I'd been thinking about it for a long while; I wanted to sink a cistern in my yard to collect rainwater from the roof. Last year I ended up with a 5000 gallon tank buried in my back yard - it was a long process to get to that point and since the permit was signed off on, we have had one decent rainstorm - last March 2014, 3". That 3" allowed me to water my yard -at no cost- for 6 weeks. It will take an awful long time to pay off the initial cost of the cistern but it really does feel wonderful when I use 'free' water and over time it will make a difference and pay for itself.
I also bale my bathtub after a bath or shower to re-use the pretty clean 'greywater' water. The location of my clothes-washer is too 'downhill' to be able to use that water for any garden purpose....until I come up with a new plan. "Keep calm and carry on".