Waking up in the morning can be hard. You’re not ready to start the day, but you hear your alarm blaring and screaming at you to get up. When you get ready, you feel like you’re dragging your feet along the floor. You need a pick-me-up to start the day but don’t want to brew coffee at home. The office coffee just isn’t good at all.

Most Americans face this problem every morning and go to Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to make it right. There are more Starbucks than any other food service store in the United States, other than Subway. However, your daily trip to Starbucks shouldn’t continue. It’s time to step away from the worldwide chain and break free. This is why you should stop going to Starbucks.

The Drinks Have a Cancer-Causing Chemical

Back in 2018, it was revealed that Starbucks, along with many other coffee companies, had to put a warning label on their drinks. This is because each of the drinks contained a chemical called acrylamide, something that’s found in brewed coffee. This chemical is known to be a cancer-causing stimulant when drank at high levels.

Rather than look into it for the health and safety of its customers, Starbucks immediately fought back saying they thought it would be “misleading” to warn people they might be drinking this. It should scare you that Starbucks is okay with you potentially drinking a poisonous chemical and harming yourself. Instead of putting your faith in someone who’s trying to hide what you’re drinking, go somewhere where they at least care enough about you to warn you.

It’s Becoming More Expensive

Once upon a time, Starbucks was relatively cheap and reasonably priced. You could get your drink and a morning breakfast sandwich for around $5 or so. Not anymore. It’s going to cost you at least $10, and that’s before you’re forced to tip them in front of their face. While we don’t think of this as a huge deal at the moment, it can add up. Let’s say you go to Starbucks 20 days out of the month and get the same thing whenever you go.

If you multiply $10 by 20, that means you spend $200 per month on just Starbucks. You could wake up 15 minutes earlier brew yourself a pot of coffee and eat a microwavable breakfast sandwich for much cheaper than that. More importantly, you could do something like invest the money you spend on Starbucks each morning into your retirement.

You Should Invest the Money You’d Spend on Starbucks

It would be wrong for us to tell you to stop buying Starbucks without giving you another option for what you could and should be doing with that money. Even though a lot of young people don’t realize it, starting to think about retirement is one of the best ways to have your own back. We just mentioned you could save up to $200 per month. Well, with that $200 per month, if you were to invest in a retirement fund that averages 10% compounding interest per year, you’d have an extra $418,000 in 30 years.

That’s only if you invest $200 per month. It’s never too early to start to think about retirement. The last thing you want to do is find yourself stuck in a situation where you’re forced to continue working to pay the bills because you didn’t think about this sooner. The earlier you start, the earlier you can enjoy life.

The Environment Suffers Because of Starbucks

Believe it or not, Starbucks has quite a negative effect on the environment. Now, it’s not all their fault. People who drink Starbucks need to be more mindful of recycling their drinks. However, more than 6 billion Starbucks cups find their way into different landfills all around the world.

Starbucks has tried to help this problem by selling reusable cups for drinks. However, the cups they sell now aren’t biodegradable. It’s noble that Starbucks is trying to fix this problem, but until they do, they’re responsible for putting that type of cup on the market.

Starbucks is Only a Status Symbol

People want to fit in no matter where they go. It’s human nature to want to be accepted. One of the most common ways to do so is by drinking Starbucks. The company has created such a powerful following that you’re almost shunned if you don’t drink Starbucks. They know how powerful they are, much like Apple.

While it’s cool to fit in, it’s also even more cool to be the person who can show up with a new drink from a new place that people haven’t heard of. Starting a new trend can show how smart you are to others.

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