The Strange Economics of My Starbucks Habit
Published on HivePostify by @macchiata · Tue Aug 04 2026
Finally, they fixed the lightbulb!
I reckon it has been quite a few years since the Starbucks Malioboro outlet fixed their lightbulb. Whenever I am in town, none of my friends like to invite me to have coffee at Starbucks. Most of them think it’s expensive and not too interesting. I, on the other hand, think otherwise, especially this particular outlet that I have a certain affection for.
I visited all Starbucks outlets in town but only this one, despite being located in the heart of Jogja, is always empty. The visitors here are mainly tourists who do not stay long nor open their laptop to work from. Their second floor is always empty and has a proper and comfortable long chair that you can sit on for hours. If you ask me about the coffee, it’s just as good, if not more consistent than its local competitors.
I had been a frequent visitor of this place and one time, they even knew me by name. They know that I treat their Starbucks outlet like my personal office.
I also have an open secret.
If I don’t have money, I’d rather go to Starbucks.
The thing is, I never pay full price at Starbucks because it makes it more economically friendly for me. For instance, rather than paying full price at a regular coffee shop, in Starbucks through their app, I pay half and even not pay at all by utilizing my rewards. I reckon, not a lot of people have tried to redeem their rewards but I have no shame in doing so. Yet obviously, it’s not all the time that I can do that but if I really don’t have money and I need an office during my transit time, I’d go to Starbucks and pay half just to get the amenities that their establishment offers. Does it make sense for others? Maybe not. But last I checked my pyramid of needs looks like : Coffee - and everything else. Food is rather optional.
And to be honest, I have a certain liking for that outlet. It’s like the “office” for me that enabled me to make money. The place has a certain vibe to it that I couldn’t explain and I tried finding similar places elsewhere, it’s just different. I was able to sit down for hours and have my coffee.
Back in the day, even the barista knew I wasn’t the type of person who’d order one for hours. And fun fact, Starbucks is the only place where they don’t shoo you away for staying in too long. So, that’s why it was more convenient for me to stay there and work from inside their outlet.
This time, I visited the place with a budget of $2 and utilizing the perks I had, I still got my favorite matcha and espresso fusion. I like the combination long before people were into matcha as today. It’s like the good amount of caffeine and L-theanine that helps me focus for a longer time than just coffee.
I think a coffee shop can have that affect on you though in recent years, people simply leave Starbucks for better options, I have my own reason to choose that exact same spot.
||| |-|- | 𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. |
Tags: #brewville#coffee#cafeexperience#starbucks#travel