I cannot remember a moment in my life when I would wake up and not smell coffee being brewed. My family drinks it, my friends drink it — practically everyone around me drinks it first thing in the morning. The smell of roasted, freshly ground coffee being brewed is the only thing that wakes me up instantly. For me, it has become something fundamental — decaf with milk at age five was my first step. Coffee is something I’m up for anytime, anyplace.

However, on Sunday, Oct. 2, I challenged myself to quit cold turkey. I tried not drinking coffee for a week.

I usually have a cup or two in the morning, one during the day and one at night. Depending on activities and appointments, sometimes I only have two cups a day, so my consumption varies from 2 to 4 cups daily.

But one thing is for certain: every morning, I drink coffee. Always. Most of it I get it at Lipton Dining Hall, but I do stop at Starbucks every now and then between classes and work. So, besides recording the experience, I calculated how much money I saved from not buying coffee.

Sunday, Oct. 2 – As soon as I got the pitch for this article, I told my roommates that if they noticed that I was easily irritable or had mood swings, it was due to the lack of caffeine in my system. Their response was priceless: “Are you really quitting coffee? What’s wrong with you!” Nothing’s wrong, except it seems like I just decided to quit my source of life for a week. Before going to bed, I like having a cup of joe. The warm buzz inside puts me to sleep, really. Sticking to my challenge, I avoided the coffee pot by all means. I spent an hour shuffling in my sheets thinking about the hardship Monday would be without coffee.

Money saved: $2.50

Monday, Oct. 3 – I purposely woke up after 10:30 in the morning in order to avoid that coffee craving that invades me before 10. Not a good move. An hour later, the withdrawal was excruciating. When I went downstairs to check my mail, I saw that somebody had set up a free coffee stand just in front of my mailbox. I saw it as a sign from the universe telling me not to quit, but I stayed strong and refused a cup. By 3:30 p.m. my eyes were closing even though I had had a good, long sleep the night before. How was I around 8:30 p.m.? I fell off my chair trying to finish my homework for Tuesday. Not cool.

Money saved: None (I get my coffee at Lipton on Mondays.)

Tuesday, Oct. 4 – I had never seen such dark circles under my eyes before. I had gone to bed by 11:30 p.m., woke up at 6:30 a.m. and did not feel even a little bit rested. At 7:30 a.m., Lipton wasn’t open, so I rushed to Starbucks to pick up some food, but of course, not my daily roast. I knew the day was doomed when I pulled out my writing prose textbook in my 8 a.m. history class. By 10:30 a.m., I had almost tumbled over the rows in front of me during lecture.

The rush to work did wake me up a bit. In desperate need of something warm, I headed to the kitchen in search of herbal non-caffeinated tea, but couldn’t find anything. I was too tired to think about coffee during my busy day, and the only thing I was looking forward to was escaping the agonizing NYU midterm vibe to see Cats with a friend of mine. I had so much homework to do when I got back that there was no space for coffee in my mind.

Money saved: $5

Wednesday, Oct. 5 – I had set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. and woke up an hour later; everything was nice. The day was sunny and crisp. I did chores throughout the morning and truly felt good. Rested, energetic — coffee seemed like a thing of the past. Then 12:30 p.m. hit, when I sat in my first class and lost control of my eyelids. I fell asleep during history class and woke up the moment the teacher called on me. As I rushed through the free period I had, eating lunch and finishing homework for my 3:30 p.m. class, the sleepiness was gone. What I craved the most about coffee after class was the taste of it, not the buzz. I kept myself busy all afternoon to avoid thinking of it. I hosted my floor’s hall snacks of the week and ended up playing with a pup in the park. I could have easily fallen asleep on a bench. When the time to do homework came, I could not remain focused whatsoever. The struggle was real.

Money saved: None (I get my coffee at Lipton on Wednesdays.)

Thursday, Oct. 6 – My body had not hurt this much in such a long time. It’s a different kind of pain. It’s not the “I worked my butt off at the gym yesterday” sort of pain; it’s more like permanent, chronic hurt. Arms, legs, back and head, my body felt wrong. I had the shivers all day and it was awful. I carried on as usual — class-office-class — and people noticed I was not my usual self. When asked what was wrong and I responded that I was quitting coffee for the week, people looked at me as if I had just told them I was dying tomorrow and they were too. After my 9-to-5 day, I had a study session hosted by my program department and I swear I was ready to fall onto the floor and never move again. I had read and was told that if you drink water constantly, all day, you’ll stay awake because of the recurrent need to pee. That turned out to be the biggest lie I have ever encountered. Water did not wake me up whatsoever. I seriously needed to concentrate and look alive during the study session, so I broke my “absolutely no caffeine” rule and had a Diet Coke. It was the same as if I had had a can of water. By 10:30 p.m., I had called it quits and planned to finish studying in the morning.

Money saved: $2.50

Friday, Oct. 7 – I woke up at 8 a.m., studied, had a midterm at 11 a.m. and surprisingly did not sleep through it. After I had finished with my single class period of the day and run some errands, I felt like I was not going to hold up for Live Read New York if I did not rest. So I napped and watched the last four episodes of Sex and the City, cried — mostly because of body aches — and got ready to see who John Krasinski would bring up on stage for the table reading of Good Will Hunting. I watched the show, sent out a newsletter for work and called it a day around 2:30 a.m.

Money saved: $2.50

Saturday, Oct. 8 – The day started at 9:30 a.m. I went to brunch, where I usually drink a cup of coffee with whatever I’m eating. There was nothing that could save the morning. People were cracking the coffee pot, cup after cup and I sat there and drooled. I have never wanted for it to be Monday so bad. Body pain was still present throughout the day, but the headaches subsided. I still had trouble focusing on tasks and finishing them within my pre-established times.

Money saved: $2.50

Sunday, Oct. 9 – It’s Sunday, finally! I woke up at 10:30 a.m. and worked on school work all the way through 3 p.m. I decided to walk around the area for an hour to clear my mind and stop staring at the screen. With an hour to go, I felt like a kid skipping through Disney World, strutting around waiting for it to be four to stop at a coffee shop. By 3:50 p.m., I was already in line to buy coffee. It had been so long. If it’s chilly in NYC, people will easily stand in line for coffee for half an hour. I needed all the odds in my favor before I cracked the books. By 8:30 p.m. I had had three cups of coffee. Before, I could not concentrate because I did not have the energy. Now, I could not focus because of the buzz.

Money gloriously spent: $2.50

It feels rewarding that I tolerated such a long time without touching a coffee machine and successfully walked into a Starbucks without buying a cup. As an exercise to practice willpower, it was nice. I proved to myself that I could quit or do anything if I set my mind to it.

So, was writing this article fun? Yes, it challenged me.

Would I quit coffee by choice? Never again.

Email Laura Diaz at [email protected].