8/13/2010

The. Best. Purchase. Ever!

If you have 1 or more children, this includes your husband, boyfriend or pet, YOU NEED TO GET ONE OF THESE!

It has changed my life. Period.

Many years ago I looked into getting a water cooler but never did. We obviously do not have a fridge that has a water dispenser so my children are fascinated by them at friends houses.

I spend a good part of my day getting my children drinks of water, asking the older kids to help the little ones get a drink of water, and telling them that "No, they may not have a juice box, Capri Sun or a Gatorade!"

It might be a bit of an eyesore in a small kitchen like mine, but it has relieved me of permanent water Mom duty.

We purchased our cooler in a completely unlike me fashion, I saw it at a appliance type place and bought it without even having an idea of what they should cost. We paid $100 for it and I am thinking we might have paid a little too much. When I got home I priced them from the water delivery places, they charge a rental fee of anywhere from $3 a month to $6. Plus the water delivery is $5.99 to $7.99 a big bottle. We refill our bottle at the grocery store fro $1.75 and we are doing that 3 times a week.

Water from the delivery place: $83.88 a month (3bottles a week)
Water from grocery store: $21 a month (3 bottles a week)

I figure it will take about 3 months to pay for the cooler and start making it a better deal to have purchased it.

Plus, I am thrilled at how much water my kids are drinking and all the time I am saving by not refilling cups all day. The little kids love how BIG they feel that they can help themselves and not have to ask anyone!

What a simple little thing that makes such a big difference!

Do you have any of these little things that makes your life soooo much easier?!

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9 comments:

Jennifer said...

We just recently got a fridge with the water/ice on the door. (A 1yr old Amana off Craigs list for $100!!)
The same thing happened with my family as you're describing, they now drink 2x if not 3x the water! We've had it for over a month and the novelty still hasn't worn off. I reallocated one of our lower cabinets to house the kids little cups so they can be completely self sufficient getting a drink. I LOVE IT!

BeaDandelion said...

We had a dryer that quit working and we bought a gently used 1 year old set ($150 craigslist) and I have realized that apparently neither our old washer or dryer worked... I LOVE our washer and dryer.

That is a great way to get them to drink water. A I supposed for someone who isn't housing 42 children the water bottles would last a LOT longer!

Julia said...

I'm totally laughing, why didn't I think of this sooner?! It's always been something that grandma has at her house - but never at ours, so strange! I think I know what our next appliance purchase will be :)

Shannon said...

Before we had a refrigerator with water and ice, we had one of these. I got to the point that I just filled it from our faucet as our water doesn't taste bad at all, but I loved the water cooler! It saved us money, because we were buying 11 gallons of water a week. It wasn't too expensive, but it added up.

Ramsey said...

Ben has been dying for one of these! I told him we could buy once once we're in a house because there is no way it'll fit in our tiny apartment kitchen :)

Deb said...

After we bought our house, we went six months without laundry machines. (We had the money, we were just too lazy to do the research.) I was *SO* happy when we finally did purchase them, and I have been reminded of it nearly every week - especially when the cats got fleas and I had to wash *everything* that I had just washed but not put away yet. :)

Please forgive me for the odd question - but can you fill the water cooler jugs from the kitchen faucet? Maybe you can get a hose that attaches to the faucet (since I'm guessing the jug probably won't fit inside the sink)? Or is it a filter consideration?

We used to use yogurt cups for drinking cups when I was a kid - but that was when they had lids and rounded lips.

~Michelle said...

What kind is yours or what store did you buy it at? I love the black color and have only been able to find the ugly white...and where in the grocery store do you fill them? Do they fit under those little spickets that fill up gallon jugs?

Tiffany said...

Yes you can just fill it from the faucet if it will fit under it. You could even fill it from the hose outside.

I cant here because our water is sooooo bad! It tastes like chlorine and had a horrible aftertaste. But if we had good tasting water I would do it that way!

Ours is the kind that I noticed Ozarka rents. It doesnt say a brand on it. I liked it because it was the stainless and black and matched my kitchen. I have noticed all the grocery stores in my area fill them. Randalls, HEB and Walmart all do by me. Yes they have fit all of those so far.

I got mine at Traders Village, a flea market type of place.

Joy said...

I refill my gallon water bottles at Kroger for .29. The water taste fine from there. It's such a savings over bottled water. I haven't thought about the big cooler, but just rotating a couple of gallons thru our refrigerator works for us right now.
I imagine that it works great in your house.
♥ Joy