I’ve got ONE WEEK left on these blasted anti-depressants. And I can’t tell you how happy I’ll be to get rid of them … (hehe, I’m funny.)
After that, I’m taking on caffeine again (yes, I said again.) Bye-bye Pepsi, hello water.
So far, I’m doing pretty good. One yesterday (down from an average of 3-ish) and one so far today. I say so far because my evening at work may be enough to drive me to drink. And unfortunately, they’d fire me if I drank the hard stuff. And apparently, I’m not the only one looking to kick the habit. My friend Laura is trying to cut back on her diet coke addiction.
In theory, it should be easy to give up sodas. I mean, who wants to ingest up to 10 teaspoons of sugar in one sitting. Obviously that’s not healthy for your teeth or stomach, not to mention your mental health (you know what I”m talking about – that jittery feeling, then the sugar crash.) Try mixing even 5 teaspoons of sugar with 12 ounces of water and drinking it. Somehow, I doubt you’ll be able to do it.
If the health benefits alone aren’t enough to make me want to quit this habit, the financial benefits should do the trick. Let’s do a bit of math, shall we? (Bear with me, I’m not a math whiz.)
Let’s say you drink one can of soda a day and you get it from the vending machine at work:
1 can of soda from the vending machine = $.60
multiply that by 5 (1 a day for 5 days of work) = $3
multiply that by 4 (weeks a month) = $12
multiply by 12 (months in a year) = $144
Now, if you’re like me and look for a bargain, you’ll buy the 20 oz bottle ($1) versus the 12 oz can ($.60)
1 bottle of soda from the vending machine = $1
multiply that by 5 (1 a day for 5 days of work) = $5
multiply that by 4 (weeks a month) = $20
multiply by 12 (months in a year) = $240
Ok, let’s say you’re somewhat money-conscious (esp. with gas prices these days) and don’t buy from the uber expensive vending machine each day. You buy your soda from the grocery store in convenient 12-can fridge packs. And let’s say you always buy them on sale. At a grocery store near me, they’re currently on sale 3 for $8.88, so it would be $2.96 a pack, or approximately $.25 a can.
multiply that by 5 (1 a day for 5 days of work) = $1.25
multiply that by 4 (weeks a month) = $5
multiply by 12 (months in a year) = $60
I gotta say, I can certainly think of a few things I’d rather spend $240 on (a Wii, perhaps?) or even $60 (a massage?) Don’t forget that these calculations are fore only ONE soda per day. I know I tend to drink more when it’s in my fridge and easy to grab.
And let’s not forget about the environmental benefit of not drinking soda – think of all those cans and packaging we recycle (you’d better be recycling!)
Laura, let’s kick this addiction and use that money for something useful – say, a day of shopping?
