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Dave Smith[_2_]

wrote:
>
> I am on a very tight budget and do whatever I can to save money. In
> the summer I used to drink lots of sweetened soft drinks, but they can
> get costly. Rather than drinking them, I switched to these powdered
> drink mixes that come in a jar. These are the pre-sweetened ones you
> scoop into a cup (or larger container) add water and stir. This stuff
> is good, and saves money. However, to save even more, I switched to
> cool-aid where I add my own sugar. This saved even more, but I live
> alone and dont care to make a whole pitcher full at once. If I do, I
> drink the whole thing right away, and I know that all that sugar is
> not the healthiest. Thats when I discovered making my own powder.
>
> I just took one of the plastic jars from the store bought pre-mixes.
> Put in the dry cool-aid, add the amount of sugar they require in the
> instructions, cap the jar, and shake well. Now I can take a scoop of
> this powder, put it in a cup, add water, stir, and I have an instant
> ONE CUP of drink.

Maybe you consider some of the bottled juice concentrates. There is quite a
variety of them in most delicatessens. they come in black currant,
raspberry, cherry etc. Just pour a little into a glass and add water. It
may not be quite as cheap, but they are a heck of a lot better than the
powdered drinks. Rose's lime cordial is quite tasty, and not very
expensive. If you are interested only on the economy factor, get the powder
at a bulk store.

>
> I have also switches to doing this with iced tea. Rather than buy
> sweetened iced tea, i just get the unsweetened instant tea. Put some
> in a bottle, add sugar, shake and I have my instant sweetened tea to
> make by the cup. I found that adding a little lemon cool-aid adds
> that lemon flavor to the tea.

Is instant tea cheaper than tea bags? If I want iced tea I just make a pot
of tea, let it cool off and then add ice.

> I like to experiment, and found that mixing this stuff with seltzer
> water makes a good drink. Of course this adds to the cost, but I had
> several bottles of seltzer water that I bought long ago, and could not
> drink that stuff plain. Now I found a use for it.

Club Soda? I like it. You can make your own seltzer water. Keep an eye out
for a good deal on a siphon. They are one of those things that people get
rid of at garage says. Get the CO2 cartridges from a restaurant supply
store.