Here's one from reader Brian Miller:

What I do for my coffee is that I use a Cup-at-a-Time brewer by Black and Decker. There are other makes, but all of them are under $20. The only down-side to it is that it takes #1 size filters, and locally I've only seen them at Albertsons, but I order them online. Anyways, a one-cup brewer is small, fits on a corner of the desk, and makes great coffee. As for the coffee, I roast my own at home. Why? It's cheaper! Way cheaper, and the result is gourmet coffee! So take that, Starbucks!

About a year ago I put a Nespresso machine at my desk, to cut back on my Vivace expenses.

It's not as artful to make espresso from a machine that uses encapsulated coffee, but it's tidy enough to use outside of a kitchen and shots are good and cheap. Prices have gone up to 52 cents per capsule, or about a fourth of the cost of a shots down the street.

Another suggestion from reader Sheila Hagar: Folgers Black Silk actually isn't bad, "if you make it strong enough" and "saves a lot of money when you find it on sale."

"Even then, don't buy the cheap toilet paper,'' she wrote.