How to brew a cup of real coffee for way cheaper than buying coffee pods! (Or "How I learned to survive when a Keurig wasn't in the budget")

I'm the only coffee drinker in this house, so brewing a pot every day is a pain. I kind of have to commit to either drinking multiple cups, or end up wasting it. And then I have to clean the pot daily, too. I love the idea of a Kuerig and have used them at friends' houses and in hotels. Handy! But man...between the machine and then the coffee pods, that makes for a costly daily beverage. (I had the option between getting a Nook or a Kuerig last fall and I chose the Nook. I chose correctly.)

I tried the Folgers coffee bags, and found they worked okay, although it took two bags to brew a mug (Who makes only 8oz of coffee? Really?) and it wasn't ground coffee, but rather a blend of ground and instant. They weren't cheap, either.

I wanted the taste of the real stuff without the hassle of brewing a lot. I wanted this to be easy.
And so the experimenting began.

The final result was this method that works beautifully!

What you need:
A tea kettle
Your favorite ground coffee
A 1 tbsp coffee scoop
A coffee mug
A coffee filter
A fine-mesh tea strainer (this is the one I got, but I found it at my grocery store for only $10 http://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Brew---Mug-Extra-Fine-Infuser/dp/B001JPA3Y8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336407624&sr=8-1 )

Step 1 -- Very difficult. Put strainer in cup.

Step 2 -- Push coffee filter down into the strainer.

Step 3 -- Carefully pour a scoop of your coffee into the center of the filter

Step 4 -- Slowly pour the hot water into the center of the filter, making sure not to pour outside the filter as it'll collapse down and let some of the grounds escape into the mesh tea strainer. The mesh is pretty fine, but some of the grounds will be finer.

Step 5 -- Let it steep for a few minutes, then lift and tip a bit to let all the coffee drain. (You can see that I didn't pour carefully and got ground outside the filter. Hey, you try to pour a steaming hot kettle carefully while attempting to take a picture with your left hand! If you do get grounds outside the filter, you can re-pour your coffee through another filter, or just do like I do and let it settle for a minute and then just not drink that last 1/4 inch at the bottom of the cup.)

Step 6 -- Throw your coffee grounds on the mulch pile, let the filter dry so you can toss it in recycling, and enjoy a fresh cup of coffee that tastes like it came straight from the pot for only small change!