Drink Water!

Back 1998, a year after we quit smoking, something strange began to take place. My wife and I had put on more than a few extra pounds! So started our ten year battle of diets and exercise to try and return to our former glory!

I had read somewhere that it was very important to drink plenty of water while dieting and exercising. Makes sense, flush your system and replenish your perspiration. Not to mention the fact that my beloved grandmother has never felt that I drink enough water. She makes a point to always offer me a glass. Armed with this information, I had an idea. Our family needed to drink more water!


We began having a glass every night with dinner. This habit quickly spread to include going out to dinner. “No thanks, I’ll just have water” became our standard family answer. We have been doing this for more than ten years now.

Over the years, I have witnessed more than my fair share of servers’ facial expressions change from a smile to WTF, when you order “just water”. “You mean you don’t want a drink?” Like I just ordered a quart of motor oil or something. Years ago, you would have thought you just told the wait staff you have an incurable disease. Today, it’s trendy to drink water, no one cares.

So, some time ago, while looking at a restaurant menu, I noticed that a soda costs $2.25. That got me thinking. How much money had we unintentionally saved over the last ten years?

We generally go out to eat once a week. We go through periods where we will go 2-3 times a week, but mostly once a week. In my calculations, I’m going to say the average drink price over the last ten years is $1.75. That seems fair. There are four (4) of us. There are 52 weeks in a year. 10 years. Let’s see (1.75*4) = 7.00 per meal * 52 meals a year = $364.00 * 10 years = $3640.00…..WOW! Repeat after me “No thanks, I’ll just have water”. That’s $364.00 per year. $606.66 per word. OR $910.00 per person. Not bad!

Let’s take it a step further. Let’s say you took that $364.00 and invested it each year in a growth mutual fund. Apply the historical stock market average annual return of 11% and you would have $7,232.55.

If you continued to invest $364.00 per year for the next 30 years, you would have $93,474.64 in your retirement kitty. Not excited? Maybe you ought to just stick to Soda :)

Whether you do it for your health or the few extra bucks, I recommend asking for water wherever you go.

DISCLAIMER:

I am speaking in general terms, using averages and can in no way predict what your actual return would be. This is for demonstration purposes only. Think I’m being over cautious, check this out!

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