Water is good for you, but let’s face it, water can get boring. As a result, nearly all of us drink something else as well. This may be tea, coffee, soda, beer, wine, and the list goes on. However, our quest to find interesting drink options, can lead us to spending more money than we realize.

For example, let’s say you spend $6 a day on coffee for five days out of the week. This could be the venti latte that you get from Starbucks (or the like) every morning on the way to work. Well, $6 a day means that you’re spending $30 a week and whopping $1500 a year just on coffee. While this might be a bit extreme, this example serves to illustrate how we can easily overspend on drinks in the long run, even though they are relatively inexpensive upfront.

The following list features some common drinks and how to save money when you buy them.

Coffee – As you saw, it is easy to overspend when you buy a lot of coffee house coffee. One of the easiest ways to avoid the high costs is to make your own coffee. A typical can of coffee costs anywhere from $10 to $30, and you can make hundreds of cups of coffee from it. If you do not have the time in the morning to make coffee before you leave, you can try setting up a coffee maker at your office or buying better coffee for the existing office coffee maker.

Still, if you are simply addicted to Starbucks, you can try switching to a less expensive option or size.

Soda – It is also easy to spend too much money on soda, especially if you drink a lot of it. If you are buying cans or small bottles on a regular basis, you can switch to buying two liters. Two liter bottles are often cheaper per ounce than cans or small bottles. Additionally, you can buy off brand soda or store brand soda, which often tastes about the same, but it much less expensive.

If you shop at one of the warehouse stores, like Sam’s Club or Costco, buy your soda there because you can get deals when you buy in bulk.

Alcohol – If you drink alcoholic beverages, you can know how easy it can be to spend too much money on beer, wine, and liquor, especially if you drink alcohol two nights a week or more.

Some tips for saving money on alcohol include buying second shelf liquor instead of top shelf liquor. Generally, the difference in quality is not that much, but the difference in price will be. Also, if you plan on serving mixed drinks, you can usually get away with using less expensive liquor.

Be adventurous, and try cheap wine or beer. You can also look into large bottles and/or boxes of wine, which have come a long way in the past few years and are generally less expensive options. One last tip is to alternate purchasing expensive beer (wine or liquor) with less expensive, generic beer (wine or liquor).

Water – Last, but not least, people tend to spend too much money on water because you can buy flavored water and/or bottled water.

Some tips for saving money on water include using a reusable water bottle and buying a water filter, such as a Brita pitcher. This way you can have the bottled water quality without the cost. If you are addicted to flavored water, you can look into Crystal Light, and similar products. You can buy hundreds of flavor packets for a few dollars.

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