How sweet it is: Personal soft drink ban saves $1,000 a year

As the Huffington Post recently reported, the New York City Board of Health banned the sale of large sugary sodas in some venues.

It may be, someday, that the only place people can buy their favorite soda drinks will be on eBay. Another Huffington Post article found that there already is a market for "discontinued sodas." "A perusal of eBay revealed a ton more offerings," Huffington Post reported, "including 20 oz. bottles of Surge and guaraná-laced Josta, each selling for $250."

Kuwait Times reports that, at least in its part of the world, prices on soft drinks are coming down: "Restaurants and shops in Kuwait could soon be forced to sell soft drinks at their 'actual prices' as per new regulations that could bring down prices by 75 percent, a local daily reported yesterday. 'Restaurant and major stores sell soft drinks for prices that exceed their actual value by 10 to 15 times,' Al-Rai said, quoting sources in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry."

Jeffrey Strain on SavingAdvice.com had his own price problem with soft drinks: "One of the worst habits I used to have was drinking soft drinks. There are no two ways about it — I was addicted to them. I would have a minimum of three a day and was spending close to $100 a month on them."

Strain decided to cut back and drink water — but he didn't go cold turkey: "I instead told myself that I could have as much soda as I wanted. The trick was that before I could have the soda I wanted, I had to drink a full glass of water. … The result? I didn't feel deprived of my soda because I could drink one anytime I wanted, but by making myself drink a glass of water first, the water reduced my cravings for the soda. It didn't eliminate my soda cravings, but drastically reduced them to the point that I now rarely have them."

But water isn't cheap either — if it is bottled.

Jae Ireland on LiveStrong.com said: "A peek inside your grocer's drink case may prove that there's often not much of a difference between bottled water and bottled soda. Both can be anywhere between $1 and $2, as of time of publication. Because of packaging, advertising and brand name products, purchasing one bottled water per day will likely be the same as purchasing one bottled soda per day, around $550 per year. However, swap that bottled water for an aluminum water bottle and a water filtration product for the home, and you'll save around $500 after paying for the filtration jug and water bottles for your family."

"Bottled water isn't any safer or purer than what comes out of the tap," Sarah Janssen, science fellow with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, told the Los Angeles Times. "In fact, it's less well-regulated, and you're more likely to know what's in tap water."

An article from Mayo Clinic said: "Tap water and bottled water are generally comparable in terms of safety. So the choice of tap or bottled is mostly a matter of personal preference. The Food and Drug Administration oversees bottled water, while the Environmental Protection Agency regulates tap water. However, they use similar standards for ensuring safety."

But one commenter on Strain's article (about drinking water instead of soda) didn't like his plan: "As a Pepsi stockholder, I find all sorts of holes in your plan. 1st, do you really want to give up a delicious glass of cola, so satisfying and refreshing? 2nd, High Fructose Corn Syrup is Brain Food. Without it your brain will shrivel to the size of a peanut. 3rd, Your Buying Soda LINES my Pockets with MONEY MONEY MONEY. My Personal Finance RELIES on you Soda drinkers, drinking and drinking and drinking. Did I mention that you will end each day sad and unrefreshed without a great can of soda?"

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