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How can I save money on drinks?
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catkins
Posts: 5,703 Forumite
Me and OH like to have a drink with our meals and we seem to be spending a fortune on bottled water, fruit juice, lemonade, ginger beer etc.
We are good with our food spending and make meals from scratch. We will be making elderflower cordial later when the flowers are in bloom but other than that any suggestions as to any drinks we could make?
Neither of us like tap water - I only like sparkling water - but we do buy supermarket own brands so they are fairly cheap.
OH has suggested maybe getting a soda stream so that might be one way to save money in the long run.
So what do you all drink with meals? Any ideas to cut our spend and also for healthier drinks (I know lemonade and ginger beer are not exactly healthy!) would be welcome.
We are good with our food spending and make meals from scratch. We will be making elderflower cordial later when the flowers are in bloom but other than that any suggestions as to any drinks we could make?
Neither of us like tap water - I only like sparkling water - but we do buy supermarket own brands so they are fairly cheap.
OH has suggested maybe getting a soda stream so that might be one way to save money in the long run.
So what do you all drink with meals? Any ideas to cut our spend and also for healthier drinks (I know lemonade and ginger beer are not exactly healthy!) would be welcome.
The world is over 4 billion years old and yet you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie
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The most obvious way would be to stop buying them and just drink tap water. you will get used to the taste after a while.
If after 6 months you dont like the taste still, get a water filter, it makes the water taste 'cleaner'.
I drink mainly water, treat myself to a bottle of wine a week, but am about to cut that out too. My children drink mainly water too, and i also buy 1 bottle of squash a week.0 -
I drink squash. Either the one at Lidl, or Robinsons when it's on offer. Lidl is 89p/litre bottle, Robinsons on offer's about £1. Mix it up at a ratio of 200ml squash + 800 ml water (which is tasty and not seriously weak/watery). I measure it out in a pyrex jug and pour a whole litre into a plastic jug that I then keep in the door of the fridge. 1 litre of squash, in that ratio, makes 5 litres of squash, at a cost of 16-20p/litre.
Of course, like everything, you have to try all the flavours to find which one/s you like. I like Summer Fruits and orange-based ones.0 -
OP, are you in a soft water area ?
Ours is a borderline hard water area and the tap water is pleasant, but I remember going to Blackpool, as a child and hating the water, as being soft it tasted flat.
You could try squeezing fresh oranges or lemons and making your own flavoured water.
We drink tea or coffee, but not at meal times; before or after.
We had a Sodastream,several years ago, to make cheap pop for the children, but the product tasted nothing like 'bought pop'. It also made a mess when the bottles overflowed.However, flavours and the equipment have probably changed since then.0 -
Like your username catkin
I'm another squash and water drinker too. I like to jazz up my drinks with ice and bits of fruit, slices lemon, cucumber, mint or basil leaf, etc. A shaving of fresh ginger in cheap weak lemon squash is very tasty. (I did try a slice of fresh chilii in this once...but never again unless you like it hot :eek:)
Freeze bits n' bobs in your ice cube tray too.
Nice glasses, jugs and straws makes it feel that bit posher!0 -
WantToBeSE wrote: »The most obvious way would be to stop buying them and just drink tap water. you will get used to the taste after a while.
If after 6 months you dont like the taste still, get a water filter, it makes the water taste 'cleaner'.
I drink mainly water, treat myself to a bottle of wine a week, but am about to cut that out too. My children drink mainly water too, and i also buy 1 bottle of squash a week.
I really dislike the taste of our tap water. Never been keen wherever we have lived but it's really horrible where we are now. Tried a water filter but still hated the taste.
As I said, the bottled water we buy is cheap (about 19p a bottle) so not too worried about the cost of that. I only really like sparkling water anyway.PasturesNew wrote: »I drink squash. Either the one at Lidl, or Robinsons when it's on offer. Lidl is 89p/litre bottle, Robinsons on offer's about £1. Mix it up at a ratio of 200ml squash + 800 ml water (which is tasty and not seriously weak/watery). I measure it out in a pyrex jug and pour a whole litre into a plastic jug that I then keep in the door of the fridge. 1 litre of squash, in that ratio, makes 5 litres of squash, at a cost of 16-20p/litre.
Of course, like everything, you have to try all the flavours to find which one/s you like. I like Summer Fruits and orange-based ones.
I think I need to try some more types of squash. OH buys them but so far I haven't liked any. I don't like orange ones nor blackcurrant ones which are the ones he buysThe world is over 4 billion years old and yet you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie0 -
Catkins you might like to make fruit syrups/cordials as the different soft fruits come into season, these have to be kept in the fridge in a sterile bottle, if you keep them in a cupboard they ferment and on occasion have been known to 'pop', go on ask me how I know! You can find the method easily but it's very easy just cook whatever fruit you are using in a little water until it's soft and the juices are running. Strain it through a jelly bag/old pillowslip and make up to 1 pint with water. Pop it into the pan again and add 12 oz of sugar, make sure to keep stirring until it no longer crunches on the bottom of the pan and is completely dissolved then bottle it up in sterile bottles and dilute it to use to the strength you prefer. I find it best to make up small quantities fairly often but larger quantities can be made and the bottles sterilized in a water bath.
The other option you have is to make the continental 'Citron Presse' which is sparkling water with ice and a good slice of lemon/lime, the juice of 1/2 a lemon/lime and sugar to your taste to sweeten it stirred in, the most refreshing thing I know of in hot weather.0 -
What about making your own wine Catkins. I've made some from flavoured teabags.Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain,
What it may grow to in time, I know not what.
Daniel Defoe: 1725.
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If you have got a blender you can throw a whole lemon and a handful of sugar (or sweetener) in, fill it with either tap or fizzy water, whizz and drain.0
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I was going to suggest if you aren't keen on squash, how do you feel about the fruit teas/infusions?
I can't drink most squash due to an allergy to the sweetners they use, so when I'm calorie cutting I make up jugs of fruit tea and then chill it and drink it over ice.Credit card respend 2551.58 (15/02/17)0
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