Liar, Liar

I was once an advertising copywriter and I'm ashamed to admit that I used this one a time or two myself:

Buy More, Save More?

You know how I hate math, but here it is:


This convenience store's regular price was $4.19 for twelve 12 ounce cans (that's about 35 cents a can). If you buy 2 cases for $8, each case costs 19 cents less (38 cents in "savings") and the cost per can comes down to 33 cents. Three cases for $10 ($3.33 per case)... your "savings" is $2.57 and your cost per can is about 28 cents. Four cases for $12 "saves" you $4.76. This IS substantially more economical than feeding quarters or dollar bills into a vending machine daily. I'll give you that...


I could go on and on, paragraph after paragraph (and had planned to) about less expensive ways to purchase Coke products (2-liter bottles), and more frugal beverage alternatives (like stores brands and brewed iced tea). But as I was doing my pricing research at the grocery store, I realized I already knew the real key to this one. To really save money on beverages, you have to do what my family decided to do a couple of years ago...


Before I go on, let me say that this is extremely difficult for me (not the rest of my family- just me). You see, I am a recovering Diet Coke addict. I define the four basic food groups as follows: cheese, chocolate, wine and Diet Coke!


OK. Here's the secret to saving lots of money on soft drinks: Do Not Buy Them! Tap water is absolutely free, saving you the entire price of every 12-pack. If your water is not tasty (or you worry about contaminants like my husaband) and you splurge on filtered bottled water, the kind we buy (Great Value Drinking Water/Walmart/$.88 per gallon) costs us about 8 cents for 12 ounces.  


You can never save by spending (unless the item is an absolute necessity and you can get a discount off of the already absolute lowest price you could find anywhere). You only spend by spending and save by saving. Got it? Good. Now, all you have to do is convince yourself that soda is not a necessity!


Oh, and you'll get used to drinking water (I almost have) and you'll be healthier, too!


P.S. I still treat myself to a Diet Coke once in a while and a huge unsweetened iced tea (less than 5 cents a serving made with tap water) daily.