EverySngleNight

My husband and I worked out a budget recently. We went over every last thing. We were both left looking at eachother like "WTS?? We should have a lot more money left over after paying the bills!"

I think on average- if you count the booze we bought when going out to dinner and the extra on the weekends- we spent probably $30-50+ a day. That's in the ballpark of $10-20K a YEAR. Up to 20,000 DOLLARS a year. Seriously????? HOLY CRAP.

HOW?? That might not be a lot of money to some folks. But, that's a LOT of money to us.

We're on a budget now, so that's good. I'm hopeful that we'll start to see a big difference over time. The only thing, we're staying in a LOT more -which is fine. But, what do you guys do to have fun sans drinking- on the cheap?

How much do you think you spent? Have things improved financially since you quit?

Ncognito13

Any night at least a cheap 12 pack ($8) or cheap vodka ($6), and probably going to a bar once a week ($25). For myself, probably $75 a week, $300 a month. So $3600 a year for a single guy that drinks mostly at home. That might be on the low end really. I might spend $50 at a single concert, then buy rounds of shots for friends at a bar after, then wonder why I'm broke.

It's funny you brought this up because I was about to ask a very similar question.

MrTumble

There's a very recent thread on the same

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...pend-week.html

Turninganewleaf

I don't understand how threads talking about how much we wasted on booze helps us? What if I told you I spent $500,000 on alcohol? I live in today and do not worry about money I wasted. I am lucky to be alive and cannot ever forget it.

letustrythis123

No snark intended, but I don't understand why you object to certain threads. If you don't like them and feel they don't pertain to you and are generally not useful, pass them on. Different people are helped in different ways. For some, the money issue might put things into perspective. for others, it might be a different thing you don't approve of. We are not cut from the same cloth.

Cheers.

sugarbear1

game night, card night, read together out loud night, so many options that don't cost much or anything!!

also, there are often free things to attend in a neighborhood.....

why not brain storm together and see what you come up with?

letustrythis123

to answer the question-not very much. I started the other thread.

I drank cheap vodka. I would buy a fifth every two days or when I was really trying to control the habit, I'd buy a pint a day. evened out to the same. The only different was if I had a whole fifth, i'd probably finish most of it in one day. I was sadly proud of myself that I never finished a fifth in a day because I was leading up to that for sure and I'd pull the stops out by buying pints. It just made me go and get booze more often.

so it was all the cheap stuff, mixed in with some four packs and bottles of wine, some half-pints to bump up the buzz, airplane bottles for more of the same bump. It only averaged out to 30 a week, if not less. I did go to bars, but they are cheap as hell here. Dollar and 2 dollar specials. I wish it was a little more because I'd like see more money in the account as an added benefit of sobriety.

Mountainmanbob

spent too much

could of paid a simple small house payment each month

or drove one (very fancy) new car around town

Mountainman

Turninganewleaf

I feel threads like this are similar in nature to "war stories" and could trigger someone to drink. I spend every penny I had and even used my food stamp card to buy booze. I owe tens of thousands of dollars to various hospitals for alcohol related illness. The cost of beer and liquor itself is rather cheap compared to illegal drugs or a gambling/shopping addiction.

Dee74

Turning we had a big discussion on this recently - not sure if you took part or not.

Many people, particularly newcomers, told me they find these threads helpful....

If you do not, then there are plenty of other threads to contribute to

thanks
D

letustrythis123

I find there are lots of triggers here. Some of the stuff I write myself triggers me. When I write about the days were I drank moderately and caught a nice buzz or relaxed with friends at a wine bar, I trigger myself. And sometimes when people relapse, I have a faint hope of relapsing myself. That sounds all wrong-what I mean is that sometimes I wish I could just have that one drink but I know there is no such thing for me. Hell, on the road today, I saw a truck heading to deliver to a Mexican restaurant and there were margaritas on it. On FB, I deal with all sorts of imagery: people having fun doing shots, drinking fancy beers etc.

I'm sorry for your situation. I just think that there are triggers everywhere, but at least on SR, we are all here trying to take control of those triggers and put them to good use.

JackieC

I find it helpful to know how much money I'm saving now that I'm not drinking because it is just one more motivator to stay sober.

EverySngleNight

Thanks! Feel absolutely free to comment on that thread if you'd prefer. However, if you have any ideas on saving & living on the cheap you may want to comment here, because I don't think the other thread addresses it. Not sure if a FULL week counts as "very recent" btw.

EverySngleNight

Hey- Not my intent to step on your toes with a similar thread. If I could edit my title I would- apologies! :-) Thank you for your input here as well. That's really pretty awesome of you. TY

AtlantaAlcy

When I started, I used to drink maybe a 12 pack of cheap Bud Light in my apartment. Then I moved and got a bigger and better job, and drinking at home wasn't for me anymore. I wanted to go out to bars every weekend! A night of 10 beers (~ $30) became a night of beer matched with a shot ... and it only got more expensive from there. At the end I could easily drop $100+ on a tab including tip, and that was just by myself. When I'd get drunk, if I was with people I'd always buy them drinks too. I'd buy strangers drinks. It could easily be a $150-$200 weekend on average. So about $800/month. I managed to stay out of debt, thank God, but that lifestyle was definitely not sustainable on my income.

When I quit I found I had so much more time and money. I now have money left over at the end of each month. I put a lot in a brokerage account and just let it grow. It feels good. Also for the first time in my life, if I lost my job I have enough of a safety net that I wouldn't be screwed.

karate

Helpful - IMO

letustrythis123

Oh-I was not mad at all! In fact, I even answered the question because I like this thread too. It never gets old and I was glad to see a new one.
was just mentioning I started it. I am far less sensitive than to care bout stuff like that!

EverySngleNight

Hi turning. You may have misunderstood the spirit in which my thread was intended. My intent was to point out how much money we could save when sober. It's another GREAT reason to give up alcohol. And I didn't just leave it at that... I'm also VERY interested in what people do for fun- sober - on the cheap.

These practical ideas could be really useful!

EverySngleNight

He's not going to think of anything that I wouldn't think of! Marriage is fun like that. ;-) LOL I thought it may not be a bad idea to branch out- maybe get the benefit of other's (like you! :-)) ideas as well.

EverySngleNight

Alright alright- the first comment to my thread was to point out that it's "already been done"- which was thanked by a moderator... LOL Great! Then, we're discussing the validity of the topic, rather than the topic itself. Just put a fork in me! ::::palm to forehead:::: Today is not a win.