
I always refill my soda stream at bed bath and beyond, I use a $5 off $15.00 purchase and it makes them $10.00 so even if they are not quiet as full still 1/3 of the cost of a new one! I also buy my soda syrup use another $5.00 coupon and its like buy 2 get one free!
My husband wanted a Kuerig, is partial to his Starbucks AND wants it freshly ground. We use the reuseable Kuerig filter (BB & B) and he only grinds what he will use in a day or two at a time. I am always on the lookout for whole bean Starbucks deals for him. I am assuming the Ekobrew mentioned is similar-I didn’t know there was another filter compatable for our Kuerig.
I just like the instant hot water for my cappucino mix…the kids like it for their occasional bowl of oatmeal too.