An ongoing goal for many of us in 2014 is to get happier and
healthier in regards to both physical and financial well-being. Some people
accomplish this by joining a gym, setting up a budget to be more frugal, or trying
to cut back on grocery bills while still eating healthy food. If you really
want to challenge yourself to be fit and frugal this year, consider drinking only water for an entire month:

The Pitfalls of Other
Beverages

The two biggest factors here are health and costs. Brown
University’s Health Education website says the dangers of energy drinks include dehydration, higher blood pressure and heart rate,
and misleading claims, such as “no caffeine” (energy drinks without caffeine
simply use guarana, which has the same effects as caffeine and should be
consumed with caution). Sodas generally have less caffeine but more sugar and
it’s becoming more well-known that even “Diet” or “Zero” sodas are still bad
for you because of the artificial sweeteners they use in order to bring the
caloric count down to zero.

Another pitfall is the added cost. If you drink soda or
energy drinks everyday, you could be paying as much as $2-3 per drink! This
equates to a minimum of $14-21 per week, or $56-84 per month on top of your basic
food budget. Coffee is even more expensive in some situations; if you’re a
frequent Starbucks customer then you could be forking over as much as $100+ per
month just on coffee! Compare this to water’s cost (assuming you drink from a
reusable bottle): $0 per month.

Water’s Health
Benefits

Although water is bland and boring compared to its sugary
counterparts, there are many reasons to drink water, such as balancing your bodily fluids (especially when it comes
to those lost during physical activity) and maintaining peak performance of
your kidneys and bowels. For those who want to lose weight, water is a great
substitute for higher-calorie soda (it’s even better than diet soda due to the
absence of sweeteners).

Alternatives to Going
“Cold Turkey”

If you drink a lot of coffee, soda, or energy drinks, then
suddenly switching to just water could have some negative health implications
such as fatigue and headaches. Instead of going “cold turkey,” slowly cutting
back on your intake is the way to go. This could mean two or three cups of
coffee a day, rather than the usual five or six. Just by drinking less junk and
more water, you’ll already be saving money and improving your health without
the withdrawal symptoms hindering your progress.

On your way to becoming a water-only drinker (at least for a
month), you can save money on beverages by not only limiting your intake but also brewing your
own coffee or finding “Buy 1, Get 1 Free” coupons through your local newspaper
or on websites like SumoCoupon.

Final Word

Drinking only water for an entire month may be easy for some
people, but for others, it will require a significant amount of willpower to
say no to a cup of joe or avoid relying on energy drinks to make up for lost
sleep. Even if you only do this for a month, you’ll likely save a few dollars
per week (depending on your usual beverage expenditures) and your body will
thank you for replenishing it with water instead of artificially sweetened soda
or energy drinks.

Kelly Kehoe is a staff writer for Money Street Smart and works with SumoCoupon.com, a site full coupons and coupon codes.