Money Saved Quitting Soda: What a Year Really Adds Up To

The money saved quitting soda is about $216 a year for a can a day, at the September 2026 U.S. average of 59 cents a can from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bottles and fountain cups cost more per drink, so the savings can be several times that. Put your own prices into the formula below.

Key points

• The BLS average price for soft drinks in a 12 pack was $0.591 per 12 oz can in September 2026, up from $0.569 a year earlier.
• At that price one can a day costs $215.72 a year and two cans a day cost $431.43.
• At an example price of $2.00 a drink, a daily habit costs $730 a year.
• Subtract what you spend on replacements to get your real savings.
• Count only days you actually skipped.

I built a quit soda tracker with a savings counter, and I think the sums are easier with your own prices. I live in Lagos and do not check U.S. shelf prices myself, so I used the government's data for the base case and labelled my own examples. Prices are in U.S. dollars. In the UK, use the same formula with pounds. For the health side, see how much sugar is in a can of soda.

How much money is saved quitting soda in a year?

A can a day costs about $216 a year at average U.S. store prices, which is about $18 a month or $4.14 a week.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes average retail prices across U.S. cities. Its series for all soft drinks in a 12 pack of 12 oz cans shows $0.591 per can in September 2026, compared with $0.569 in September 2025 (read 15 October 2026). It is a national average, so your store may differ.

Habit (store bought, BLS average)	Per week	Per year
1 can a day at $0.591	$4.14	$215.72
2 cans a day at $0.591	$8.27	$431.43
12 oz a day from a 2 liter bottle at $2.273	$2.82	$147.28

For the last row, the BLS price of $2.273 per 2 liters (67.6 oz) works out at about $0.40 per 12 oz.

What is the formula for soda savings per year?

Yearly savings equal the price per drink, times drinks per day, times 365. If you replace the soda with something else, subtract the replacement.

Savings per year = (old price per drink minus new price per drink) x drinks per day x 365

Worked example: you drank 2 cans a day at $0.591 and now drink sparkling water at an example price of $0.40 a can. The difference is $0.191 per drink, so 0.191 x 2 x 365 = $139.43 a year. Without the replacement cost the figure would be $431.43. That gap is why I suggest you do the subtraction.

What do bottles and fountain drinks cost over a year?

More than cans, because each drink costs more. At example prices of $2.00 for a bottle and $1.99 for a fountain refill, a daily habit costs about $730 and $726 a year.

I do not have a government price for a convenience store bottle or a restaurant fountain drink, so these two prices are my examples and not data. Look at your last receipt and use your own.

Daily habit at an example price	Per year
Convenience store bottle at $2.00	$730.00
Fountain refill at $1.99	$726.35
Soda with lunch, weekdays only, at $1.99	$517.40 (260 days)

Should you subtract what you spend on sparkling water or tea?

Yes, if you buy them because you stopped soda. A fair count is the soda money not spent, minus the new money spent.

In the formula above, the new price is whatever replaces the soda. For tap water it is zero. If you buy a case of sparkling water, divide the case price by the number of cans. I prefer the smaller honest number to the bigger flattering one, because the flattering one stops motivating you the first time you check it against your bank balance.

What can I do with the money?

Move it somewhere you can see it. One simple way is a weekly transfer of the amount you saved into a separate account or a jar, so the savings exist as a number. Set a small goal too, since a month of savings might pay for something you wanted. What to buy is your call.

How do I count my savings honestly?

Count only days and drinks you really skipped, at the price you really paid, against a baseline from a typical week and not your biggest week.

Three rules keep the count fair:

1. Baseline from a normal week. If you usually have 5 cans, use 5, even if one week hit 8.
2. Count real skips. A day with a soda is a day with no saving on that drink.
3. Update the price. When prices change, change the number.

FizzFree, the app I built, does this arithmetic. You enter what you drink, the size and what it costs, and it adds up money saved in your own currency, filling a goal you name, plus the sugar you skipped. Its count is drinks avoided times the cost per drink you entered, so it is only as accurate as that price. There is no account, and your quitting data stays on your phone. It runs on iPhone and Android. Try FizzFree if you want a running total, or use a notebook and the formula above.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a soda habit cost per year?

At the September 2026 U.S. average price of $0.591 per 12 oz can, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one can a day costs about $216 a year and two cans a day about $431. Bottles and fountain drinks usually cost more per drink, so use your own prices.

What is the average price of a can of soda?

The BLS series for all soft drinks in 12 packs of 12 oz cans shows $0.591 per can in September 2026, which is about $7.09 for a 12 pack. It is a U.S. city average, and local prices vary. A 2 liter bottle averaged $2.273.

Is the saving real if I replace soda with sparkling water?

It is smaller but real. Subtract what you spend on the replacement from what you used to spend on soda. If a sparkling water costs less per drink than the soda did, you keep the difference. Work it through with the formula and the prices you actually pay.

How do I work out soda savings in pounds or another currency?

Use the same formula with your local price. Multiply the price per drink by drinks per day and by 365, then subtract any replacement drink. The BLS figures here are U.S. dollars, so they give only a rough scale for other countries. FizzFree lets you enter your own currency.

How I wrote this

On 15 October 2026 I pulled the Bureau of Labor Statistics average price series for soft drinks in 12 packs of 12 oz cans and in 2 liter bottles (September 2026 data) and did all the multiplication myself. Prices marked as examples are mine, not market data. I checked in FizzFree's source code how its savings counter works.

This is general information, not medical or veterinary advice. Ask your doctor.

By John Osakwe, founder of Etest Tech Hub. I have built apps and websites since 2015, including Etest CBT, FizzFree and Pawlarm.