how much the little things can add up

When I first started working I drank at least a cup of coffee a day. I drank two or three on the bad days and generally skipped it on the good days. Each time I bought a cup of coffee from the coffee shop it came with a coffee cozy to keep you from burning your hand.

Every time I finished a cup of coffee I'd throw the little cozy into a corner. Once the pile had grown large enough I'd neatly organize them and stash them in one of my cabinets. I now have almost two year's worth of coffee cozys hiding in my cube.

I stacked all of the cozys on top of each other and ended up with a column that is only about a foot shy of the ceiling. I'd post a snap shot here but cameras aren't allowed at work. (Thats a lesson for a different day).

The only downside to my monument to caffeine consumption is the realization that each cozy represents at least a dollar's worth of coffee. A dollar isn't much for coffee but its still humbling to start counting up the total amount you could have saved by sticking with water.

Lesson Learned : Small things will add up over time to be a lot larger than you'd think they could be. The trick is figuring out if they are worth it.