Frugal water!

Whether you're frugal or not, water is definitely what you should be drinking. 70% of our bodies are made of water, and even a slight amount of dehydration can have serious consequences. Most people (me included!) don't drink enough water during the day. The ironic thing is that other types of drinks, like soda and coffee, actually make you need to drink MORE water, but we drink them INSTEAD of water! Luckily, water is practically free, so drinking more of it will also improve our budgets, as well as how we feel. Here are three awesome ways I've started preparing water to make it more appealing:

OF COURSE, THE OLD STANDBY LEMON!
I know that water with lemon is really common, but how many of us bother to do it at home? I started doing it recently, and you know, I drink a whole pitcher (10C of water!) in one day! Something about having "special" water waiting in the fridge makes me want to drink it. All I do to prepare it is I slice up a lemon and toss it into an iced tea pitcher. Then I add water and ice and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour. After that I start hydrating my body! I re-use the lemon for one more pitcher of water, but after that, it starts to lose it's flavor.

CUCUMBER!
I read that some people flavor their water with cucumber, so I thought I'd give it a try. Man am I glad I did! Cucumber water tastes really clean and refreshing. I just took two small slices of cucumber and added them to a glass of water. The cucumber flavor is subtle and crisp. It made me feel like I was at a fancy gourmet restaurant.:P I re-used the same cucumber all day with no loss of flavor. Talk about frugal!

JUICE ICE CUBES IN AWESOME SHAPES!
Sometimes I need a lot of motivation to hydrate my body like I should. When those days strike I break out the big guns, which are ice cubes made out of juice, frozen into novelty shapes. I bought the ice cube trays on sale at Walmart last Summer to get my kids to drink more water, but then I thought, why should they have all of the fun?:P All I do is take any flavor juice (I prefer watermelon!), freeze it in the ice cube trays, and then pop out a couple juice cubes when I get some water. Even after a year, this treat hasn't lost it's extreme appeal.

I don't want to get on a soap box or sound preachy, but I do want to take a moment to detail why soda and "juice drinks" are something we should never drink ourselves OR give to our kids. "Juice drinks" are sugar water, chemical dyes, and harmful preservatives. Some examples are: Hawaiian punch, which contains corn syrup as the SECOND ingredient, red dye, blue dye, two different preservatives, sucralose, and something called, "glycerol ester of wood rosin." Sunny Delight contains only 2% juice along with corn syrup, preservatives and yellow dye 5 AND 6. These drinks are not just some harmless thing to give your kids on a hot day! Red, blue and yellow dye have been linked to behavior problems, allergies, hyperactivity, brain tumors and cancer! Corn syrup has been linked to type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders and obesity. Sucralose was originally discovered by scientists who were trying to develop an ant killing insecticide. These are not substances that ANYONE should be consuming!
Soda is even worse than a "fruit drink." Pepsi contains: corn syrup, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine and colorings. Diet Pepsi is even worse, because it contains aspartame. Aspartame causes fibromyalgia symptoms, headaches, nervousness, depression, anxiety, and of course, cancer. Phosphoric acid is commonly used as a rust remover. It also causes low bone density and kidney stones.

You don't have to believe me, read these facts for yourself!

In my experience, most kids prefer juice and milk to sugary "juice drinks" and soda. Also, if you don't have harmful beverages in the house, they won't drink them! Instead of giving your child bone destroying phosphoric acid, why not offer bone building milk? Instead of giving them obesity causing corn syrup, why not give them a glass of slimming water with colorful juice ice cubes? Instead of giving them a dye that causes cancer and hyperactivity, why not offer a glass of vitamin filled 100% juice? Or better yet, a smoothie! You and your kids deserve to be healthy and happy!
And before you think that it's too expensive, remember that my grocery budget is $50 per week for 4 people. If I can afford it, anyone can!