Sparkling, Bottled, Or Chattahoochee?

Going to a fancy restaurant can be intimidating especially if you’ve budgeted for a high quality meal.   What should you do during that nervous moment at the beginning of the meal when the waiter or waitress asks you this question- sparkling, bottled, or tap?   I have been dining at fancy restaurants for many years and still the ‘what type of water’ would you like served with your meal continues to be a frightening question.   Most of us aren’t the Duke brothers (remember from Trading Places with Eddie Murphy) so we all must be aware that the quality of the water is ultimately determined a) by the obscurity of the intricate labeling b) the number of bubbles you can count floating to the top of the bottle, and c) most importantly which denounced glacier that melted to fill up the green colored bottle  Just kidding.

The short answer is that your water decision isn’t going to make your break your special dinner.   If you believe that your dinner will be enhanced by having a glass of bubbly or you are concerned that Chattachoochee tap just isn’t going to cut it for you, then perhaps some distilled water from Fiji is just what you need.  Personally, I’d rather put my money into a more expensive appetizer or skip the bottled water price and invest that money into a dessert that my wife and I can split.   Either way, you should never feel bad by simply blurting out ‘TAP’ please.    The servers aren’t going to think less of you and they won’t take away your birthday.   And that’s your financial bites for the week.

Ted Jenkin, CFP® is co-CEO of oXYGen Financial and is a top ranked personal finance blogger (www.yoursmartmoneymoves.com).  He is a regular contributor to Investment News, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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