Save Some Money: Don’t Buy Pop at Work!

Average people, including myself, can learn simple tips to save more of their hard earned income. At work, many of us fall for a “pop machine trap.” You might have a habit of buying a pop in the morning when you arrive at work and also when you go to lunch. Well, have you ever thought about this financial cost of buying pop on a weekly or yearly basis?

Unfortunately, many people unconsciously spend money. If you are like many Americans, you cannot account for every dollar that you spend on a daily, weekly or yearly basis. Therefore, it might be a good exercise to write down your daily activities throughout the week. If you are honest with yourself, you will probably find that you spend money at work, on a daily basis, likely at the pop machine, but it is your normal routine.

If you buy a pop twice a day, you could be spending at least $10.00 a week on pop, if you only work five days per week. Potentially, you could be spending as much as $460 per year. I figured that most of us will take the equivalent of a two week vacation and have numerous days off due to your company being closed on certain Holidays (i.e. President‘s Day or Labor Day). Think about where you could invest this money to potentially earn a better rate of return than the pop machine? For some of us, this is an opportunity to increase our savings rate!

It is important during good and bad economic times to find creative ways to save money. Otherwise, you might have to work a bit longer than planned. Even if you are meeting your financial planning goals, it is never a bad thing to have more money. Therefore, drink some water instead of buying pop and you could save at least $4,600 over a period of ten years.