Inflation Changed My Behavior for the Better – The Cost of Filtered Water vs Bottled Water

Inflation, has changed my behavior when it comes to purchasing goods, such as bottled water. Not only is bottled water bad for the environment, due to the excess of plastic but it has become expensive to keep up with.

My household goes through four cases a month at $5.28 per case, which is $253.44 annually. (5.28 x 4 x 12).

Today I ran some calculations after seeing the second uptick in the price of bottled water and made the conscious decision to purchase a water filter that hooks on the kitchen faucet.

The filtration system cost us $33. The filters are replaced every three months and cost $45 for a pack of four, which will cover an entire year. This will save our household an annual $208.44.

Whenever rising costs affect our bottom line, we aren’t prideful about cutting back, so we can maintain continuous cash flow towards saving and investing for wealth.

Although I have become more anxious about the future, and I can tell my mental health has been affected, I am still motivated to see my household through these uncertain times.

We can’t control the rising cost of goods, but we can control how we react and get through this rough economic patch.

Note: I deleted this on Medium from the days when I would document my journey on there. I wrote this on June 27th, 2022. But now republishing it on here on 8/23/2024 as it relates to my over all financial journey of saving money. Down below I added a bit of an update.

The only time I make an exception for bottled water is 1) when we are out and about on a walk on a hot day and stop at the grocery store afterward; I’ll buy 2 single bottles for $0.99 each.

2) When Halloween rolls around and Nestle has their signature mini water bottles with the Halloween theme. We will buy a case or two, especially when they’re on sale.

Other than that, we have some refillable water bottles at the house that we keep filled at all times with ice-cold water from a pitcher, which we fill using the water filter before placing it in the fridge.

For some reason, I noticed that when we fill up a pitcher of water to get ice cold, we will reach for it more often than not, even though we have always been good with our water intake. I have seen a slight uptick in the amount we consume, which is good for me because I deal with dehydration easily—always have since I was a child.

So much so that I am forced to keep emergency zero-sugar Gatorade on standby in the pantry for whenever I need it. With that said, with prices still quite high, I am always cutting things out of our budget—items that are fun to have but aren’t needed to survive or eat well. Bottled water was the first to go, and we don’t miss it.