This New-to-Me Target Find Erased My Need for Daily Starbucks Runs — and It’s Under $6!

Let me be real: I am an absolute sucker for a Starbucks drink. Throughout the past year, I’d come up with any excuse to leave the house and pick up my go-to drink, an iced vanilla latte. And while that can add up quickly, and I can certainly make coffee at home , some days, I don’t want to make my own coffee. Thankfully, I found a cheap hack to circumvent this dilemma on a recent Target run.

I recently came across a gigantic 40-ounce bottle of Starbucks Vanilla Latte Iced Espresso — a new-to-me product that upended my “me-time” ritual as I knew it. The $5.99 product is not only convenient, but has saved me hundreds of dollars in the long run, because one bottle serves the equivalent of eight “grande”-sized drinks. And while the drink doesn’t taste exactly like “the real thing,” it’s still delicious in its own right.

If you’ve ever had one of Starbucks’ glass-bottled F rappuccinos , their ready-made lattes taste pretty similar to that. I always fill a 16-ounce glass three-quarters of the way with ice before pouring over the ready-made drink. Then, I’ll add my stainless steel reusable straw to sip my chilly, but refreshing beverage. All in all, the process takes about a minute to complete, and the bottle typically lasts me an entire week. In turn, I’ve saved money and time and reduced my use of plastic, given that many Starbucks outposts have frozen their old bring-your-own-cup policy (that changes later this month).

Depending on my mood, I will fashion myself a glass first thing in the morning or whenever I need a pick-me-up. The iced espresso never fails to put an extra pep in my step, especially when I need to finish an assignment or get through the rest of the workday. Of course, it doesn’t replace the relieving ritual of going out midday to the local coffee shop, but this product works wonders when I want an iced latte but don’t have the time or energy to either pick one up or replace it myself.

While the five-dollar bottle gets me through the majority of the week, I’ll still go pick up an iced latte from Starbucks every once in a while because — guess what? — I want to. They continue to serve as a quick way to safely get out of the house and have some proper alone time away from my family. Nowadays, I’ll only pick up a cup of Starbucks coffee after I walk my dog in a nearby park. (I always get him a Puppuccino too!)

I try to eventize drinking the ready-made latte by having it outside whenever the weather is nice and listening to music I’d usually play in the car. If anything, shaking up my ritual has shown me that you shouldn’t sacrifice the little luxury of buying specialty coffee because financial experts paint it as an “unnecessary” expense . And best yet? Now that I have more pocket change, I can enjoy sipping on my iced latte — and it feels like that much more of a treat.