The Panera Bread Sip Club is an interesting subscription service that my family has used over the past year or so. For a low monthly fee, you get unlimited coffee, tea, lemonade, and fountain drinks at any Panera Bread in the country. Considering how many Panera Breads there are in the United States (over 2,000 of them), there’s a good chance you have one relatively close to you.
What makes this subscription useful is that it solves a pain point for a lot of people. Many of us like spending money on our morning coffee (or whatever gets you going), but there’s often a feeling of guilt that comes with doing that. If you spend any time reading personal finance content, you’re going to see articles from big personal finance gurus with outlandish headlines. Articles with titles like, “Here’s How Giving Up Coffee Can Make You Rich” or “If You Waste Money On Coffee, It’s Like Peeing $1 Million Down The Drain.”
There’s been a lot of valid criticisms of these types of articles in recent years, specifically about how they mask the real issues millennials and others in my generation face – low wages, high housing costs, and unaffordable healthcare and education costs. That being said, I’m actually not against what these articles are saying. I think of them as helpful in understanding the power of consistency and compounding. Say what you will about the Latte Factor, but it’s true that if you save and invest relatively small amounts of money consistently over a long period of time, it adds up.
A Panera Bread Sip Club subscription seems to solve this Latte Factor problem. Get the subscription, get your coffee every day – multiple times per day if you want – and do it without any guilt.
So is this the solution to the Latte Factor issue – a way to get our daily coffee and not feel guilty about it? I think it very well might be.
The Panera Bread Sip Club
So, a bit of background as to what the Panera Bread Sip Club is. For about $12 per month, you can go into any Panera Bread and get any size coffee, tea, lemonade, or fountain drink for free. No purchase is required – just walk in, give them your phone number, and get your drink. Technically, you’re limited to a free drink every 2 hours, but in practice, once you have the cup, you can keep refilling it and no one is going to stop you.
The nice thing about the Panera Bread subscription is that it’s paid month-to-month. That means if your circumstances change or you find that it’s not worthwhile for you anymore, you can cancel it. Canceling isn’t difficult either. You just go onto the website and cancel your subscription with a few clicks.
Panera Bread is also constantly running promotions where you can get free or discounted months. You can almost always get 1 or 2 months free when you first sign up and depending on the promotions they’re running, you can sometimes get 3 or more months for free. If you cancel your subscription, they’ll usually offer you a few months at a discounted rate too. And when you cancel your subscription, you can usually sign up again with whatever promotional offers they have.
The Panera Bread locations aren’t that convenient for me, so most of the time, I don’t have an active subscription. When I do, it’s always because they’re offering some promotion. My wife does have a subscription that she pays full price for because she goes past a Panera Bread on her way to work. If we wanted to do more work, we could constantly cancel and resubscribe with new promotions, but that’s more work than we want to do right now.
Does It Solve The Latte Factor?
When you do the math, the Panera Bread Sip Club subscription, even at full price, is a good deal. If you assume you get one coffee every weekday for a month, you’ll likely stop in for a coffee around 20 times a month. At $12 per month, that means you’re paying 60 cents per coffee. That’s an unbeatable price for coffee from a restaurant. And if you go more often or get refills during the day, your costs will be lower.
Even taking the whole Latte Factor into account, $12 per month is not going to make a huge financial difference for you in the long run. If instead of spending that $12, we save and invest it, we’re only going to end up saving $144 per year. Compounded over 30 years at 7% interest, you’re looking at around $14,000 saved. It’s not nothing – but it’s not going to change your life either.
Using Panera Bread As A Cheap Coworking Space
When I went full-time on the blog a few years ago, I had a WeWork membership that I got for free thanks to my American Express Business Platinum card. That benefit eventually ended and I had to figure out where I would do my work from now. I could have worked from home, but as much as I’d like to do that, I’m never as efficient that way.
Rather than get a new coworking membership, I opted instead to work out of coffee shops. My issue with coffee shops, however, is that the popular ones are always busy, making it difficult to find a good table. It can also get expensive since you need to buy something if you’re going to spend time there.
I eventually solved this problem by working out of the college campus near my son’s daycare. It turns out college campuses are great coworking spaces, even if you aren’t a student. But if I didn’t figure out this college campus coworking idea and if there was a more convenient Panera Bread for me, I might have opted to get the Sip Club subscription and work from there instead.
People don’t often think about what a useful place Panera Bread is for getting work done. Indeed, years ago in the summer when I was studying for the bar exam, I went to Panera Bread every day and did my studying there. It was great. There were always plenty of tables, it was comfortable, and if I was hungry or thirsty, I had plenty of food and drinks I could order.
A friend of mine recently became self-employed and was in the same position as I was a few years ago where he needed to figure out if he would work from his apartment or go to a coffee shop to work. He has a Panera Bread a few blocks from his house, so I suggested he look at the Panera Bread Sip Club subscription to see if that would make sense for him. He’s told me that it’s been great. For $12 per month, he basically has a cheap coworking space with all the free coffee he could want.
If you’re searching for a good coworking space, you may want to look at whether working out of a Panera Bread could work for you. It worked for me in the past and you might be surprised at how nice it is to work out of there.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a sponsored post. I’m writing this post because I genuinely think that the Panera Bread Sip Club subscription is a good deal for many people.
It’s possible my fondness for Panera Bread is out of the ordinary. I’ve always had a good experience with Panera Bread. They have nice restaurants with a comfortable atmosphere, lots of seating at most locations, and I think the food is good too. Of the fast-casual chain restaurants, Panera Bread is one of my favorites.
Worst case, you get a Panera Bread subscription and find out it’s not worth it for you. You should be able to get a month or two free before you pay anything, so it won’t cost you anything to try it out. And maybe, like some of the people in my life, you find out it’s really useful for you.
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- SoFi Money ($325) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $300 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($300) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $300 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $300 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- Fifth Third Bank ($200) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I got this free for almost 2 years with their free trial. They eventually stopped people like me by making their free trial only new subscribers. So, anyone can get an initial free trial. Sometimes, these are 3 months. After that, if you go to cancel, they give you a big discount. For a year, I got $1.99/month for 3 months. Later, it has been $3/month for 3 months. So, even after you use he Amex credit, take the discount by going to cancel.
Thought-provoking! Also, AmEx is offering 4 free months of this subscription as a benefit (though I haven’t personally redeemed it yet).
Might as well snag that 4 months. Nothing to lose there.