2024: How Much Will You Spend on Tea This Year!?
Time to track how much you’re spending on tea each year. You can edit a comment to keep track throughout the year, or make a new comment for each month/purchase – totally up to you! A lot of people set a budget/goal for the year or an amount they’d like to stay under per month. Some folk include teaware purchases or costs that go towards one on one swaps or things like travelling tea boxes, and others don’t. There is no wrong way to set your budget or track what you’re spending!
If you’ve seen past years threads and felt awkward joining in mid year, now is a perfect time to join in – and if you’re seeing this in the future and it’s the middle of the year don’t feel like you can’t start mid way through!
So have fun, and lets track our tea spending!
2023: https://steepster.com/discuss/44714-2023-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2022: https://steepster.com/discuss/43803-2022-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2021: https://steepster.com/discuss/42497-2021-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2020: https://steepster.com/discuss/38946-2020-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2019: https://steepster.com/discuss/29706-2019-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2018 – https://steepster.com/discuss/20676-2018-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2017 – https://steepster.com/discuss/14961-2017-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2016 – https://steepster.com/discuss/12376-2016-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2015 – http://steepster.com/discuss/10160-2015-how-much-will-you-spend-on-tea-this-year
2014 – http://steepster.com/discuss/6837-how-much-did-you-spend-on-tea-in-2014
My personal breakdown from past years:
2023 – $9947.51
2022 – $9466.96
2021 – $10399.22
2020 – $7920.87
2019 – $4791.51
2018 – $3929.54
2017 – $3805.50
2016 – $2034.13
2015 – $1998.46
2014 – $1466.61
I spent close to the same amount last year as I did the year prior, which I feel pretty good about! Mostly I’m just proud that I didn’t crack 10K again.
I find that tracking tea and teaware spending separately is helpful, so I’m continuing that tracking method this year as well. Last year my teaware spending went up so a mini goal this year is to decrease that number over last year’s total ($4383.66) – especially as I’m tight on space. It’s a steep goal, no pun intended, but I’d like to max out teaware spending at 3K this year…
Otherwise my goals are:
1. Spend less overall than what I did in 2023 (Loose Target = Under $8K)
2. Stop blind purchasing tea cakes!
In regard to the second goal, I did a pretty good job with this overall in 2023 but I definitely have room for improvement still. Near the end of the year I really dropped off with it, so I’ve just gotta try and stick with the “cake DOES NOT equal sample” mindset all year long.
January Purchases: $879.20
Tea Rebel (Tea) $163.00
Toronto Tea Festival (Tea + Teaware)** $488.20
Volition Tea (Tea + Teaware) $228.00
February Purchases: $103.00
Blume (Tea) $103.00
March Purchases: $1046.00
white2tea (Tea) $233.00
Saltstone Ceramics (Teaware) $623.00
World Tea Expo (Tea)* $190.00
April Purchases: $693.00
Sayso (Tea) $84.00
Trader Nick’s Tea (Tea) $285.00
Settling Tea (Teaware) $186.00
Friday Afternoon Tea (Tea) $138.00 <- For their Kickstarter
May Purchases: $342.0
white2tea (Tea) $198.00
Bitterleaf Teas (Tea) $144.04
June Purchases: $344.47
Camellia Sinensis (Teaware) $259.47
white2tea (Tea) $75.00
July Purchases: $179.00
Hammerly Ceramics (Teaware) $179.00
August Purchases: $911.50
Bitterleaf Teas (Teaware) $219.00
Blume (Tea) $35.00
1001 Pots (Teaware) $563.00
Keats & Co/The Good Store (Tea) $94.50
September Purchases: $229.00
52Teas (Tea) $92.00
Volition Tea (Tea) $137.00
October Purchases: $924.00
Yunnan Sourcing (Tea + Teaware) $156.00
Bitterleaf Teas (Tea + Teaware) $104.00
The Homestead Potter (Teaware) $93.00
Dammann Freres (Tea) $140.00
white2Tea (Tea) $291.00
Inoki Bathhouse (Tea) $140.00
November Purchases: $696.05
Adagio (Tea) $101.00
Bitterleaf Teas (Teaware) $150.00
white2tea (Tea) $61.00
Rishi Tea (Tea) $384.05
TEA SPENDING TOTAL: $3761.16
TEAWARE SPENDING TOTAL: $2576.10
GRAND TOTAL: $6337.26
**This year I decided to tally everything from the Toronto Tea Festival into one total expense instead of listing individual companies. I’m also splitting the sum into two halves that will each be attributed to tea or teaware totals.
***Grouping everything from the World Tea Expo together as one listing since, as I paid for everything in cash, I don’t recall the exact totals spent at each vendor – only what I spent overall.
Kelly your “stick with the “cake DOES NOT equal sample” mindset” made me laugh. In my world of tea people (Instagram/Steepster) if this was not labeled, I would probably still guess it was from you.
Happy 2024! :)
Let’s see if this works for 2024!
2023: Didn’t bother keeping track.
2022 (January only): $1002.83
2021 (Jan 1-Feb 17): $1562.79
other years (2016-2020): $ thousands of US$
Subscriptions:
*52teas monthly (buy the subscription every year in Nov/Dec)
*Tea Thoughts Sticker Club ($8 a month)
(also does not count orders from Tea Thoughts with most of her products they are tea themed but not tea itself)
x=still waiting for the order
January 2024 Purchases: $485.69
Jan 1 David’s Tea (Tea + Teaware) $50.69 USD
xJan 4 Dessert By Deb (Tea) $105 USD ($133 CAD is what I paid)
Jan 4 Ippodo Tea (Tea) $45 USD (Shop Cash, so only paid $7.54)
Jan 5 white2tea (Tea) $143
Jan 25 David’s Tea (Tea and Teaware) $56 (used 3 FS rewards + free GWP, so maximizing my bang for my buck)
Jan 25 Friday Tea (Tea) $86
February Purchases: $732.71
Feb 1 52teas (Tea) $110.25
Feb 3(?) Sipsby (Tea – Monthly box) $15 (I always skip this and just grab it like once or twice a year, apparently it was set to ship for this month and I went to skip it so my next one isn’t until later this year)
xFeb 16 & 20 DT USA (Tea/Teaware) $155.75 / $159.45 ($20 of this went to a friend)
xFeb 23 52teas (Tea) $151.75
xFeb 29 The Steeping Room (Tea) $140.51 (including shipping)
TOTAL YEAR TO DATE (2024): $1,218.40
NEXT: DT USA (new grapefruit tea/clearance items), 52teas (always), Friday Tea (seasonal clearance), Dessert by Deb (1 KG at least of Orange Ginger Shortbread, an OG tea and one of my favorite Deb teas of all time!)
March Purchases:
April Purchases:
May Purchases:
June Purchases:
July Purchases:
August Purchases:
September Purchases:
October Purchases:
November Purchases:
December Purchases:
Again, no limit, just tracking.
2021 total – $329.44
2022 total – $443.88 (+ gift cards – $190.75)
2023 total – $203.77 (+ gift cards – $84.25)
Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr – None
May
The Steeping Room – $65.47
Jun
The Steeping Room – $82.27
Jul
Whispering Pines (restock) – $69.50
Aug
Tea Runners (restock) – $45.38
Sep/Oct – None
Nov
The Steeping Room – $82.81
Got suckered in on a Black Friday sale.
Will likely be my last of the year unless a discontinued tea magically comes back into stock.
Dec
Harney and Sons – $0 ($100.12 gift card)
I lied, but in my defense, this was a gift.
Spent – $345.43
Gift Cards – $100.12
2024 Grand Total – $445.55
All values USD
2019 total: $200
2020 total: $195.57
2021 total: $57.20
2022 total: $86.25
2023 total: $66.38
2024 total: $140.30
Aiming for a $0 2024! Sorry, again, tea shops!
2024:
$29.99 fave Tealyra puerh
$12.25 New Mexico Tea Co
$12.37 New Mexico Tea Co
$31.64 Teavivre
$54.05 Simpson & Vail
I have a system for tracking my tea spendings, so I just need to keep track of each tea. Hopefully it will be the first full year I will be able to keep track! Doesn’t include ready to drink teas.
Goal: Keep stash low, so spending only if I ran out of some tea type/flavour.
January: 227.9 CZK (9.91 USD), various
February: 666 CZK (28.45 USD) Klasek Tea (Nepal + Bhutan teas)
2018: 740
2019: 848.36
2020: 796.40
2021: 972.92
2022: 542.79
2023: 565.69
I think my 2024 goal will be to focus on sipdowns. No goals for spending.
Jan: $70 at Bellocq,
Tealyra $31.45
Sipsby $54.55
March: $25? at a shop in Japantown. I forget what the exact price was, so I’m guessing a little higher than it may have been.
May: Tealyra $30.85
July David’s 68.40
Grocery store 10
October: Bird&Blend $110
I do so well until advent season!
November: Compagnie & Co $150.07
Lupicia 85.50
December: $8 grocery store tea
Tea: $500 – $700
Teaware: $70 – $100
Of course, at the moment I have no sense of smell and diminished taste due to recent Covid infection. This was my tea budget prior to the Covid. Might not be very inclined to spend much money on tea this year. Could just get some very budget-end brews and spend even less this year. Depends on when my senses return to me.
Well, thankfully it seems my taste/smell have returned! Ordered my first order of 2024. A varied selection of mostly Spring 2023 teas, 24 in all! Super-excited to be receiving this one soon. I focused mainly on green teas, probably selecting most of the Spring 2023 Yunnan greens still available, but got some blacks, oolongs, and white teas as well. Most things I purchased in 50g quantities but opted for a bit more of a select few. Just wanted to sample a broad selection of Yunnan Sourcing’s offerings. At the rate I drink tea now, I think this quantity of tea might last me around 6 months. Depends on how much I give away. My brother and my mother have taken up tea drinking lately, so might sample some out to them.
Edited on 06/02/24: So far the ticket price for my 2024 teas is $333.12 at Yunnan Sourcing, plus $16.98 on Amazon to buy a small bag of raw puerh dragon balls from Goartea (just a small experiment to see if I like raw puerh – Thinking of ordering some from YS on my next order, because that seems to be one of the main things YS does!).
The first and only other time I purchased from Yunnan Sourcing was 6 years ago now, when I was just starting to get serious about tea. I had limited knowledge of tea then, and I selected a few lousy teas, I think – hard to say because I wasn’t very experienced with brewing times and temps yet, either. But I know I selected at least 3 or 4 autumn-picked teas, thinking they would be really neat because they were very recently picked and therefore very fresh, LOL. It took me a while drinking tea to come to the realization that spring is usually king (duh!). I guess in retrospect over the years I did experience a few really great autumn-picked teas, but the ones I got from Yunnan Sourcing happened to be really awful. No hard feelings against Yunnan Sourcing, as they seem to be pretty honest about what they are offering and have more than reasonable pricing, it was just user error on my part. I also ordered very large quantities of some of the teas and opened all of the bags at once so I had a large quantity of tea sitting around and getting stale. You live, you learn!
Made a Yunnan Sourcing USA order – $116.28 for some sheng puerh samples, 3 sheng dragon balls, some green teas, one greener oolong, and a couple of 100g Xiaguan sheng tuo-chas. That brings this year’s total so far to $466.30. (This is my experiment to see if I can really dig younger raw puerh or not.)
Well, I got bit by the pu-erh tea bug and made another Yunnan Sourcing USA order today. I’ve been craving some more of the 2023 Heaven’s Door (sweet and delicious Yi Wu raw pu-erh), so ordered a cake of that plus some extras. So that is another $122.60 for the year, bringing me to $588.90 so far. Might sound like a lot for tea, but much less than my combined Starbucks/energy drinks habit used to be!
Well, just put in my final tea order of the year from Yunnan Sourcing – $299.29. Wanted to spend a lot more, LOL, but limited it to this. That takes my 2024 spending to $888.19, a little over my budget. And sometime back during the year I did have to buy some new mugs, because one broke and my preferred glass mug comes in sets of two on Amazon. That set me back another $20, but I guess I am under budget as far as teaware and accessories. Excitedly waiing for my new Yunnan Sourcing goodies to arrive.
Thanks for setting this up again this year, Roswell!
I separated out tea and teaware expenses last year and found that really helpful, so will continue doing that again this year. I started out the year tracking tea-adjacent items like tea-scented candles but for me things like that fall more into my candle, stationery, etc. spending so I’m not going to bother tracking it this year. I know I’m a regular customer at Tea Thoughts and get my lip balm from DavidsTea, it’s not exceptionally helpful to me to monitor that super closely – that’s just where I source certain daily living supplies from as opposed to an out of control hobby that takes up too much space and could pay rent for what I’m spending on it every year.
SO. Last year was a lot – almost $2,000 US, in part because of our trip to Taiwan in April. I did notice while I was doing the math that I haven’t bought any teaware since then, so hopefully I can keep that going. Teaware takes up two cabinets and three shelves in our kitchen, not counting the mug drawer; it’s possible that I have enough. The goal is ideally to maybe de-stash some of it too, though I know myself well enough to know that it may not happen.
Previous years’ spending
2014: $965.89
2015: $961.50
2016: $734.75
mid-2017: $581.12 (stopped tracking halfway through the year)
2022: $1,506.46 (higher in reality but there are purchases I didn’t record)
2023: $1,940.83
The goal for this year is to stay under $1,000!
January
DavidsTea: $45 (tea)
Tea Thoughts: $20 (tea & sweets box)
February
DavidsTea: $49.65 (tea)
Aunt Sally’s Creole Pralines: $6.99 (chicory tea)
Tea Thoughts: $31.40 (spring countdown box)
March
Te Company: $57.22 (teaware)
Te Company: $58 (tea)
April
Tea Thoughts: $10 (teaware)
DavidsTea: $40 (tea)
DavidsTea: $43.40 (tea)
Rishi: $62.75 (tea)
Te Company: $25.63 (teaware)
grocery store: $10 (Passover tea)
June
Te Company: $92 (sourcing box)
Honeybee Hollow Apothecary: $12 (tea)
DavidsTea: $16 (tea)
July
52teas: $14 (tea)
August
Te Company: $135 (tea tasting)
Te Company: $72 (tea)
Tea Thoughts: $37 (fall countdown box)
September
52teas: $65 (advent calendar)
October
Tea Thoughts: $61 (winter countdown box)
Plum Deluxe: $60 (advent calendar and Hanukkah sampler)
52teas: $32 (tea)
November
Lupicia: ~$130 (advent calendar, reshipped from Japan)
Flyest: $20 (tea)
December
Yunomi: $86.32 (tea)
Harney: $41.15 (tea)
Adagio: $7 (tea)
I’ll update previous years at a later date but obligatory 2024 post for now. I’ve been really good with my tea spending the past couple years as well as the condition of my cupboard – not too big but with enough variety that i’m not bored. Once i drink up a few more teas this year, i may be in a position to have almost a default cupboard lol
2023: 171.18 USD 548.59 CAD
2022: 947.00 CAD; 171.53 USD
2021: 343.84 USD 432.54 CAD
2020: 387.45 USD; 683.35 CAD
2019: 288.89 USD; 120.33 CAD *mat leave
2018: 179.08 USD; 34.89 CAD *pregnant
2017: 317.27 USD 268.58 CAD
2016: 170.69 USD 170.21 CAD
2015: 1075.10 USD 206.21 CAD *paris trip
2014: 1320.42 USD 320.18 CAD
Apparently I haven’t bought tea all year until now….
July
Yunnan Sourcing – 220.01 CAD
August
Tealish – 74.75
September
Tea Runners – 90.82 CAD
2024 385.58 CAD
Login or sign up to leave a comment.