How Much is that Soda Costing You?

You may have heard about the controversy in New York City regarding the new ban on large sodas at public venues. It’s a law that is certain to affect soda drinkers in the Big Apple. Americans drink an average of 11.2 cans of soda pop each week or 582 cans a year. How much do you think your Diet Coke habit costs you and is there a less expensive alternative? Let me break down the cost of your favorite carbonated beverage. My numbers are based on someone who drinks one 24-ounce bottle each weekday and take the weekend off to come just under the average of 11.2 cans a week with an average of 10 cans worth of soda pop each week. If you drink more than this, you can double or triple my numbers accordingly.

Option #1: The convenience store

The most expensive option is buying a ‘cold one’ at the convenience store. The premium you pay is due to the *ahem* convenience. Grabbing a bottle from the 7-11 cooler each weekday may satisfy your craving when nothing else will do – but it can set you back $309.40 by the end of the year assuming you pay an average of $1.19 each Monday through Friday. Refilling a mug, on the other hand will generally cost you around .50 if you’ll keep one with you. This simple change will save you $170.90. But, can we do better than this? Unless you’ve got a gigantic mug and need every drop of it, you bet!

Option #2: Buying cans & bottles at the grocery store

We keep some pretty good data on the cost of soda when sold at the grocery store. If you’re patient, $2.50 is a good price to pay for either a 12-pack of 12-oz. cans of brand name soda or 6 pack of 24 oz. bottles. At this price, you’re paying .41 for a 24 oz. bottle (or two cans) as opposed to $1.19. This way, you’re getting your sugar fix (or caffeine fix) at $106.60 for the year – a savings of $202.80. The same quantities of store brand soda can be purchased for under $2 – especially during the summer months. If you replaced your convenience-store-purchased Dr. Pepper for your grocery-store-purchased Dr. “Popper,” your wallet would indeed “pop” with an extra $222.73 by year’s end.

Option #3: Home soda makers

If you’ve flipped through an ad for Bed Bath & Beyond (or browsed the aisles), you’ve no doubt seen a product called SodaStream. The offer sounds fantastic. Huge cost savings among several other benefits. This Christmas, I was the recipient of the Soda Stream home kit. I really enjoy it for a number of reasons. I enjoy the ability to adjust the fizziness and amount of flavor. I enjoy that the flavors are not sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or Aspartame. Cost savings, however, is not one of the reasons to buy a SodaStream. While the kit is listed at $99, someone considering this purchase can count on spending $80 upfront because you should never make a large purchase at Bed Bath & Beyond without their 20% off coupon.

After your initial investment, the costs that you’ll regularly experience are CO2 refills ($15) and purchasing flavors ($5 each). While SodaStream states that a CO2 refill should allow you to fill 30 bottles, in my experience, I get around 20-24 1-liter soda bottles for each refill. Each flavor bottle makes 12 liters (about 33 cans) of soda. Even if we take the initial $80 out of the equation, each 1-liter bottle of soda will end up costing you $1.02 each. 1 liter is 1.4 times larger than our 20 oz. soda bottle. At .73 a day, we’re better off sticking with our great sale on brand-name pop or the store-brand variety. If you really want to try a SodaStream flavor but don’t want to spend as much money, simply buy a 2-liter of store brand seltzer water and add any of the SodaStream flavors.

There is one group of people who I can strongly recommend this product to: the energy drink crowd. At $2-$4 a day, (no weekends off for you guys) you’re going to wonder why you have $730 to $1,460 less money in your bank account at the end of the year. SodaStream’s Energy flavor gets its kick from the carbonation and not from citric acid (as common in energy drinks). So, while it may not be a perfect replacement, you’ll have plenty of money left over at the end of the year if you’ll switch to a “home brewed” solution.

Option #4: 2-liter bottles.

Simple math reveals that 2-liters are the most economical way to go. When you find brand name 2-liter soda close to 67 cents, stock up – even if you only drink soda at special occasions. The week prior to Superbowl Sunday revealed 50 cent 2-liters of store brand soda. (About a quarter the cost of SodaStream). A 2-liter bottle gives you nearly three 24 oz. bottles. This brings us down to .23 a bottle for brand name soda – or .17 per bottle for 24-ounces of the store brand equivalent. No coupon needed. Just wait for a great sale. Compared to can drinkers, you pocket an extra $50 annually (if you are able to buy at $2.50). But the biggest savings come from filling from 2-liters as opposed to convenience store coolers. This strategy can drop your cost from $309.40 to $59.80 which equates to nearly $250 saved per brand-name soda drinker in your family.

The biggest complaint against 2-liters is that the soda goes flat. After we’ve found a good sale on 2-liter bottles of soda, we’ll pour the 2-liter soda into smaller bottles when one gets opened. Tighten the lids and keep them in the refrigerator for some later fizzy enjoyment.

Option #5: Drink less soda.

To avoid jumping on the band wagon, I’ll let others do the preaching as to the health benefits of kicking the soda habit. (I’m as guilty as anyone). Still, if you want to save money, even if just for a month or two, ask for your soda without the Carbon Dioxide and flavoring. Good ol’ water is free at nearly every restaurant, drinking fountain, and office water cooler.