Comments on: How to Be the ULTIMATE Coffee Shop Barnacle

By: KellyT

KellyT — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:42:00 +0000

I was a Border’s barnacle before they had wireless internet. It’s absolutely ridiculous that I now can’t find a seat here in the cafe now that they are offering WiFi. You’re right about the productivity away from home. I don’t like to associate my home with any business related work. I can’t speak for anyone else but to me, it is actually more distracting at home to do work than other places.

By: zen

zen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:05:12 +0000

@Chih – I’m the same way. Within all the commotion, you get a sense of serenity. For me, and I’m sure a lot of folks that experienced it, coffee shop environments are like our old college libraries. Tons of people in a small cramped places. The only difference is that the NALGENE/SIGG bottles and silence is now replaced by cups of coffee and ambient noise.

By: zen

zen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:14:03 +0000

@DK – Did you use StumbleUpon? I’m curious. Thanks for stopping by.

@Max – You’re definitely right about that, they are the “core customers” because the income they bring in is pretty much constant and hopefully enough to keep up with variable costs so the business can live to operate another day.

@David – A lot of folks find that they can be more efficient by escaping from their home environments to do work/study/etc. Especially to meet up with friends/coworkers working on the same project or studying for the same test.

As I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop right now. Looking around me, I see people wrapped up in warm clothes working diligently. I see nursing students collaborating on testing material. I see someone going through a stack of business cards, and I’m sitting next to two other bloggers. I see people in all walks of life doing something to make their life better. And of course, I see someone that has been on FaceBook for the past 2 hours.

It’s really up to personal preferences in the end as to what working environment helps you the most.

A small drip costs around $1.10 and indie shops usually give free refills. I’m not sure where you get your coffee, but you definitely need to change places or direct others that frequent the likes go to another place. I believe mochas and lattes are up around $3. I’m not going to argue that making your own cup of joe is the best thing to do, cuz it is. I recommend the book “Freakonomics” by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, they talk about the $3 “latte factor” that you just mentioned.

Frugal in this sense is about utilizing other resources at a low cost. Heating and electricity bills are really expensive, especially now in the winter. Luckily at most coffee shops, the central heating is always on to keep it a nice moderate temp.

Barnacling is a huge thing nowadays, and as i mentioned above, “love it or hate it”, it’s here to stay.

By: Chih

Chih — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:55:21 +0000

I used to be a Borders barnacle but not for wifi. It was the only place I could study for long periods of time (i.e. 3-4 hours for me) when I was studying for the CFA exams. I studied best with my ipod volume on max and with lots of people around because it keeps me awake and focused. Also, because it was so hard to get a seat…once I got one, it forced me to stay and study longer than I typically would. I would typically order a large coffee. When Di was studying for her license, we used to barnacle at Starbuck for hours…she would be studyig, I would be mostly napping

By: David

David — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:54:35 +0000

Good article on how to be a barnacle.

But, I never really got the point of barnacle-ing. Spend $3 a day on a small coffee to leech wi-fi and electricity for a few hours. That’s $90 for a typical 30-day month. With high speed internet companies offering deals like $19.99 a month for the first six months and $59.99 a month after that, I’m hard pressed to find barnacle-ing frugal. I’d save the money spent on coffee and put it towards high speed internet in my own home. Save your gut the unnecessary calories, have the convenience of high-speed internet anytime at home, keep all the bandwidth for yourself. PROFIT.