There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves a subject my wife & I have been practicing lately; though I did not think to blog on the subject until I was sparked into action by a post on Satyam Nayak’s blog which he titles “Improbability Drive”.

When you go out to eat, instead of ordering a soda, coffee, tea, juice, milk, bottled water, or any other type of drink…simply order a glass of tap water.  My wife & I notice that most restaurants are charging between $1.75 and $2.25 for these beverages.  This is an incredible mark up and one that costs you nearly $5 every time you go out to eat.  If you drink alcohol, the cost is greatly increased; in fact if you purchase alcoholic drinks with your dinner you could easily spend half as much on liquids as you do on your meal!

Let’s say you go out to eat four times a month.  Using an average cost of $4 for drinks for you and your spouse (adjust cost accordingly per your situation) and adding tax for your purchase you will spend $17 every month on 8 drinks!  This money could be better utilized on that Netflix subscription you have been wanting to get, or perhaps $17 extra into your savings account.  Unless of course you like *ahem*, pardon the term…pissing your money away!

So next time you & your better half are out to dinner just order a nice tall tasty glass of ice water!

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.