Lately I've been all about saving money. Partially out of neccessity and partially out of a desire to live a simpler life.
I've been couponing, menu planning, and just buying less in general.
The other day at the grocery store I was walking down the soda aisle and my favorite soda caught my eye. Ruby Red Squirt.
I almost never buy soda at the grocery store.
I actually drink very little soda. I cut back a couple years ago. I got sick of the the ridiculous prices at restaurants (even though grandpa is the one usually paying and encourages me to order one) and the fact is they are awfully unhealthy.
I do however splurge and give into my craving once, maybe twice a week. When I do I usually stop at a nearby mini mart and snag one.
The problem with that is what I end up paying for one bottle I could almost get a 12 pack of soda.
So keeping this in mind while at the grocery store and being all about saving money right now I decide to just buy a 12 pack of the Ruby Red Squirt.
I figured it was a smart move on my part.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
That 12 pack was gone in less than a week.
Now I didn't down every soda in the pack within the week.
I was wasteful. So very wasteful.
I always say that the thing I like about soda is the carbonation. The burn when you take that first drink. Then I tried sparkling water (blech) and realized that the syrup/sweet of the soda was part of the equation.
So a couple (sometimes a few) times a day I would pop open a soda and take one big drink and then leave it sitting on the counter to go flat. Occasionally I would finish one, but not usually.
See wasteful. Horribly wasteful.
I did this every day until the soda was gone.
I was irritated at the rate that I was consuming them, but I just told myself that once they were gone that was it. No more buying soda at the grocery store.
I considered savoring them, but in the end I just gave in and indulged in one whenever I wanted and they quickly disappeared.
Once they were gone it was a mix of relief and disappointment.
Disappointed because I liked them. Relieved because I felt gross drinking soda so often.
In the end I probably broke even money-wise, maybe saved a tiny bit.
However any savings wasn't worth how I felt about drinking so much soda.
I've decided I just can't be trusted with soda in the house.
Better yet I need to break the soda habit completely, once and for all.