I hate saying this, but when I was young, we never bought water from a shop. We had to drink water from a tap. Yes it was rough and probably disgusting to the younger generation but we survived just fine.
Anyway check out this picture below. It is a photo of the empty water bottles from my daughters room!!!
Wasting Money On Bottled Water
5 x big bottles of water at $4.00 each = $20
22 x small bottles of water at $2.50 each = $55
A total of $75 worth of empty water bottles. OMG!
Estimated 15 x $2.50 of water consumed outside the house and bottles thrown in rubbish bins = $37.50
Facts About This Photo – Empty Water Bottles
- This was a collection from approximately one months worth of bottles. Therefore $75 x 12 months = $900 a year. Plus the takeaway bottles $37.50 x 12 months = $450. Totalling $1350 a year on Bottled water.
- These bottles only include the water consumed at home, not the bottles consumed while out and about.
- Some bottles were not even finished which makes them even more of a waste.
- We have filtered tap water in our house.
Environmental Disadvantages to Bottled Water
- The actual plastic bottle is made from polyethylene terephalate, which is plastic made from petroleum. This is the same fuel that is used to power your vehicle, so we all know how that tastes (maybe) and smells.
- Most of these water bottles can be recycled but are finding their way into rubbish bins instead, which in turn becomes landfill and a huge waste of valuable resources.
Health Risks of Bottled Water
Reusing one of these bottles is a definite health risk as the plastic begins to break down to release toxic chemicals. For example, freezing or heating these bottles can also be dangerous and people have died from drinking water from these bottles. Leaving a water bottle in a hot car and then drinking it is not a good idea.
The other health risk is that when drinking from a bottle, bacterium from hands and saliva get transferred into the water. This can be dangerous when reusing a bottle that has not been thoroughly washed.
Tips On Saving Money On Bottled Water
- Use a glass to drink water from at home. Don’t reuse these bottles or buy bottled water for home.
- If you don’t like the taste of tap water then buy a filter. It is a lot cheaper than buying bottled water in the long run.
- Take a bottle of water with you when you leave the house.
What Could You Do With The Money Saved – Stop Buying Bottled Water
The easiest way to show everyone how much money is actually being wasted is to apply this money to your home loan.
Below I have a great example for you.
If you actually stopped buying bottled water and applied that $1350 a year to your home loan you can save a whopping $36,584.86 in interest alone. This is for a $204,000 loan over 25 years at 6.25% interest. The extra repayments would be $25 weekly which makes up the $1350 a year.
So not buying bottled water can save you $36,584.86 in interest and it can also save you three years and 11 months off your home loan. Therefore instead of having a 25 year loan, the loan then becomes more like a 22 year loan.
But then if you calculate $1350 a year times 22 years this equals $29,700.00. So you have profited $6884.86. All from bottled water!
You can calculate anything like this with a simple loan calculator online.
OR Bank The Money Over 22 Years
The same amount of money which is $25 a week, bank into a savings account can actually make you even more money. Starting with a zero balance, depositing $25 a week into a bank account earning year 2.75% interest, you can profit $10,681.72. This was also calculated over the 22 years that it would take you to pay off a $204,000 loan. It is amazing what you can do by simply not buying bottled water. This just sounds so stupid!
Another example calculated by saving $25 a week for 10 years. You can earn $2155 in interest alone calculated on 3% interest rate. After 10 years you end up with $15,155.49. Even more if you invest it in something with compounding interest.
It is up to you when choosing which path to take, however I would still prefer to pay off my home loan faster and be debt free.
Now do you think that buying bottled water is a waste of money? Let us know in the comments.