Your body requires you to drink at least 60 ounces of liquid a day to function at its optimum. If even buying a cup of coffee seems out of your budget these days, read on to find out which beverages will give you a health bang for your budget.

Drink filtered water

How many bottles of water do you buy during your week? One per day? May be more? The cost really begins to add up, especially when you consider that the water that comes out of your tap is free. Since studies show that tap water is filled with contaminants, antibiotics, and a number of other unhealthy substances, I suggest you invest in a good quality carbon-based filter for your tap water.

Not only will you have pure water at your fingertips, you will avoid having to drink water that has been stored in plastic bottles that contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Instead, use a stainless steel thermos or glass bottle, filled with filtered water from your tap. What seems like a big cost at first ends up saving you money - and the environment - in the long run.

If you find that water is not a flavourful enough on its own, enhance the flavour of your water with these refreshing tips:

Crush fresh mint leaves, put them in a large carafe, add room temperature water and let the mixture sit for half an hour. Then add one teaspoon of honey and mix.

Give your water a citrus infusion! Spruce up your water's flavour by putting in the ripened peel from orange, tangerine, and lemon - or even all three! Citrus peel is packed with healthy compounds such as polymethosylated flavones and d-limonene that have been found to lower cholesterol, balance blood sugar, and detoxify your liver.

Make the switch from coffee to tea

Tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world after water, and for good reason. Whereas coffee hotwires your nerves and depletes your life force in the long run, tea gently lifts your energy, and offers many health benefits, too. Black, green and white teas all contain anti-oxidant polyphenols, with green and white tea taking the lead for the highest amounts.

In fact, tea ranks as high as or higher than many fruits and vegetables , a score that measures antioxidant potential of plant-based foods. Herbal tea does not have the same antioxidant properties, though it is still delicious and beneficial for other healthy effects, including inducing calming and relaxing effects.

On the financial front, a box of 30 tea bags will only set you back the price of one grande latte - that's cost-effective! For a selection of healthy teas that promote total body wellness.

Drink your veggies

When you consider the cost of getting sick to your health and your wallet, there are a lot of reasons to keep your immunity up this cold season. Boost your immunity with a healthy dose of vegetables. Make your own vegetable juice at home in a juicer or blender for a satisfying drink.

If all those vegetables sounds too pricey, try taking iron-rich chlorophyll in supplement form. There are many healthy mixes that you can purchase at your local health food store that cost little compared to the wealth of benefits they have to offer. Mix the green powder of chlorophyll-rich sources - barley, wheat grass and seaweed such as blue-green algae - in filtered water, juice or green tea.

Light juice blends: more for less

The healthiest and most economical way to enjoy juice is to dilute with filtered water. This may initially require you to change your palette, but after a couple of weeks, you will no longer miss the sweetness of sugary concentrated juices. Buy a jar of organic 100% juice, especially cranberry, pomegranate, and then dilute three parts filtered water to one part juice.

You will get a tasty subtle sweetness and the benefit of antioxidants while saving money on buying juices for you or your kids all the time

Skip the soda and try tea

If you are a chronic soda drinker, you may want to consider the health and monetary costs. Buying a can or bottle of soda a couple of times a day adds up, especially when compared to water or tea. Health-wise, sodas are loaded with unhealthy amounts of sugar.

Sugar-free diet sodas are no better; most contain aspartame, a chemical, which has been linked to obesity and can break down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at high temperatures. Also, beverages with bubbles contain phosphoric acid, which diminishes bone mass, increasing your risk of osteoporosis.

Try making the switch from soda to tea or herbal tea. Hot or cold, tea or different blends of herbal tea are satisfying and healthy ways to hydrate your body. If tea simply doesn't satisfy your sweet tooth, add some honey, which has important health benefits that refined sugar lacks.