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Cheap Easy Cola

Posted on 28. Aug, 2009 by Contributer in Money Tips

Hey fellas.

I’m soon to be a graduate, but in the mean time, here’s the one tip that saved me a bundle in my first few years of college. Even the green/eco-crazy folks out there can appreciate this one because it’s all about recycling. The only cost is the elbow grease required to rinse out a cup. Once you buy your first drink at whatever fast food joint is nearest to your place, you have infinite free refills. It helped that my roommate was as addicted to Mt. Dew as I was to Orange Fanta, but no joke, we were drinking 2-4 cans of our preferred beverage per day. Needless to say, our wallets were getting hammered by the habit. The idea came from a TV show that Comedy Central ran for a few episodes called “Con” where the host had several fast food cups in his trunk that he’d just walk in and get “refills” of whatever he wanted completely free after he’d gotten the cup with a meal. The problem we both had with it is that the slightly waxed cardboard cups that you usually get with a meal fall apart relatively quickly.

Our solution? We’d up-size our meal to get the huge plastic cups. Yeah, it cost a little more, but we’d never need another cup. The perk? No need to keep up with lids because they had those and straws readily available right by our new free cola. This was fine for a while, but we’d end up drinking a cup there, and taking one with us to go. It didn’t solve our morning cola problem, because we couldn’t leave a cup unenjoyed in our refrigerator overnight. So we decided to make an investment. We each bought 2 nalgene bottles from the outdoors store in town. Yeah, 8 bucks per bottle can have a toll, but after a week off from buying a few 12-packs of cans, we had a few expendable dollars. Now, instead of only drinking a cup, refilling and leaving, we’d come in with our backpacks, complete with our 2 nalgenes. We’d still enjoy our cup, but we’d walk out with that cup refilled and 64 additional ounces of soda. I’ve since transferred schools and laid off the cokes, but I still have those nalgenes for water consumption (which is far more readily available and way less hassle). This saved my roommate and I about 15-20 bucks per week apiece for a year and a half of college. It might not be super-savvy or even all that clever. But extra money in hand is always a good thing.

Cheers,

Cory

Tags: broke, cheap, free, hobo