As the shopper in my household I notice the prices of things and the ever escalating cost of drinking does not escape my eye, especially now that I am strong enough to wheel through the beer section. Sometimes I get gas for my car in the morning and see the people buying cans of cheap malt liquor with crumpled up small bills. Breakfast of champions--"you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning..." used to be a running "joke" with my crew.
I clearly remember when I quit smoking cigs twenty something years ago I suddenly had "change jars" again. As a poor person smoking was like an evil tax man taking every penny. With drinking I just figured out how to earn more money. It depresses me a little bit to think about all the money I wasted on drinking. Sure I could more or less "afford" it but the amount of money I spent could have paid off my mortgage and more! I don't even like to think about what investing that money could have brought me. The fact is I drank a decent retirement in my twenties and thirties!
Now I notice that I don't seem to have much money but I can scrape by because I am sober. Also, my credit card bills seem to be going down. I guess I really couldn't afford to drink.