Money Saving Tip: Stop Drinking Bottled Water

How would you like to pay more (a lot more) to consume something that has the same (or worse) nutritional value as a commonly available alternative? Well, that's what you're doing if you are drinking bottled water. Here are some facts on bottled water from Yahoo:

• Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief--often mistaken, as it happens--that this is better for us than what flows from our taps.
• ''Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing--producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy,'' said Arnold. ''Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more.''
• At up to $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline in the United States.
• ''Bottled water is not guaranteed to be any healthier than tap water. In fact, roughly 40 percent of bottled water begins as tap water; often the only difference is added minerals that have no marked health benefit,'' EPI said.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets more stringent quality standards for tap water than does the Food and Drug Administration for the bottled stuff, it added.

I can understand drinking bottled water in countries where the water quality is questionable, but that isn't the case in the U.S. So here's my money saving tip for today: stop drinking bottled water. Even if you "only" save $1 a day doing this, that's $365 each year, $3,650 every decade, and over $10,000 in 30 years. That money invested over time (and combined with other funds) can really add up to a nice nest egg for retirement.

Comments

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

I don't pay for bottled water, but I have no problem drinking it. It has its place, just not as a staple. I like having bottled water available at road races, as it is a lot easier than filling gatorade jugs with tap water or using a hose to get water to people (which I am not a huge fan of.) We got the 5 gallon jugs and refilled from my uncle's tap before my mother put in a foundation and had a well dug for her camp (now house), since you really didn't want to drink the lake water.

90% of the time, though, it isn't worth buying water. Where I work, the water tastes awful and I won't drink it. If I forget to bring my water bottle from home (a nalgene bottle filled up from my tap once or twice a day) then I just do without.

[John Koontz]

I don't drink bottled water because it's a waste of money. As you said, a lot of it is worse than tap water. A relative is a licensed water tester for the state of CA. He once did a test of common bottled water and found most to be equivalent or worse than the county water. However, I don't drink tap water either because the taste isn't the best (I grew up on well water). Our solution was to install a reverse-osmosis filtration system. It costs pennies a day and the water tastes great!

[Candi]

I'm one of the biggest penny pinchers around, but I will never drink the water that comes out of our tap. It's horrible. It tastes and smells like cholorine. Maybe some people can handle that, but I'm not one of them. The water at MPOW is even worse. I don't care if it's the same quality as tap water, the bottled stuff smells and tastes much better. One dollar a day is more than worth it to be able to stand the taste of water!

[a]

your calculations are off. 24pack of a half litre of water for $3.99 at my local grocery store or 35 half litre's at Costco for 5.50. Either way, it it hardly a dollar a day. Anyway, taste has nothing to do with my purchase decision. It is merely a convenience factor for maximum portability. Anyways, I refill it 6 to 8 times during the day with tap.

[Gooey Debt]

it's a waste, not to mention all the plastic bottles that people do not recycle. The great thing about water in the u.s. is that we get healthy teeth because of the flouride. We normally use brita or pure filter jugs.