Have you ever been to a buffet and noticed that an employee was trying to get you to drink more water? They do it because water is a natural appetite suppressant. The more of it you drink, the weaker your cravings become.
Fish and bread will keep a poor man fed, but adding water to the mix makes it much more potent.
The human body consists of 60 percent water, and 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. What’s the point? Water plays a more significant role in our lives than we realize.
Since I like to focus on saving money, I’m going to tell you about a few of the underrated ways you can save money by drinking more water and less alcohol.
I’ll start with the obvious yet underrated.
Health and Home
Soda and juice are delicious, but water is better – and it’s free if you drink it from the tap. If you live in an area with unreliable drinking water, you can also save money by purchasing a water filter.
Aside from reducing your carbon footprint, filtering your water is a much more affordable option than purchasing bottled water. Howstuffworks.com says the average family of four can save about $2,900 per year by using a water filter.
If that isn’t enough to convince you to drink more water, Filter Butler has a helpful article on the many benefits of using a water filter.
There are also numerous health benefits to drinking water such as the elimination of harmful chemicals from your water supply. According to Medical News Today, there are 15 primary health benefits of drinking water:
- It lubricates your joints
- Helps the body produce saliva and mucus
- Delivers oxygen throughout the body
- It boosts skin health and beauty
- Cushions the brain, spinal cord, and other body tissue
- Regulates body temperature
- Aides digestion
- Detoxes the body and flushes bodily waste
- Regulates blood pressure
- Helps prevent asthma attacks and allergic reactions
- Allows minerals and nutrients to reach different parts of the body faster
- Prevents kidney damage
- Enhances exercise performance
- Helps you lose weight
- Reduces your risk of a hangover
You can read the full article where they go into much greater detail at medicalnewstoday.com.
There are also more unorthodox ways in which drinking water can help you save money.
Social Drinking
This aspect of how to save money by drinking water requires me to go more in-depth.
Mathematics of a Social Drinker:
Have you ever thought about how much money you could save by substituting water for alcohol when you’re drinking socially?
I used to have roughly 4 mixed drinks each night I went out. In New York, those cost between $12 – $16 at the time. 4 x $16 = $64 on drinks each night I went out. I went out every week, so I was spending about $256 per month on drinks alone. That amounts to $3,072 per year, and it doesn’t even include the weeks that I double dipped and went out twice – which happened often.
Social drinking can be quite the blackhole to your hard-earned money. The funny thing about social drinking is you don’t notice how much it’s costing you until step back and look at the big picture.
Psychology of a Social Drinker:
It’s called social drinking for a reason.
We drink socially to calm the nerves and loosen up in potentially uncomfortable situations. Social drinking also allows us to blend in with the environment better.
Think about the last party you attended. If you were paying attention, you might’ve noticed a guy or girl clutching a drink as if their very life depended on it.
No, it’s not because they were thirsty. Alcohol doesn’t quench your thirst. In fact, it does the exact opposite. The more you drink, the more dehydrated you become. Eventually, you’re going to need to drink water. When you don’t drink enough water, you get a hangover.
It’s funny how that works. But I’ll get back to my point.
Remember that timid party-goer who I mentioned earlier? They were probably clutching their drink for dear life because the mere presence of a drink in-hand is enough to lower anxiety in social situations. Think of it as a security blanket.
Drinking helps people feel safer and a little less awkward socially. It’s as simple as that. There’s an entire pseudoscience behind the psychology of social drinking.
It’s called body language.
For example, you may see someone holding a drink high and close to their body. That usually demonstrates a lack of comfort. That’s closed body language. People also tend to take more sips of their drink when they’re uncomfortable.
The result is a lot of excess money spent on drinks as they search for their comfort zone.
On the other hand, when a person is comfortable in a social situation, they keep their drink low and away from their body. They also don’t drink as often, so they spend less money. Their body language is open and more inviting.
They’re already in the zone, so they don’t waste as much money on drinks as an uncomfortable person.
Hacking of a Social Drinker:
After a few years of hanging out and social drinking, I got tired of wasting so much money, so I figured out how I could hack social drinking.
I honestly don’t like alcohol to begin with, so it wasn’t that hard for me to accomplish.
Eventually, I decided that I’d operate by strict drinking rules. I only allowed myself one alcoholic beverage – a stiff one. After that, I only drank water with a lemon wedge.
Why? As I mentioned earlier, New York is expensive, and I wanted to save money. I also wanted to blend in with my surroundings, and that was easier with a drink in my hand.
Like many people, that drink in my hand was a security blanket. The only difference between myself and the average social drinker is that I learned that my drink didn’t need to contain alcohol. I just needed a drink in my hand because it made me feel comfortable as I familiarized myself with my surroundings.
Plus, water with a lemon wedge is almost a dead ringer for a gin and tonic or a vodka tonic, and it’s free. I was able to kill two birds with one stone.
Technically, I was social drinking and blending in, but in reality, I was saving thousands of dollars.
Drinking water socially also has the bonus of maintaining your wits. Many of us have been sloppy drunk at one time or another, and the aftermath is never fun.
Final Thoughts
Water is more vital and beneficial to our lives than we give it credit for.
You can drink water for health benefits, or you can drink water to save money.
Whether your goal is improved health or saving money, drinking water will help you accomplish said goal.
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I’m not much of a alcohol drinker. So I understand what you mean. Water is healthier and cheaper.
It definitely is. Thanks for reading.