As hard as it was to do, I have given up coke for good. Not the expensive kind, mind you; I stayed away from that crap. But rather the high-fructose corn syrup kind that seemed to disappear down my throat the minute it was brought into the house…it is no longer welcome in our house.
I have stopped buying it.
Well, kind of”¦I am still allowing myself to have some when out at dinner or at the movies (which is so rare it might as well not be a rule). But still, it is something to look forward to every once in a while. How much do I estimate that I am saving by no longer buying it for myself at home? At $2.99 or so per 12 pack of cans, I drank probably 2 12 packs a week. (Told you I had a problem). So that is $6.00 per week. $24 per month. $288 per year, give or take. Since I have been drinking Coke like this for many, many years, I estimate I gave the Coca-Cola company thousands of dollars for their syrup water.
Combine the money aspect with the fact that Coke is just watery high-fructose corn syrup and caffeine, it was not a very wise use of money. So I stopped. And while it was rough at first, I now reach for big tall glasses of filtered tap water instead, which is healthier for me and costs me nothing to drink. And now I feel better and actually have more energy!
Do you have any addictions that you have been trying to get rid of or have gotten rid of that have had a positive impact on your health or finances? I am not necessarily doing it for financial reasons (although that does help) but rather for health reasons; that stuff is very bad for you. But it really has become a double-positive now that I have stopped drinking it!
I don’t buy coke since I drink water at home. Glad you gave up the coke so you don’t go broke!
I have a similar soft spot for Diet Coke. It doesn’t have the HFCS, true, but the carbonation and sweeteners aren’t great for you either. Between Husband and I, we go through about 2.5 Costco boxes (24 cans per box) each week.
After college, but before I met Husband, I was drinking a lot (a LOT). I wasn’t a problem drinker, but at his (non-budget-related) request, I’ve stopped entirely, and it did create a nice little slack in the budget.
(To clarify my comment, the second part of my comment was talking about my booze consumption, not the Diet Coke.) *g*
OMG. You should have demanded a dedicated coke sales person for yourself back when you were still a major customer of theirs!!!
Glad you were able to get off that stuff unless you are out and about!
You are not kidding MoneyNing!
Sure Ellen, sure. 🙂
About two years ago I gave myself a new rule. Drink no calories. At that point I switched to Diet caffeine free soda (didn’t save any money) and decaf tea (as well as water). I’m really glad I did. It has drastically helped my weight and I think it’s much better for me. I also will drink seltzer water etc. Anyway, it didn’t really help my budget all that much, but it has helped in the weight department.
From a budget perspective, I used to spend a couple dollars a day on coffee. Now I just brew a quick pot of tea at home and buy cardboard coffee cups (just like the ones at the Espresso stand) and take the drink with me. That IS saving me a bunch of dough.
Good for you. I’ve cut down a lot, but I haven’t reached the level of cutting it out completely. I’ve also found I feel better when I drink less of that stuff. It’s really not very good for you.
However, I find one of life’s simple pleasures is an ice cold coke over crushed ice at a baseball game. 🙂
It sure is Patrick!
I quit all soda, more or less by accident. I wrote about how I did it, but the main point is that I feel better, I spend less and hopefully I am damaging my health less. What’s the downside?
Great work! Getting off the pop habit is just as hard as cutting out coffee–either way, you get a giant caffeine deficiency headache that can last as long as a week.
If kicking Coke saves some bucks, lemme tellya what happens when you knock off the booze…especially if you have a taste for higher-end plonk! Any of the addictive goodies, legal or not, put a heckuva dent in your budget, and none of them are very good for your health. I figure I’m saving $20 to $40 a week by abstaining from wine ($8 to $12/bottle) & beer (the delicious foamy stuff that comes in cans with the widgets in ’em…if you have to ask, you can’t afford it). Ã…nd the number of calories saved? Uncountable!
I stopped drinking soda a few months and agree that it’s great to have the extra dough and more importantly – better health.
I’m addicted to diet cola, so at least it’s not putting on extra weight. At Walmart you can get 24 cans for around $4 and two liters are even cheaper per ounce. I do need to quit or at least limit the amount I drink.
As hard as it was to do, I have given up coke for good. Not the expensive kind, mind you; I stayed away from that crap. But rather the high-fructose corn syrup kind that seemed to disappear down my throat the minute it was brought into the house…it is no longer welcome in our house.
I have stopped buying it.
Well, kind of”¦I am still allowing myself to have some when out at dinner or at the movies (which is so rare it might as well not be a rule). But still, it is something to look forward to every once in a while. How much do I estimate that I am saving by no longer buying it for myself at home? At $2.99 or so per 12 pack of cans, I drank probably 2 12 packs a week. (Told you I had a problem). So that is $6.00 per week. $24 per month. $288 per year, give or take. Since I have been drinking Coke like this for many, many years, I estimate I gave the Coca-Cola company thousands of dollars for their syrup water.
Combine the money aspect with the fact that Coke is just watery high-fructose corn syrup and caffeine, it was not a very wise use of money. So I stopped. And while it was rough at first, I now reach for big tall glasses of filtered tap water instead, which is healthier for me and costs me nothing to drink. And now I feel better and actually have more energy!
Do you have any addictions that you have been trying to get rid of or have gotten rid of that have had a positive impact on your health or finances? I am not necessarily doing it for financial reasons (although that does help) but rather for health reasons; that stuff is very bad for you. But it really has become a double-positive now that I have stopped drinking it!
I don’t buy coke since I drink water at home. Glad you gave up the coke so you don’t go broke!
I have a similar soft spot for Diet Coke. It doesn’t have the HFCS, true, but the carbonation and sweeteners aren’t great for you either. Between Husband and I, we go through about 2.5 Costco boxes (24 cans per box) each week.
After college, but before I met Husband, I was drinking a lot (a LOT). I wasn’t a problem drinker, but at his (non-budget-related) request, I’ve stopped entirely, and it did create a nice little slack in the budget.
(To clarify my comment, the second part of my comment was talking about my booze consumption, not the Diet Coke.) *g*
OMG. You should have demanded a dedicated coke sales person for yourse
lf back when you were still a major customer of theirs!!!
Glad you were able to get off that stuff unless you are out and about!
You are not kidding MoneyNing!
Sure Ellen, sure. 🙂
About two years ago I gave myself a new rule. Drink no calories. At that point I switched to Diet caffeine free soda (didn’t save any money) and decaf tea (as well as water). I’m really glad I did. It has drastically helped my weight and I think it’s much better for me. I also will drink seltzer water etc. Anyway, it didn’t really help my budget all that much, but it has helped in the weight department.
From a budget perspective, I used to spend a couple dollars a day on coffee. Now I just brew a quick pot of tea at home and buy cardboard coffee cups (just like the ones at the Espresso stand) and take the drink with me. That IS saving me a bunch of dough.
Good for you. I’ve cut down a lot, but I haven’t reached the level of cutting it out completely. I’ve also found I feel better when I drink less of that stuff. It’s really not very good for you.
However, I find one of life’s simple pleasures is an ice cold coke over crushed ice at a baseball game. 🙂
It sure is Patrick!
I quit all soda, more or less by accident. I wrote about how I did it, but the main point is that I feel better, I spend less and hopefully I am damaging my health less. What’s the downside?
Great work! Getting off the pop habit is just as hard as cutting out coffee–either way, you get a giant caffeine deficiency headache that can last as long as a week.
If kicking Coke saves some bucks, lemme tellya what happens when you knock off the booze…especially if you have a taste for higher-end plonk! Any of the addictive goodies, legal or not, put a heckuva dent in your budget, and none of them are very good for your health. I figure I’m saving $20 to $40 a week by abstaining from wine ($8 to $12/bottle) & beer (the delicious foamy stuff that comes in cans with the widgets in ’em…if you have to ask, you can’t afford it). Ã…nd the number of calories saved? Uncountable!
I stopped drinking soda a few months and agree that it’s great to have the extra dough and more importantly – better health.
I’m addicted to diet cola, so at least it’s not putting on extra weight. At Walmart you can get 24 cans for around $4 and two liters are even cheaper per ounce. I do need to quit or at least limit the amount I drink.