Every day, Ms H walks into Stomping Grounds in Dubai. She may occasionally skip a Sunday, but that is rare. While there, she eats breakfast, orders two or three cups of coffee and spends around Dh250 a day. She is practically part of the café family: the staff know her well and give her a handwritten note with every coffee, a tradition that has become part of their connection.

Mr O has claimed table 14 as his own. He places his usual order of three piping-hot coffees and two bottles of water while he works. He prefers not to be disturbed and spends an average of around Dh120 a day.

Mr Ferrari — whose real name the staff still do not know — arrives between 7.15am and 7.30am in one of his two Ferraris. He is always formally dressed and speaking on the phone. He does not say anything to the staff; they already know it is time to prepare his signature Espresso Orange. He collects the coffee, pays by card and leaves. He finishes his drink by the time he reaches the entrance gate and is usually gone within minutes.

However, calculating the cost is not simply a matter of how much someone pays on each visit. The number of times they visit a café or order coffee during the day also affects the total.

These are just a few examples of Stomping Grounds’ regular customers in Dubai and their coffee-drinking habits, as described by the café’s owner, Ryan Godinho.

For many people, coffee is a significant daily expense that cannot simply be overlooked. Some need their morning coffee to start the day, while others drink it at regular intervals throughout the day.

“Someone who comes in once a day for a coffee might spend around Dh30,” Godinho says. “But a person who visits several times a day, or treats the café as a second home for a few hours, can easily spend Dh200 or more.”

But the main question for many coffee drinkers is this: when we keep saying “just one more coffee”, how much do those Dh20, Dh30 or Dh50 cups ultimately add up to?

How Much Does a Daily Coffee Really Cost?

The three Stomping Grounds regulars represent only a small sample of the wide range of coffee spending. One customer might spend around Dh30 a day on a single coffee, another may pay Dh120 over the course of a working day, while someone who treats the café as a second home can easily spend more than Dh200.

Beyond the cost of each order, the number of visits or coffees ordered during the day also matters.

At The Coffee Lab in Port Rashid, for example, founder Osama Blashlat says regular customers typically visit twice a day and spend between Dh50 and Dh100 daily on coffee drinks.

At Kairos, founder Shiraz Sarwar says regular customers spend around Dh40 a day, with most returning at least three times a week.

At Uptown Social, managing partner Aleix Garcia says many customers visit three to five times a week and spend between Dh60 and Dh100, depending on the type of coffee they order.

A person who buys one Dh25 coffee five days a week will therefore spend Dh125 a week, around Dh540 a month and approximately Dh6,500 a year.

If the daily cost rises to Dh30, following the same five-day-a-week pattern, annual spending increases to around Dh7,800.

For someone who spends Dh50 a day on coffee, the same five-day-a-week habit will cost around Dh13,000 a year.

The total rises further when coffee is no longer just a drink but is ordered with breakfast, pastries, snacks or other beverages.

Godinho says someone who orders one quick coffee a day and someone who spends several hours at a café have two very different spending patterns, even if both simply say they “went out for coffee”.

Why Dh25 Does Not Feel Like Dh6,500

“It’s only Dh25,” many people tell themselves. But that small expense can grow into a substantial sum when repeated every day.

Jaafar Hashem, an entrepreneur and investor at Zentara Solutions, says people tend to view purchases individually rather than as part of a recurring spending pattern.

“We judge the purchase, not the habit,” he says. “Dh20 does not seem expensive, but Dh20 every day adds up to more than Dh7,000 a year. The amount is small, but the repetition matters.”

A Dh25 coffee does not attract the same attention as a Dh500 bill. It is a small, quick purchase that is usually part of a daily routine, but by the end of the month, many of these small decisions have accumulated.

“A large purchase gets your attention, but a small one is forgotten,” Hashem says. “That is why recurring expenses can damage your budget more than you realise.”

“Let’s Grab a Coffee”: How Coffee Became a Lifestyle

In cities such as Dubai, coffee is not just a drink; it has become part of people’s social lives.

“When you meet someone, the first thing you say is, ‘Let’s grab a coffee,’” says travel and lifestyle content creator Aalia Lala. “But it is usually never just one coffee.”

A coffee meeting can turn into two or three hours at a café, followed by a second drink and then dessert.

Lala says she can easily spend more than Dh100 on days when she is out for business meetings or socialising, excluding the cost of lunch or dinner.

Public relations professional Nicole Remedios believes the appeal of coffee is not just the drink itself, but the experience of sitting in a café, enjoying the atmosphere and taking a break from the daily routine.

“I may not always be able to afford major luxuries, but I can sit in a nice café with a good coffee and enjoy the moment,” she says.

Anna Ivanova-Galitsyna, a public relations consultant in Dubai, warns that the problem begins when a small pleasure becomes a routine expense that people no longer calculate.

She says the cost can increase further when pastries or sandwiches are added, or when people choose more expensive cafés.

Financial responsibility, however, does not mean giving up small pleasures altogether.

“If you can afford your lifestyle, meet your obligations and still save for the future, there is nothing wrong with having a daily coffee,” Hashem says.

The right question, he says, is not, “Can I afford Dh20?” but rather, “Can I afford the cost of this habit?”

Are Coffee Drinkers Really Buying Less?

When prices rise or household budgets come under pressure, the response is not always to give up the daily coffee.

Godinho says Stomping Grounds’ regular customers have generally remained loyal despite price changes.

“Coffee has become such an integral part of their daily routine that price is rarely the deciding factor,” he says.

By contrast, Blashlat of The Coffee Lab says there are signs that customers are becoming more cautious with their spending.

“In recent weeks, we have noticed that consumer spending has become slightly more restrained, but we still see many familiar faces,” he says.

At Kairos, some customers have also become more cautious when prices rise. They may, for example, prepare one coffee at work or at home rather than buying several from a café, while still purchasing coffee outside several times a week.

Cutting back does not necessarily mean abandoning the habit entirely.

“If you enjoy seven coffees a week, you do not have to cut that number to zero,” Hashem says. “Sometimes reducing it from seven to four can generate significant savings without taking away something you enjoy.”

So, Is That Coffee Still Worth It?

For Stomping Grounds’ regular customers, the answer is clear.

Ms H comes for the handwritten note she receives with every cup. Mr O returns for table 14 and the tranquillity of working with three piping-hot coffees. Mr Ferrari comes for an Espresso Orange that is ready before he finishes his sentence.

They are not just buying coffee; they are buying a habit and an experience: a place to pause, a quiet moment in the day and one small thing that always goes right.

That is why the advice to “just stop buying coffee” does not always work.

“Your financial life is not usually changed by a single Dh30 decision,” Hashem says. “It is shaped by the decisions you repeat.”

So, if coffee is worth it to you, keep it — but make sure you see the habit for what it costs in full.