Dilute it!

I've been away for a while, but I'm still alive and kicking. Today, we're gonna talk about diluting. I admit, I'm guilty, but not until recently, did I realize it's probably saved me more money than I think. I started doing it years ago, but at the time, it had nothing to do with money, but with sugar. And I'm not gonna lie, I don't do it often now, though I should. And for those you that just never really thought about it, it can help.

When my kids were toddlers, and didn't know the difference between fruit punch and fruit juice, I always bought juice, the real thing, not the 5 or 10% stuff or whatever. I like juice myself, especially apple juice. I always noticed it was a little too sweet for me, not so much to them of course, cause let's face it, kids love sugary foods and drinks, no matter how sweet or terrible they may taste. At first, I chalked it up to my tastes were just changing.

Then I thought back to when my brother was little. We're 12 years apart, and I spent a lot of time waiting on him hand and foot, actually, we were practically attached at the hip until he was about 6 or 7-years-old. Anyway, I used to dilute nearly everything I gave him except for milk, and would even talk my younger sister into distracting him while I added the 'special ingredient'. That way, he wasn't having a fit, and I felt better about it. After a while, he caught me a few times, and it didn't really bother him. As a matter of fact, if I forgot, he would even ask me to add water.

Anyway, so I started doing that with my own kids. Made it real simple, I let the first bottle get about 1/3 to 1/2 way empty, and filled the empty space with water and shook it up, all the while, when I did give them some juice, I would add water to each cup. Then, when that bottle was empty, I rinsed it out, and added juice from the new bottle, then added water to both. From then on, I could add water by the bottle, rather than by the cup.

This way, not only was I lowering their sugar intake, but saving money also. Besides, I figured they got more vitamins from an actual apple than from the juice anyway. One thing is, with orange juice, best you can do is 1 part water to 3 parts juice, otherwise, it doesn't taste so great. And if something doesn't taste good to me, I won't give it to them, unless they like it, ew. One thing to keep in mind, start with small amounts of water, like 1 part to 7, so they're less likely to notice the change, especially if your kids are older.



Best savings...