OpinionMom

If you live in the United States it’s probably safe to drink the tap water. You can read about it in this Newsweek article.

More importantly for the purposes of saving money, it’s cheaper to drink water, especially when you consider the cost of the alternative beverages. Drinking water can save you a small fortune!

One alternative beverage is soda. My family of four can easily consume a two-liter bottle of soda at a single meal. In my area a two-liter bottle retails for about a $1.50. So, to keep my family in soda for a year it costs $546 ($1.50 x 7 x 52).

Fruit juice is another alternative to drinking water. The cheapest way to buy fruit juice is typically to buy the concentrate. Fruit juice concentrate sells for about $1.00 in my area and a can of concentrate typically makes a gallon of fruit juice. If that gallon lasts for two meals, it still costs my family about $4.00 a week or $208 a year to drink fruit juice.

Drinking water also saves you money when you eat out. We’ve found that a large fountain beverage can cost up to $2.50. For my family of four, that means that drinking fountain beverages instead of water can add an additional ten dollars onto the bill. Even if we only dine out once a month that’s still $120 a year!

Drinking water also saves you money at the dentist’s office. Everyone knows that sugar is bad for your teeth. Both soda and juice contain sugar. The carbonation in soda can also damage your teeth.

The bottom line is: if you’re thirsty, drink water! 

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.