Anyone that knows me well, knows that I cannot live without my latte machine.  It’s a Pasquini machine, basically a smaller version of the ones in the trendy coffee shops.

This is a pricey machine, but after doing a cost analysis on how much I was spending at Starbuck, Seattle’s Best, Caribu Coffee and many other coffee addict hangouts, I decided it was time to make a purchase.  (Yes, I did the cost analysis, I used to be a financial analyst)  Being the thrifty person I am, I had to price shop it to death.

The best place to buy beans, is also the best place to buy a machine. wholelattelove.com I bought this machine about 4 years ago.  It retailed then for $1700.  Again, being “one of those people” who will not pay full price, I bought it refurbished from whole latte love through eBay for $1300.  Yes!!!  A great deal.
I use this machine everyday.  (mine looks much cooler than the stock photo, hey?)  And then some.  So due to heavy use, one of the knobs broke.  I had to buy my Lavazza beans last week and decided to look up my machine to see if they had parts.  I was shocked to see my machine out there (exact same one, I checked) selling for $2699.00!

So the takeaway here is that coffee IS an investment.  :)