SubscribeSat 15 Sep 2007
The other day I poured myself a glass of Gatorade, the standard lemon/lime flavor. I like Gatorade, and often have it stocked at home. As I finished my glass, I thought to myself “I think I felt like having water.” At that moment, I decided I was going to stop buying Gatorade, and other drinks for my home. I’m not going to stop drinking Gatorade. I like a nice bottle of Gatorade halfway through a round of golf on a hot day. Nor will I stop ordering a coke with a slice pizza when grabbing a quick bite out. I really like having soda with Pizza.
What I want to stop is consumption by default. I pay about $4/gallon for my Gatorade, and buy a gallon every two weeks, approximately. We’re only talking about $8/month at most. I know those thinking about the “Latte Factor” are adding it up, thinking that’s over $6000 in 20 years at 10% rate of return. That’s not as much the 53 thousand or so that cutting the $3.5 latte a day would would net you in 20 years, but it’s something. However, my main point is not even so much how I can save by not drinking Gatorade. The savings are minimal in comparison to many other things I do. A round of golf in the Boston area at a decent but not super nice country club can easily be $50. Two rounds of Golf, and I’ve paid for a whole year’s supply of Gatorade, and I play easily more than 2 rounds a year.
I define my frugality not by a desire to save money but rather to spend money, spend money on the things, people, and experiences I truly want. What the Gatorade represents is consumption by default. Do I really want to spend money on Gatorade? Sure, I like it well enough. But, I like water (tap that is) well enough as well. Often times as consumers we will consume out of habit rather than desire. How many things in your pantry do you consume just out habit? Buy it, eat it. Rinse, and repeat. By not buying Gatorade everytime I shop for groceries, I’m taking one more small step towards ending the cycle of consumption.
p.s. If I really do want to spend money on Gatorade, I should really look into
Buy Gatorade powder
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September 15th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Way to be self aware.
Makes sense, too, to keep enjoying at a pleasure periodically. I love Seattle’s Best javakulas (like a frappuchino). But it’s better for my waistline and my wallet if I only have a couple a month. And I really enjoy it when I do!
This week, I’m actually planning to write an analysis of how much I save by not buying bottled water. Kind of like the latte factor, only I drink over 200 oz. of water per day. If I only bought 60oz of it, that would still be a lot!
September 17th, 2007 at 6:41 am
I usually only have water and milk in my apartment. I used to keep Propel (a lower calorie version of Gatorade) stocked in my apartment for long runs, etc. I recently purchased a box of Propel individual powder packets at the grocery store (with a coupon and on sale, purchase price was around $1 for 12 packets). They’re great because I toss them in my cupboard. I only reach for them, when I really need them…out of sight, out of mind….
September 18th, 2007 at 5:33 am
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