Cut Everyday Summer Drink Costs: How Tap Water and Syrup Can Save You Up to €60 a Month

Introduction: How to save on drinks in summer

If you switch from expensive ready-to-drink beverages to tap water (plain or with syrup), you’ll save an average of €20–€60 per month, depending on your household size. You drink the same amount, but spend a lot less money.

In this article you’ll find a simple cost table. It shows you: How much does tap water cost? How much do discount-store drinks cost? How much do you save as a single, as a couple, or with a family?

Basics: What prices is the table based on?

So you can assess the numbers properly, I’m using average values. Your real costs may differ slightly. Feel free to run the numbers with your own prices.

• Assumed intake: 2 liters per person per day (recommended fluid intake in summer).
• Month: 30 days.
• Tap water: about €0.005 per liter (0.5 cents).
• Tap water + syrup: about €0.20 per liter (syrup bought in bulk at the supermarket).
• Discount-store ready-to-drink beverages (e.g., soda, iced tea): about €0.60 per liter.
• Mixed strategy: 80% tap water/syrup, 20% ready-to-drink beverages.

The table shows four typical everyday strategies. You’ll see costs per person and for 2- and 4-person households. You’ll also see how much money you can save compared to the most expensive scenario.

Master table: Cost comparison for summer drinks

Important: The table shows: the big lever is reducing ready-to-drink beverages. Even the mixed strategy almost halves monthly costs for a family of four: from about €144 to around €70. That’s about €74 in savings per month. Realistic—and without cutting your drinking volume.

What does this mean for your day-to-day? Choose a simple saving strategy

You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to drink 100% water only. Even small steps save a lot of money.

• If you currently buy mostly ready-to-drink beverages, as a single person you’ll save around €18–€20 per month by switching to the mixed strategy.
• A 2-person household saves about €37 per month.
• A family of four saves about €70–€75 per month.

If you also buy fewer cans and bottles while you’re out, savings can quickly rise to €20–€60 per month—depending on how many people live in your household.

Step 1: Track your actual drink quantities for 7 days

Before you change your strategy, take a look at your current situation. That way you’ll see where your money is going.

• Use your budget book or a simple spreadsheet.
• For 7 days, write down every day:
  • How many liters did each person drink?
  • What type of drink was it? (tap water, syrup mix, discount soda, juice, coffee, etc.)
  • What did you pay for it? (price and quantity from the receipt)
• Don’t forget “incidental purchases”:
  • Can at the kiosk
  • Bottle at the train station
  • Drink at a snack bar

After a week you’ll see: Are you closer to 1.5 liters or 3 liters per day? What are your average costs per liter? You can then compare that value with the table above.

Step 2: Set a baseline drink strategy and a monthly budget

Now comes the most important part: you consciously decide how you want to drink going forward—and how much you want to pay for it.

• Choose a simple baseline rule, for example:
  • Option A: 80% tap water + 20% preferred drinks
  • Option B: 70% tap water/syrup + 30% ready-to-drink beverages
• Look at the table: roughly what would this strategy cost per person?
• Then enter in your budget book:
  • Maximum monthly drink budget per person, e.g., €20 or €25.
  • Maximum monthly drink budget for the household, e.g., €40 for 2 people or €80 for 4 people.

Your advantage: you give your money a clear limit. You decide in advance how much you want to spend. That way you don’t “accidentally” slip back into expensive habits.

Step 3: Stock up smartly on syrup, tea, and sparkling-water gear

If you’re leaning more on tap water and syrup, plan your shopping.

• Buy syrup on sale or in larger bottles.
• Always compare the price per liter on the shelf label with the price per liter of ready-to-drink soda.
• Use tap water with sparkling-water gear (e.g., a carbonator machine). That lowers the price per liter even further.
• Also use inexpensive teas for iced tea (“cold brew”) or brewed tea that you let cool.

Quick math example for syrup:

• A bottle of syrup costs, for example, €3 and makes 6 liters of ready-to-drink beverage.
• Then 1 liter costs only €0.50.
• Tap water adds only a few cents, so it stays within the range of the values in the table.
• Compare that with a bottle of ready-to-drink soda at €0.80 per liter or more.

Your advantage: you keep the flavor but significantly reduce the price per liter.

Step 4: Plan a refillable bottle for on the go

A lot of money disappears in spontaneous purchases while you’re out: kiosk, train station, vending machine. Here you often pay €1.50–€3.00 for 0.5 liters.

• Bring a refillable bottle per person (0.5–1 liter).
• Fill it at home with tap water (plain or with syrup).
• Refill while out where it’s possible and clean (e.g., at public drinking fountains, at the office, at university).

Simple example calculation for a single person:

• Before: 3 times per week a 0.5-liter bottle at the kiosk, €2.00 each → €6.00 per week.
• Per month (4 weeks) that’s €24.00.
• With your own bottle, you pay essentially only tap-water costs: less than €0.50 per month.

Your savings from the bottle alone: about €20–€24 per month—without drinking less.

For a family of four where each person buys 2–3 bottles per week while out, savings can easily rise to €40–€60 per month if you switch consistently.

Step 5: After one month, do a target-vs.-actual comparison

After one month, check how well your strategy worked. It takes only a few minutes, but gives you clarity.

• Step 1: Add up all drink costs for the month in your budget book.
• Step 2: Divide the total by the number of people in the household.
  • This shows you the cost per person.
• Step 3: Compare these values with the table above.

Ask yourself:

• Are you closer to the “ready-to-drink only” strategy (expensive) or the “mixed strategy”?
• Are you sticking to your self-set budget?
• Which drinks are driving up the costs? (e.g., bottled iced tea, juice drinks, energy drinks)

Based on that, you can make clear decisions:

• You cut bottled iced tea down to just 1 bottle per week, for example.
• You set a fixed “treat-drinks day” (e.g., Friday evening).
• You increase the share of tap water or syrup mix step by step until you’re happy with the costs.

How to start right now—in 10 minutes

• Step 1 (today): Enter in your budget book: your current estimated drink budget per person and your target (e.g., from €30 down to €20 per month).
• Step 2 (today): Set a simple rule, e.g.: “Starting tomorrow, 80% of my drinks are tap water or syrup mix.
• Step 3 (this week): Buy a refillable bottle (per person) and an initial stock of syrup or tea.
• Step 4 (this week): Track your drinks in your budget book for 7 days.
• Step 5 (after 1 month): Check the numbers using the table. Adjust your strategy until your budget and your thirst match well.

Your advantage: you stay in control. You drink enough, feel good—and lower your summer drink costs along the way. The data helps you. That’s how your budget book becomes a real tool for more money in everyday life.