there's no way in hell I'm grinding beans at 6am.

You act like you have to go outside and break boulder-sized beans apart with a pickaxe, lol. It's the exact same number of scoops, you just put whole beans in your grinder first, then your coffee maker. Literally takes about 5 seconds longer.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with liking cheaper coffee, and I don't think the majority of us need or could tell the difference from using the absolute best beans and equipment to enjoy it... BUT, grinding your beans fresh gives a huge improvement to aroma and taste, such that I'm still amazed at the coffee I'm sipping out of my thermos late in the day. And it goes without saying that it improves every morning for me, personally. Most people discover a giant improvement, even using the exact same brand and type of coffee, only whole-bean. Very little experimentation is required to make amazing coffee that tastes perfect to you. Good luck if you try it...

Looking online, it's up to around 50 cents an ounce, personally I'm drinking cafe El Morro, it was around 2.50 for a 10 oz brick, but it's a lot cheaper if you order direct now with price increases. Also it's pretty good coffee.