For the past four years or so, I was a coffee addict. Almost every day I would need to buy a cup of coffee in order to function properly. I was a loyal Dunkin' customer for a while, until they started messing up my order. Every. Single. Time. I got so annoyed and dissatisfied with the taste of my coffee that I decided I needed a change.

During my Dunkin' days, Starbucks was unfamiliar territory to me. All of the complicated ways of ordering confused me, so I stuck to ordering Frappuccinos, the fun, frozen drink often topped with whipped cream. One day, determined to try new things and be adventurous, I tried coffee from Starbucks. Then I fell in love. I had no idea how much worse my coffee addiction would get when I switched from Dunkin' to Starbucks. I would finally be able to drink coffee the way I liked it (and ordered it). I quickly found a wide range of my favorite drinks, from a hot Pike Place to Iced Caramel Macchiatos. Starbucks’ amazing customer service is also worth noting. The baristas act like they actually want to help you. This makes a big difference, especially if you've had bad service before. Another plus is that Starbucks has that coffeeshop vibe that many people find comfort in.

Not only was my mind and body dependent on Starbucks, but so was my happiness. A full day at work without any coffee was nearly impossible. I stopped at Starbucks before heading to school so I could stay awake during all of my classes. I even drank coffee as a way to unwind after a stressful day. Whatever time of day it was, coffee made me a happier person.

Eventually, I started noticing how much money I was spending at Starbucks. Each drink usually costs about $5, and I was buying one almost every day. I had big dreams to travel, and I thought about how I could be saving that money instead. I was also realizing how dependent I was on coffee. While it did make me happier, I would be miserable if I didn’t drink coffee on any given day. As much as I loved it, I was envious of anyone who did not rely on coffee to get them through the day. Around this time I had also discovered that I enjoy drinking tea. I tried to replace coffee with tea instead, but it only worked for about a week.

When the new year was approaching, I decided that reducing my coffee intake would be my resolution. I was going to limit myself to getting coffee only three times a week. In the beginning, I cheated a bit because I convinced myself that it didn’t count if I wasn’t buying the coffee myself. Once I realized how easy it was to only drink it three times a week, I bumped it down to twice a week. Now, there have been full weeks without coffee. Most of the time I only have Starbucks once a week. I do treat myself to a nice cup of coffee every once in a while. The difference in my mood is so drastic compared to when I constantly had coffee withdrawals. Water is refreshing enough to wake me up now. I would've never imagined that switching from Dunkin' to Starbucks would cause me to stop drinking coffee. I didn't think I would be able to do it, but I did.