“Latte Factor?” How about candy bar, delicious snacks and soda factor? Since the day I started work, there was always a small refrigerator (college style) in our work area that members of my group could use to keep their meals nearby. The community fridge shared by the whole company was always packed. Therefore, it was nice to have our own space.

About a year an a half ago, one of my fellow group members thought it would be a great idea to buy cases of soda from a shoppers superstore, stock our fridge, and sell soda at dirt cheap prices compared to the company vending machine. $0.75-$1.00 at the vending machine (that long walk down the hall) or $0.35-$0.40 just a chair’s roll away. It was not uncommon to buy 2-3 sodas a shift. Not only could drinking that much soda cause health problems (high in calories/sodium, bad for the teeth), it could also cause financial problems.

Two or three sodas a day doesn’t seem like much but that is almost $25-$30/month of sugar water!

It did not stop at soda either. A little while after the soda started pouring in, so did the snacks. Chips and cookies for $0.25, candy bars for $0.40, bowls of mac and cheese for $1.00. It was like a mini-mart right in our workspace (except no magazines/cigarettes or frozen drinks). Just roll over to the “café” and you could eat all day. Some of my fellow workers would spend $3.00-$4.00/day or more at this little snack area. That doesn’t include what they spend on real meals. I personally found myself spending $2.00-$3.00/day.

We don’t even need pay cash, we can leave a little IOU slip in the money can. There are people that currently owe $15. I know there was a point, one guy owed $33. $33 IN SNACKS!

I am not sure if it was all the candy or the thought of spending $40-$60/month on snacks that made me feel ill. Trying to increase my 401(K) by 2%, I cut out my snacking. I brought snacks from home and started drinking more water (from a free filtered source and not bottled water).

I increased my 401(K) by 2% yesterday!