Yankee73

I just realized that when drinking, I'd spend almost my entire paycheck every week on alcohol and alcohol-related crap and not bat an eye. Today I purchased 2 pairs of boots for under $100 and had to force myself to click the "submit order" button. I need the boots for work.

I've noticed lately that I have a very difficult time justifying perfectly normal purchases. Does anyone else feel the same way?

brighterlife

Hi, this is so weird. I have just today bought two pairs of boots and felt the same thing! I really needed them but kept hesitating with some sort of guilt at the price/do I really need them/ should I spend the money on something else etc. sure beats drunk internet shopping though. I would wake up the next morning thinking 'nooooooo!!!!'

Yankee73

It's so funny how I wouldn't hesitate to buy ridiculous amounts of poison, but buying a new Winter coat makes me feel like I'm wasting my money!

Soberwolf

Have you got a plan

hpdw

100 percent do the same , funny I was talking to my wife about that the other day when i moaned about the price of some food items but as you say we didnt moan about buying drink -ever .

zjw

hahha i do this with running shoes i go through them like crazy and everytime i order a pair i'm like oh geeze maybe is sholdnt oh gosh i just dont know. and i'm like oh come on i'd spend 3 times this in a week on booze and not think twice ::CLICK SUBMIT":: haha i do it with other stuff too. oh gee this good healthy food i i'm buyen perhaps i shouldnt spend the money oh i just dont know its just so much money wawawawa

My logic is rediculous! booze? no problem smokes? no problem healthy food and running shoes? ::facepalm::

NestWasEmpty

I was that way at the beginning of sobriety , cause I was excited about all the money I was saving . Just started recently getting what I want , but now it's going the other way . Getting more then I need Yikes !!

sleepie

Alcohol purchase was easy, no worries about money or anything because you'd feel too good to care. Most necessities are boring. Shopping for fun things, sure. But regular every day stuff didn't offer the gratification that alcohol did. Plus being sober you end up worrying about stuff more.

Notimetoloose

Same here...
Here in Australia cigarettes are about $25 a pack...and no matter what, I could always find money for cigarettes everyday...
I gave the cigs up about 6ish years ago..and shortly afterwards bananas rose to about $3.50 a kilo due to floods...
.I can remember so clearly standing there and thinking why am I debating buying a kilo of bananas at this price when I thought nothing of spending $25 a day to go up in smoke!!

silentrun

Yes. Somehow the money for booze and smokes was like a bill I had to pay like a mortgage. It never occurred to me it was discretionary. If I walked into a dept store and spent a months worth of addiction money on clothes I would have a panic attack and walk out.

Carver

Yep, exactly the same. I'm saving a fortune and I don't want to give any of it away!

Almost 3 months in and I've saved roughly £900. Jesus.

scaredikklegoth

I completely understand. I would think nothing of spending £20 (about 30 US dollars) on wine and cigarettes, night after night but buying myself a new bra or a salad spinner and I'm like hmmm, do I really need this? Madness really.

Yankee73

Thank you all for replying!!! I love reading everyone's experiences!

Some of you hit the nail on the head for me: I have been doing so well SAVING money that when I spent a whopping $150 on a coat & boots yesterday, I freaked out. I don't like making dents in my money anymore.

Sometimes I am in shock that after I pay all the bills and payday isn't for another 6 days that my bank balance still has a comma in it!!! A comma! Can you believe it??? I got so used to single digits or worse, change in my account when I was drinking...

Ruby2

I've been super cheap since I quit. I'm still smoking though. But I don't like making dents in the money anymore either. It freaks me out.

elihoping

Ha! Funny, I had the opposite experience! I got worse with money when I quit drinking. Kept thinking - oh well, I would have spent this on booze so why not? I'm finally starting to realise how much money I spend on junk and I'm starting to put a bit away. It feels nice having the option to do either - when I was drinking, it was all going on that and cigarettes.

salthillgirl

So true! i'm so glad you brought this up. I'm really struggling to justify buying a pair of shoes today (and God knows, I really do need them). I think there is some part of me that thinks I'm not worthy to have nice things. Also, I find too much choice exaceperating and confusing because the have to be the PERFECT shoes. So, maybe there's a bit of control freakery in there mixed with perfectionism!

Reset

I'm sort of glad that "saving" for alcohol taught me to be more frugal. Now that alcohol is no longer on the ticket, I can upgrade small purchases (eg. buying that slightly more expensive piece of fish) and still know that I'm not spending as much as I would have if a bottle of gin and a bottle of wine were also in the basket.

Secretdrinker

Elihoping, I'm the same. I have been 'treating' myself loads this week thinking 'well it's only what I would have spent on my wine every day'.

I'm still on my first week so hopefully I'll start saving soon haha

TBLackey

Three weeks sober tomorrow!

After the mortgage, beer or wine was my second biggest monthly expense. Hoping to reap the cash flow benefits for decades to come.