… con’t.

Let me try to quantify the 25 year cost of my subtle addiction on diet sodas. Let us assume that the cost of a can of soda today is P25.00 and on an average and I consume 2 cans a day (I go more than that). Let us also assume that the price of soda goes up by an average of 6% and the cost of money will be also at 6%. For 25 years, my addiction to diet soda will look like this:

Year	Unit Price	Annual Cost	Accumulated Cost
1	25.00	18,250.00	18,250.00
2	26.50	19,345.00	39,850.70
3	28.09	20,505.70	63,977.78
4	29.78	21,736.04	90,856.66
5	31.56	23,040.20	120,730.67
6	33.46	24,422.62	153,862.49
7	35.46	25,887.97	190,535.49
8	37.59	27,441.25	231,055.34
9	39.85	29,087.73	275,751.66
10	42.24	30,832.99	324,979.73
11	44.77	32,682.97	379,122.46
12	47.46	34,643.95	438,592.39
13	50.30	36,722.59	503,833.87
14	53.32	38,925.94	575,325.40
15	56.52	41,261.50	653,582.12
16	59.91	43,737.19	739,158.46
17	63.51	46,361.42	832,651.07
18	67.32	49,143.10	934,701.83
19	71.36	52,091.69	1,046,001.13
20	75.64	55,217.19	1,167,291.42
21	80.18	58,530.22	1,299,370.94
22	84.99	62,042.04	1,443,097.75
23	90.09	65,764.56	1,599,394.05
24	95.49	69,710.43	1,769,250.75
25	101.22	73,893.06	1,953,732.43

What seems to be just a liking to soda will have a huge monetary impact to me. Not to mention the medical ailments associated to my ‘innocent’ addiction. No one will think that drinking 2 cans of soda a day will amount to almost 2 Million bucks in 25 years. Here’s the kicker, I’ve been drinking sodas far longer than 25 years and far more than 2 cans a day!

The same principle can be applied to other ‘innocent’ addictions too like coffee, iced tea, snacks, shopping, etc. While there is nothing really wrong about these addictions per se, the question that one should ask is if it is really a wise thing to do? When we experience some financial constrictions in our lives or when we are faced with financial emergencies, we can think back about our ‘innocent’ addictions and reassess if they were indeed ‘innocent’.

Indulging isn’t really wrong as we all need to enjoy life. The question we need to ponder on is the cost of our enjoyment – if it’s not going to hurt your family, health, wallet and your relationship with God, go for it. If it will, think about it and apply wisdom.

Here are 2 verses from the Bible I want to leave you with, read it and think about it hard:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; – 1 Corinthians 6:19

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. – 1 Corinthians 10:23

“In medical terminology, an addiction is a chronic neurobiologic disorder that has genetic, psychosocial, and environmental dimensions and is characterized by one of the following: the continued use of a substance despite its detrimental effects…”. – Wikipedia. Addiction is often attributed to dangerous abuses such as alcohol, drugs, gambling… even shopping.

Allow me to make a confession of my addiction – diet soda. While some people will not look at drinking soda as an addiction, I still need to get off this stuff for 3 major reasons:

1) My kids – I am not setting a good example for them. We often teach our kids not to drink soft drinks because it’s not good for them. When I drink my diet soda, I am telling them that it’s ok to drink soft drinks. Fathers who smoke cigarettes have a horrible record in preventing their children from smoking. Whether we admit it or not, many of our children’s wrong behaviors were because of us parents and especially us fathers.

2) My health – diet soda or soft drinks are very unhealthy. Caffeine, sugar and sugar substitutes, etc. are clinically proven to be bad for us. Aspartame, the sugar substitute being used in diet sodas can do so much damage to our body. Imagine drinking diet soda for 20 years; it definitely will have some adverse effect on us one way or another. I am 42 now, imagine how many liters of soda I have gulped in my life.

3) My wallet – while a can of soda typically costs us about P20.00 or so (depending on where you take it), the accumulated value of this addiction can be very costly.

Let me try to quantify the 25 year cost of my subtle addiction on diet sodas. Let us assume that the cost of a can of soda today is P25.00 …

Catch part 2 soon!

This appeared in my column at the Business Mirror in 2009

A few days ago, I was walking along Orchard Road in Singapore. I was marveling at how the huge department stores on that famous road were adorned with Christmas decorations. In fact, every store in Singapore was well-decorated: Orchard, Raffles, Bugis—all the commercial areas were intricately decorated for the holidays and were all beautiful.

In a few days I’ll be off to Hong Kong. I am pretty sure that like Singapore, Hong Kong will be just as beautifully decorated for Christmas, and by this time, it will be bustling with a lot of shoppers.

Christmas was originally a Christian holiday, commemorating the birth of our Savior, yet Singapore and Hong Kong are not predominantly Christian societies. Christmas has become a holiday everyone celebrates, regardless of religious affiliation.

While walking through the shopping areas at this time of the year can be a visual treat, the density of the shoppers can be an unpleasant encounter. Sifting through department stores, boutiques and all that trying to find the right gift for your loved ones can be challenging, especially for men like me. Don’t forget the many Christmas dinners you either host or attend.

What’s more maddening for me is the price tag this holiday carries. I am sure there are many out there who have no idea how much they spend during the holidays—and this is a perpetual issue year after year. Many times, we find that we overspent for the holidays again and vow to be more prudent the next year around.

Giving gifts to people you care about is a great gesture; kindness in any form is good, in my opinion. However, one must be mindful of the cost. Does this spending hurt the budget?

Worse, do you get in debt just to celebrate Christmas? What’s the real cost of all these? Why has rabid commercialism taken over such a holy celebration? Isn’t Christmas about Christ? Do we not celebrate this season to pay homage to the birth of our Savior who gave His life so we can be saved? What’s the connection between how we celebrate Christmas with our salvation through Christ? Jesus was born with utmost humility, in a manger.

I’m not trying to be a spoilsport; I love Christmas—giving and receiving gifts, attending parties and all that. But let us always remember the true essence of Christmas—that it is about Christ, not Santa.  If we can really understand “real Christmas,” we would not need to be financially strained during the holidays.  We can’t outgive the Lord because He has already given us the best gift we can ever receive; something we just need to take—Jesus Christ. Jesus is truly the reason for the season and we need to be reminded as such year after year.

Merry Christmas to all!

“The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”
—Matthew 1:23, NIV