Tip: Drink Up! (cheaply)

Don't give that chilling robot another one of your hard earned dollars! There are much cheaper ways to satisfy your thirst than the vending machine.

Don't pay for convenience:
Vending machines are easy and chances are the boss won't let you take a break to grab something from your home fridge. So be prepared and bring a drink to work with you. A can of soda from the vending machine will run you from $0.50 to $0.75 where as if you bought a 12 pack for $3 (what I look for) each can is $0.25.  That's a 50%-66% savings! Also don't be fooled by those sodas in the front of the store, they'll cost you >$1.25 for only 0.5 liters (16.9 oz). If you plan ahead when you are do your shopping, grab a 2 liter and put it in the cooler or frozen aisle while you shop. For < $1.25 you'll get 4 times the soda so you can enjoy your refreshing savings later.

Don't pay for pre-made:
You can save yourself a good chunk of change if you make your own juice or lemonade from concentrate or powder. Bring your own jug to work! For $2 at Walmart I can get 12 quarts of drink mix (generic Crystal Lite). For $2 in the juice aisle I can get about 4 quarts. You might have the best luck with the large canisters of tea, lemonade, and punch mix which are like 32 quarts for $4. Look in the tea aisle or in the drink mix aisle. With flavors like "Strawberry, Orange, Banana" and "Iced Tea with Peach" one package will keep my thirst at bay until I get sick of the flavor and switch to another one. Besides, with almost to no calories it will do a favor to your waistline compared with soda.

Don't pay for names:
Go to the store and purchase your favorite type of soda made by Pepsi, Coke, and the store brand.  Have a blind taste test with your friends to see if you notice a difference.  If you don't (or don't care about the difference) just buy the cheap stuff. If you have guests you might want to buy the name brand as to not offend them but even then unless they are fanatical about Coke v. Pepsi get the one on sale. Generic brands also might have other surprising flavors. I like the raspberry soda from Walmart.

Don't pay for anything:
I'm fairly certain the Department of Labor would fine or arrest your employer if they did not provide you with a source of water. It's free and hydrating. Please don't buy bottled water, it's a waste of money and plastic. Pitch in with your co-workers to get a tap or jug filter.  Purchasing one yourself would pay for itself very quickly. If bottled water was $1 and Walmart sells a filtered jug for $20 and you drank 1 bottle per day, it would take you one working month to pay for itself. And you could drink more water.

My method:
Every month the refrigerator gets cleaned out of all food. During the shopping trip the next week I always buy a gallon of Arizona Iced Tea. Not only will the drink last me for at least a week, the jug it comes in is sturdy and reusable.  When my iced tea is gone I always have the store brand Crystal Lite on hand to make something to drink. Full strength is too much for me to handle so I usually use one 2-qt powder mix in the full gallon container of water. You might want to try it if you are looking to double the value of your dollar and you might not notice a difference. Each gallon lasts me about a week.  I try to keep two flavors of drink mix so I have a choice when my gallon runs out. Pick up a few flavors if you have a couple extra dollars. Also, I like to take my jug home before clean-out day so I can reuse it at home or recycle it. Reuse your container or buy a dedicated container.