A person does not have to look very far to find a coffee shop in this day and age, as there are around one on every other street corner in the urban parts of this country. This leads up to the average spending of about  $14.40 a week on coffee and roughly $1,100 per year. This money could be put towards many different luxuries, such as traveling, college and many more items that a person can benefit from. Here are some recipes to make these drinks at home and save money in the long run.

Peppermint Mocha*

What you need: 1 cup of steamed milk, 1 cup of coffee, preferably strong (4 tablespoons of ground coffee is equal to 1 cup), 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2-3 tablespoons of peppermint syrup.

What you might want to add: Whipped cream, chocolate syrup, crushed peppermints.

1. Prepare a kettle of the hot water

2. Add four tablespoons of coffee grounds to your French press, or brew a cup of strong coffee.

3. In a pot, heat up one cup of milk until it is steaming.

4. Mix the milk with a whisk until there is foam at the top.

5. In a coffee cup, mix the coffee, cocoa powder, sugar and peppermint coffee syrup until there are no lumps and all of the ingredients are dissolved.

6.Pour in the milk to the mixture, and stir.

Now you can add the whipped cream, crushed peppermints, chocolate syrup or any other toppings that satisfy your taste buds.

Chai Tea Latte

What you need: 1 chai tea bag, 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup, ¼ cup of 2% milk

What you might want to add: Whipped Cream, ground nutmeg

1.  Sit the teabag in hot water for about five minutes, then remove and discard the teabag.

2. Immediately stir in the vanilla syrup and stir until it is dissolved.

3. Warm the milk until it is just steaming. This can be done in the microwave, or a small sauce pan. Then pour into tea.

Now is when toppings, such as whipped cream or ground nutmeg can be added.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

What you need:  2 cups of half and half creamer, 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin puree, 1-2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract, ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice and 1-4 shots of espresso. If espresso isn’t possible, double the amount of coffee grounds to get strong coffee.

What you might want to add: Whipped cream, nutmeg, pumpkin spices

1. Brew the espresso or strong coffee in a separate cup.

2. Combine the half and half with the pumpkin, sugar, and pumpkin spices in a small saucepan.

3. Heat until very hot, but make sure it does not boil.

4. Add vanilla, and then stir until frothy.

5. Finally, pour the mixture into a coffee mug and add the coffee.

Dust with more pumpkin pie spice if desired, or top with whipped cream, nutmeg or other toppings.

Eggnog Latte

What you need: 2 shots of espresso or strong coffee, ½ cups of milk and ½ cups of eggnog

What you might want to add: whipped cream, freshly grated nutmeg or other toppings.

1. Brew the coffee

2.Mix the milk and eggnog in a cup to steam either on an espresso machine, on a small sauce pan or in a coffee mug in the microwave.

3. Combine the espresso with the milk and eggnog mixture into a cup.

Top with whipped cream, nutmeg or any other toppings.

Gingerbread Latte*

What you need: 1 shot of espresso or strong coffee, ½ – ¾ cups of steamed milk, 1-2 tablespoons of Gingerbread syrup

What you might want to add: whipped cream, ground cinnamon and any other toppings.

1. Brew the espresso or strong coffee, then, in a small saucepan or in the microwave, steam the milk.

2. Add the milk into the coffee cup with the espresso or strong coffee in it, stirring to combine.

3. Add the gingerbread syrup into the mug and stir until all sugar clumps are dissolved.

4. Add whipped cream and a punch of ground cinnamon.

Caramel Latte

What you need: 2 shots of espresso, ¾ cups of steamed milk, 1 1/1 tablespoons caramel flavored syrup

What you might want to add: Whipped cream, candy cane and any other toppings.

1. Brew the espresso shots, and then steam the milk in the microwave or in a small sauce pan.

2. Then, add the espresso, the steamed milk and the caramel flavored syrup into a cup.

3. Stir to combine until all of the sugar lumps are dissolved.

4.Then, top with whipped cream, and for an extra holiday flavor blast, add crushed candy cane to the top of the drink.

Peppermint Mocha syrup

What you need: 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract

1. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil.

2.Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved.

3. Stir in the peppermint extract.

This can be stored for up to three months.

Gingerbread Latte syrup

What you need: 1 cup of water, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of molasses, 1 piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds, 1 stick of cinnamon, 8 whole cloves, 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice berries, 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns

1. In a medium saucepan, bring all the ingredients to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes.

3. Strain the syrup and transfer to a container to cool.