Over the years, my relationship with caffeine has ranged from spending a week’s allowance on after-school frappuccinos, to chain-drinking cheap cups o’ joe during college finals, all the way to going to fancy cafes and paying $4.75 for a latte. This year I finally asked myself, how much do I spend on coffee?

After some research, I not only discovered Americans are draining their bank accounts on coffee, but I also found a more affordable caffeinated beverage option.

Tracking Coffee Expenses

With latte art trending on social media, many of us are inspired to indulge in expensive coffee habits. For some, it’s a $5 matcha latte. For others, it’s an ethically sourced bag of Kenyan coffee beans for $22. For me, it’s soymilk lattes from a trendy cafe nearby (there’s so, so many in San Francisco) with a $4.75 price tag. Oh, and you know I usually grab a seductive savory scone since I’m already out. Add a tip, and as I sign on the dotted line, I’m wondering how I just spent $15.

When I finally started budgeting, I began to track my coffee spending on a monthly basis. Using my very colorful and organized spreadsheet, I calculated spending anywhere from $7 to $56 just on coffee every month. My average was about $34. Seemed like a lot! Was that a “normal” amount to spend on coffee?

What We Actually Spend on Coffee

While Googling coffee spending habits, I learned my coffee spending habits are actually lower than the average American.

In 2015, Zagat reported that we paid anywhere from $3.28 to $5.07 on a cup of coffee. With the national coffee consumption rate being 2.1 cups a day, most Americans were spending at least $200 on coffee per month!

At first, this shocked me. Then, I realized how potent coffee culture is in our everyday lives. I can count at least three different coffee houses in a two-block radius. As I type, there’s cafe down the street selling coffee by the bowl.

I may be on the lower end of coffee-spending, but most Americans are not.

Caffeinated Water Cuts Your Spending in Half

So how do we fuel ourselves with a nice energy kick without breaking the bank? That’s when I discovered caffeinated water. Water with caffeine? What is this magic? I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, here’s the math.

You can grab 12 bottles of hint energy® for $20 online, at Target, or on other sites like Amazon. That’s $1.60 per bottle.

A cup of coffee from the typical spots — Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Pete’s — costs an average of $3.28.

Drinking a bottle of hint energy® cuts your cost in half.

So if the average American drinks 1.2 cups of coffee a day (or 1.2 bottles of hint energy®), your monthly caffeine budget goes from $118 to $57. Boo-ya!

The More Affordable Caffeinated Beverage

Is caffeinated water the same thing as tea? No. It’s literally water with natural caffeine and fruit essences added to it. hint energy® is bottled caffeinated water that comes in three flavors — black raspberry, apple pear, and lemon cayenne. It not only makes it easier for you to drink those eight cups of water per day, it also gives you a kick of caffeine that you’re looking for around 3 o’clock. And unlike coffee, this liquid won’t stain your teeth (or your clothes).

hint’s fruit-flavored caffeinated water is free of calories, carbs, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. In fact, it contains only three components: water, natural fruit flavors, and about 60 mg of all natural caffeine. Find hint energy® in Target, Whole Foods, or buy a subscription online.