Water bottle

Storytime!

I went with my friend Pooja for a casual lunch to a restaurant. We sat down and we spoke about what is going on with our lives. We ordered food. The food was little on the spicer side, so Pooja ordered a bottle of mineral water. When the bill arrived we saw that the restaurant had charged Rs 40 rupees for the bottle of mineral water which had MRP of Rs 10. The restaurant owner explained the extra charges for the maintenance and storage. In my opinion, Pooja could have easily saved those rs 40 by a simple habit. No, it is not avoiding to drink water.

Now how is the story relevant to saving money? I have a simple tip: carry your own water wherever you go.

This sounds like a very simple, practical, and easy to apply tip however a very few people apply it in the real life. Ask this question yourself: do I carry my own water bottle whenever I go? If the answer is yes - congratulations you are already on the right path. If the answer is no then ask yourself one more question - is it possible for me to carry my own water bottle whenever I go?

This is not only about Pooja. I know a lot of people who are hesitant to carry a water bottle when they go out (looks weird, stingy, old fashioned etc) and then order mineral water outside (looks cool). By this we are unnecessarily spending money on the water (note: you are already paying water charges to the government, so water from home is not exactly free). Apart from that are you willing to pay extra money on water? If that charity you want to proceed with, then I do not have any further suggestion for you.

Moving on to another question what am I going to do by saving rs 10? Go ahead and calculate how many times in a month you are buying the bottle of mineral water and the expense would be right in front of you. This is the amount that could easily have been saved.

Another excuse that a lot of people had given me is that carrying the water bottle is heavy. I agree it is uncomfortable. However for ask another question to yourself - the mineral water that you buy outside is any lighter? It is neither lighter in the weight nor it is lighter on your pocket. If you do not finish the bottle of mineral water at the restaurant you will need to carry it around so definitely weight wise it is not forgiving.

The charity begins at home. I never was fond of mineral water. I never found it stylish to buy mineral water and carry it around. I would always carry a bottle of water from home. People laugh at me or call me stingy, but still I would carry it around. That time my thought was that I trusted only the water from at trustable source and not the mineral water. However unknowingly now I have realised that I have saved a good amount of money by not spending it on mineral water. From my own experience I can say that this is practical and it is easy to apply in our lives. It is still uncomfortable however it can save money in the long run.

In the current economy every rupee matters. When we cannot save money on a lot of things, but not spending money on water is easy and doable. I want you to give a thought and start to implement this small change in your life for your own better future.