by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
You could save over £500 ($850) by Christmas if you stopped having your daily takeout coffee.
And I mean from now to Christmas, but obviously depending on how many takeout coffees you have per day.
If it is just one a day from Starbucks or such at around £3 per day then that would be “only” about £240 but most people have about two or three a day and that does add up. Now calculate that by an entire year, even if only the working days, excluding the weekends and the holidays, and the sum is staggering.
Now add to that the bottled water that you buy and you are really talking a small fortune a year that you could save just ditching the takeout coffee (or at least a part of those) and the bottled water.
Don't get me wrong. I love my coffee in the same way that I used to love tea, which I can no longer drink because my stomach plays up when I do, and I go through a fair number of cups a day. However, takeout coffee or drinking a coffee in a coffee shop is almost as rare for me as going to the pub.
When it comes to water the answer is to carry a refillable water bottle – and there are many different kinds about – and filling it with good fresh tap water. There is no way that I, voluntarily, pay the equivalent of £2 for half a liter of water which is, more often than not, just (filtered) tap water labeled as “mineral water”.
Yes, I know that you can buy bottled water cheaper at supermarkets but most people buy it at railway stations, convenient stores or coffee shops, and the rates there are about as listed.
Invest in a refillable water bottle at around £10 and you recoup that in just a few days by refilling this bottle with (almost) free water from the faucet or tap, as it is called in Britain.
May free water fountains can be found via the Find-a-Fountain website and also many a shop and cafe offer free refilling services for water bottles. If you want to be really cheap find a cemetery. There will be more than one tap there somewhere for the use by visitors to water plants on the graves and they are all mains fed which means they are potable water. Even gasoline stations have, often, outside water taps for use by motorist and more than likely they are fed directly from the mains. But ask first if they are and if it is OK to use them.
OK, I know, we came here via coffee and if it comes to coffee I am sure there are ways to have you coffee and drink it without having to spend lots of money at the likes of Starbucks or such.
Just some food – or should I say drink – for thought...
© 2012
