Is bottled water standing between you and financial solvency?

We're all feeling the economic crunch, but despite the cold thin line of ice water that trickles through my veins when I check my 401(k) balance (if you haven't already checked, please, I beg of you, just don't look), I find that I'm adapting better than I thought I would. You see, I've done this before. I grew up exceptionally poor, and then I moved out of the house and became even more staggeringly poor. I fully know about the way that the little things add up to a huge cash hemorrhage. You wouldn't think that something as benign as a cup of Starbucks or a bottle of OPI nail polish would break anyone's budget, but combine that with a $15 lunch and a pedicure and take out food at night (don't forget to tip the delivery person), in the span of one day, you've dropped almost a benjamin on things that really do not matter.  In fact, if you really thought about it, you might have actually added a little extra stress by making those choices. You have to ask yourself what the end goal is and which will make you the happiest: financial solvency or some General Tso's chicken from the place down the street? Remember: it's not the "not having" that gets you when you're broke, it's the "wanting."

Where do your dollars go? If you haven't got a clue, try this radical experiment.

Here's something that I do without thinking on a daily basis: grab a bottle of water. I have a million Siggs and awesome bottles for my agua, but I just end up grabbing a bottle of Ethos out of habit, spending almost $2 a day for less than 24 ounces. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline! In fact, even more expensive than gasoline was 60 days ago. What is more, it's a horrible polluter, between the plastic bottles in the landfills and the trucks/trains/plains that have to ship the heavy stuff from as far away as Fiji. What is more, when scholars look back at our penchant for the Evian, they probably won't understand how we had the stuff readily available in homes, parks, offices and wherever, but we insisted on paying money to have bottles of the very same stuff. If we all had a gasoline pump in our driveway, would we still insist on getting our petrol from the gas station? It's just as silly with bottled water. We all know that Dasani and Aquafina are just tap water from other municipalities, right? And then there are weird things like Vitamin Water, which, let's face it, is watery Kool-Aid, filled with corn fructose and fake colors, around 8 grams of sugar per serving. Yikes! "Vegas in a bottle" is my new favorite saying. (Check out this water bottle that makes you look smart.)

My goal for this month is to take back the tap, and I challenge you to do the same! Save some of that bottle money and buy a Brita and then start filling one of the millions of reusable bottles that you've got lying around your house. Your planet, your body and your budget will thank you!

Related: Your grocery dollars are totally manipulated...by the man!

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