I bought the Sirena from starbucks but before that I had a expresso machine from ikea (mine cost 10bucks but its also smaller and I dont know if they make it anymore) and a milk frother. I also buy my syrup from starbucks and my coffee. Syrups run about 7.99 and you can stock up right after christmas when they put them on sale as for the coffee it really is preference get what you like. To be honest if you put love in it you can get a really good expresso out of a stove top coffee maker like the one from ikea but I have to say since I've gotten the Sirena I dont think I could go back the crema on the expresso is amazing. Anyhow you can also make lattes and such in bulk pretty fast using the coffee maker and milk frother hrm yumm to bad its to late to make one.