lauraandersen4

...and that is why I asked streetpizza what he did. He doesnt seem like a millionaire. Maybe he is.

CALYNN

You don't have to be a millionaire. I only made $65k last year and still managed to pay my mortgage and other bills while supporting my habit.

rhnorment

A lot of us are wealthy and successful in business. Bill W was a very successful businessman when he started AA.

lauraandersen4

No offense but you guys are missing my point, so I'm not going to respond in this thread anymore.

I'm fully aware there are successful people out there... when I get out of dental school, I hope to be one... but it is just streetpizza's situation that didn't make much sense to me (first I have found on the board that didn't). I'm not saying it isn't true... I just kind of think it is odd that someone would play a numbers game with alcohol rather than a feelings game.

I'm not saying that it can't be true... maybe streetpizza makes a lot of $. I just didn't get that impression. I have been wrong before. I'm ok with that.

Face it. From personal experience I can tell you this much...unfortunately... if I had a blood alcohol level of .13 but wasn't feeling the effects of the alcohol... no way in heck would I stop once I started. I would have never calculated that to begin with. I wouldn't drink for the number... I'd drink for the buzz and for some reason, can't/won't stop until I get there and then some.

Then again... I'm in a better place re: drinking than quite a few in this forum are... IMHO

streetpizza

1) I don't feel like anyone has attacked me or anything

2) I am lucky to be in good condition after that level of consumption... but by no means was I setting any records. At least most days of the week I'd sober up completely and let my liver metabolize something besides alcohol... I know people who would drink a fifth in the morning and beers all night, effectively NEVER sobering up. It gets worse than what I was doing.

3) To answer laura's question in a semi-vague way: I got an entry-level business job out of college at a respected company in a city where the cost of living is low, got a nice raise year 1, have no kids or dependents, no car payment and low rent. I have a good job and I'm very happy to be there, but by no means am I pulling in a 7 figure salary.

streetpizza

When you've been caught with a BAC over the legal limit, you take steps to ensure that you never do again. Obviously saying that is hypocritical because I'm admitting to have blown way over the legal limit getting back home from work... but even in those situations, it is nice to know what sort of animal your breath is at that point in time.

I wasn't playing a "numbers game" so to speak, I was trying to use technology and discretion to limit the amount of situations where I could get legally screwed. If I never had to drive anywhere I would pay 0 attention to my BAC.

Before anyone gets up in a huff about any of that... I am ashamed of pretty much all of that.

CALYNN

From what you just wrote, it doesn't sound to me like you're in a better "drinking" place than the rest of us. IMHO

Overman

@ Calynn
"You don't have to be a millionaire."

Right about that. I was a functional alcoholic drinking 2 pints of cheap vodka (1.98/each) daily...on a 28k salary.

joedris

Let's see. At 12 -14 shots per day, and consider that each shot is 1.5 oz, this would total up to about 18 - 21oz or 1.2 - 1.3 pints of liquor a day. And lets price the good stuff. A pint of good bourbon goes for about $9.00. So if we drink $10.80 - $11.70 worth a day for 30 days, we've spent at most $351.00 in a months time.

To spend $1000.00 per month, drinking 18 - 21 oz per day, we'd have to spend $33.33 per day, or about $27.00 for a pint of liquor. Must be some damn fine stuff to go through $1000.00 a month for it.

marty888

Personally, I think its irrelevant how much we drank, its what the drink made us become !!!
BTW am not at all proud of the amount I used to drink and the money I spent, lets just say both were copious.

streetpizza

Well that's nice math, but when I said that it would have been easy to assume that I was talking about 12-14 bar shots, rather than the cheapo stuff out of the liquor store. I'm just sayin'.

chip

Wow.
Looks like we all know how to drink in different ways. No one is on this forum because drinking is helping our lives.

I used to brag about how much I could drink. Like others here, I drank in all sorts of abnormal ways during my drinking "career". The key is that no matter how much, when, or how I drank....it was ALWAYS abnormal. I could "pretend" to be a normal drinker, but my relationship with alcohol was abusive.

Alcoholism is progressive. I was an alcoholic from the first time alcohol touched my lips. I can relate to the person who wants to quit because he/she only got drunk once. I can also relate to others who drank daily. I like what Marty said, above "it's what drink made us become".

I didn't get into trouble everytime I drank...but...everytime I got in trouble I was drinking.
I was dependent on alcohol to "function". Alcohol was also robbing me of my ability to "function".

If I ever want to flush my life down the toilet, all I need to do is pick up a drink.

This thread is a bit of a "remember when" for me, but I prefer to focus on my recovery. I'm done counting drinks etc.... Today, I want to focus on staying sober.
chip

slimjim30

I've never stolen anything in my life if that's what you're implying.

I have a senior management position and so does my fiancée.

Waterman

Some interesting responses here, no doubt! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've had a couple of good days, and haven't been on here much, but I'm afraid to say anything........Y'all know how that goes....Am I simply "on top" of the wave?...LOL

Taking5

I was spending about $2400 a month drinking $5 shots of whiskey in a bar. I literally never drank at home. Thats only 18 shots a day, the average fifth of whiskey contains approximately 17 shots. Yes I made enough money to do it and I still have my business and customers, don't ask me how.

LosingmyMisery

I was drinking about 4 bottles of wine a day, give or take a few mini bottles and I was unemployed. My point is, if there is a will, there is a way. I lived off of my credit card for two years and supported my habit. I was unemployed and unemployable and had to much time to drink. There comes a point when money isn't a factor, when you are addicted to alcohol. You will find a way.

Bernadette

Alcoholism = equal opportunity destroyer.

Cares not how much money you make or where or how you live, or what quantity you have to drink to stay hooked....it can take you down whether you be a pauper or a prince.

peace,
b

Waterman

Money isn't much of an issue,IMHO.Drink can be purchased at any socia-economic level. I wasn't spending a great deal of money to support my habit, but was obviously drinking too much.

lauraandersen4

Maybe I'm lucky that $ IS a huge issue for me due to my $150,000 in debt self who will be a student still for 2 more years and fully understands the burden of paying off such copious amounts of $. $ is my MAJOR deterrent... for a while, maybe my ONLY deterrent. I don't let myself out of the house with a credit card if I'm heading out for a night on the town (which is rare because I know that if I don't spend enough to get a good buzz on I'll be miserable and if I do spend it, I'll be depressed when it wears off).

I have been blessed with the desire to go to dental school and an absolutely wonderful brother that I love to death (not for the following reason stated), that supplies me with cases and cases of free homemade wine. Never had thought maybe that wasn't ALWAYS a good thing

hopeful999

Hi... I actually wasn't spending very much $ on alcohol, not very much at all, maybe $40 per week on wine (3-4 bottles of inexpensive wine which tasted fine), which amounted to around $160 per month. However, for me, it was destroying my life. To pick up on another thread, I get horrible hangovers, which I'm now thinking are a blessing rather than a curse. They are the real deterrent for me, as I cannot live a normal life if I'm feeling like crap every other day. I'm changing my ways and I credit this website for a lot of my recovery. And now my therapist, too. There's a way out of this hell hole.