Energy Drink Habit...lets do some math.

[dontwannaworkforever]

Energy Drink Habit

Hey guys I'm new to the forum so I apologize in advance if this isn't the correct section to post this in. I'm just now learning the power of cutting down expenses and after thinking to myself what I can do now I started looking at my habits; specifically my habit of needing some caffeine everyday. I used this tidbit from one of the earlier blog posts on this site (I'm still reading from ground up and boy do I have a far ways to go)

"To calculate a weekly expense compounded over ten years, multiply the price by 752" <--I am going to use this fine tidbit at the bottom of the habit math.

I used to drink monster energy drinks everday (before I thought heavily about my expenses) and I was dumb enough to get them at a gas station every single day before work. It was like a ritual to me since I work construction in the military. I would always see familiar faces there everyday. The drinks themselves cost $2.25 for a nice sized can and I would have them Monday-Friday.

After 1 week: $11.25
After 1 month:$45.00
After 1 Year: $540.00
After 10 years: $5400.00
With Compound Interest: $8,460

Wow! Terrible habit I might say. However, what I started doing was buying them in bulk and instead of Monster's I switched to this drink called "Rip-it". It is only 89 cents per can where I shop. At this point I haven't even joined this forum yet; however, I was looking to budget better.

After 1 week: $4.45
After 1 month: $17.80
After 1 year: $213.60
After 10 years: $2136.00
With Compound Interest: $3,346.4

Not bad! If my math is any good I believe that this is a 60.4% reduction ($8,460-$3,346.4)/$8,460.00. But can we get any better? Yes I think so...I just joined this forum recently and found out the real power of saving and cutting costs. I drink these things for my caffeine fix every morning. I thought to myself what if I just take caffeine pills? In both drinks above I was aiming for 200mg. So I actually found on a quick search on amazon I can get 100 capsules for $13.95. A serving is 2 capsules so for this math I'm going with 50 servings. Each serving would therefore cost me $0.28 cents ($13.95 / 50).

After 1 week: $1.40
After 1 month: $5.60
After 1 year: $67.20
After 10 years: $672.00
With Compound Interest: $1,052.8

Nice! I just reduced this same expense by another 68.54%! If I start back from the top when I was drinking monsters this would be an overall 87.5% expense reduction if I switched to the pills. Not only am I saving money I'm probably slightly improving my health (I only drink 0 sugar energy drinks but still I'm sure all that acid and stuff isn't that great for ya)

This was just with a quick search! I'm sure I could find much better deals on caffeine pills if I looked around. In fact this $13.95 bottle I found was mixed with fancy luxuries like green tea extract, ginseng, etc.

If anyone else has even cheaper alternatives for caffeine let me know!

[faramund]

Wouldn't bulk instant coffee be cheaper? i buy instant coffee at Aldi, and I think it works out at less than $1.40 a week - but I can't find a price online to check that.

[dontwannaworkforever]

Wouldn't bulk instant coffee be cheaper? i buy instant coffee at Aldi, and I think it works out at less than $1.40 a week - but I can't find a price online to check that.

I'm not sure. I'm typically not a coffee drinker except for the occasional small can of Mr. Brown.

[TheBuddha]

I love energy drinks too. I usually only drink them anymore if I find a really good sale. Big Lots has a sugar-free energy drink right now, 100mg caffeine, for $0.33. Grocery Outlet has V8 energy drinks, 80mg caffeine, for $0.25 each. So that's what I've been using.

Otherwise I use caffeine pills from Amazon. Mine have L-theanine in them which help calm the caffeine jitters.

Sometimes though, I do just buy an energy drink from a convenience store. I've got a "pocket money" budget category in YNAB for (occasional) things like this.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

The struggle is real :)  I've had a hard time kicking my energy drink habit completely so I've settled on being a functional addict. I only drink 1 or 2 16oz. cans on the weekends and I stock up when I see the ones I like on sale. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker either, but my job offers free fountain pop, so I can get my caffeine for free during the week.  If they didn't offer that, I'd probably still be drinking them daily.

In the past, I was buying the 24oz. cans of Monster at the gas station daily. I flushed a lot of money down the toilet. Those things are $3.29+ a can. I'm only spending $1.50-$3.00 a week now. I'm not worried about the long term loss of investment potential, because they taste good and help me focus on my fun programming projects I do on the weekends.

Another option if you sill want your caffeine in soda form is just regular 12oz. cans. If you can pick up 12 or 24 packs on sale, you can often get the price down to $0.30 a can.

[brotatochip]

Caffeine pills are much cheaper than energy drinks.

[tesuzuki2002]

in terms of finances having an energy drink habit is akin to a smokes habit...  detrimental to long term finances.   

That said I LOVE LOVE LOVE Monster...   And own in MNST...   So many people are hooked on it.. so play it..

I drink about 1 a month so I've learned to do it once in a while... and make it not a daily habit.

[LiveLean]

Costco sells a Kirkland energy shot that's the exact 5-Hour Energy formula. A box of 48 come to 75 cents a shot, but it seems like they offer $8 off every other month, which would bring it to 60 cents or so. I'm not proud of my one-a-day habit, but I don't drink coffee or soda. $20/month or so seems reasonable.