A $7 sixer enjoyed once a week adds up to $364 a year. Make that habit daily and, among other problems, your beer budget would hit $2,555 annually.
A Bundle slideshow offers some math on how various sample purchases (latte, smoothie, deli sandwich, etc.) add up—and add up quickly—over time. Hitting a taqueria for tacos and a margarita ($12 total) twice a week, for example, costs $1,248 a year. A daily visit to that Mexican restaurant, which is inadvisable for many reasons, tallies up to $4,380 over a 12-month span.
As for spending $7 on a six-pack of beer, here are the numbers:
Every day: $2,555
Each workday: $1,820
Four times a week: $1,456
Three times a week: $1,092
Twice a week: $728
Once a week: $364
What are your daily or weekly consumer habits? All you need is a calculator to find out how much those seemingly tiny expenditures cost in the long run.