timeforchange

Day 6 and feeling fine...I dont have to work tonight, and I thought I would. It's a good and a bad thing. It's nice to have Friday night off, but that means I might get antsy just because my mind is set on 'weekend' and that's party time for me...but I'd rather not go into work at 11 am tomorrow feeling like s***. So I will refrain from drinking today. I will not drink today.

I was just thinking yesterday and I thought, I must be saving a few bucks for not drinking this week. I usually spend...oh I dunno, anywhere between $20-$50 a week on alcohol. That's one reason I really hate myself when I decide to go out and have a few drinks with friends. To me, it's not worth sitting in a boring bar to pay for over-priced beer/drinks, catch a buzz, and go home pissed off at myself for blowing through $20 like it's nothing. When that could be used on so many different things for us--gas, bills, groceries, anything. But, as I was thinking about how much money I've probably saved by not drinking this week, I realized I pretty much replaced that habit with smoking cigarettes. I've bought a pack at least every 2 days for the past week. :-p Me and the boyfriend are going to attempt to make Sunday our last day for tobacco use. (Yeah, see how I threw 'attempt' in there? That really shows my determination to quit. *sarcasm*). We'll see how well that goes over. I just smoke because I'm bored and it's something to do...it's funny how easily I can justify smoking cigarettes, when just a few months ago,it was easy to find reasons not to smoke. It's all so inconvenient. I have to go outside, they dont even taste good, I will smell like a cigarette, I have to hide the fact that I smoke from my family, they cost too much, they are highly highly addicting and I told myself I dont EVER want to have to quit again, so I said I would never start back up...so many reasons. Now I'm just smoking again like, 'o well, I'll quit again eventually.' It's really helped take the edge off though. It's something to do when I'm feeling antsy. I do need to quit though. One thing at a time though I guess.

So yeah, i'm on day 6! I didn't mean to get off in a tangent about smoking, it just popped into my head. So congratulations to me! Woooo hoo!

Luckyv2

If you have followed any of me LOL which probably not I am not that important but the cigs is what is killing me and I still smoke. I am down to about 17 a day which is huge for me. I used to smoke around 40-60 a day so I am happy with what I am doing today.

I will have two years clean from drugs (alcohol is a drug) on May 25, 2006 and for that I am eternally grateful. I will keep working on the smokes also I think that yesterday I had like 14 so it will work. I just need to keep focused. Anyways

Congrats on you clean time and maybe we can all make it through today

SF69

Yeah TFC, if for nothing else, the amount of money I've saved has help to keep me sober. I can't count how many times I've gone out with $75-100 dollars in my wallet only to wake up with $3 in my pocket and wonder where all the rest of it went.

Toomutch

Good thread Time. Focusing on the money spent while drinking can really open ones eyes. I figure I am saving around $120 a week not drinking, or $6,720 annually. No wonder I had to take out a 2nd morgage on my house.

hope45

Yeah, me too! I sat down yesterday and figured out how much I was spending a week on booze. I could finance one amazing summer vacation with that. Maybe I'll just do that. Congrats timeforachange on 6 days. You know what else? I went out for Mexican food last night without the margaritas and beer and it was great. The food tasted better, I had just as good a time as I would getting drunk, and I didn't come home with that digusting bloated feeling I usually have. Go figure - this not drinking business is pretty great!

Tazman53

When I quit drinking my doctor who is in the addiciton/alcoholism field told me not to try to quit smoking and drinking at the same time, he told me I was going to be lucky to stay stopped drinking after detoxing, to throw the smokes on top of the drinking his experience had shown to be a recipe for failure.

Well for once in my life I listened, after I had a year sober I quit drinking, I have not smoked in 6 months!

SF69

Taz, my doc told me the same exact thing too.

CarolD

Way to go on your sober 6 days!

Meat

For years I have had a single malt obsession. Talk about spending some money. If I were to include the expense account dollars to my monthly tab I bet it would top $400 us dollars. Shameful.