did dumping all your booze help ?
Guest
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
I've never dumped any. Made no sense to me. Having it in front of me or not wasn't the issue. There's plenty of alcohol available to me around the clock. Quitting drinking was an internal job.
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,195
Johnny,
It always took someone else to dump the booze for me. Otherwise, it would have been dumped down my throat. Like SoberChristy said, I would just buy more at the first opportunity. An alcoholic will never just dump booze without regretting it 2 hours later....
It always took someone else to dump the booze for me. Otherwise, it would have been dumped down my throat. Like SoberChristy said, I would just buy more at the first opportunity. An alcoholic will never just dump booze without regretting it 2 hours later....
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: North Texas
Posts: 24
The first few times I tried to quit I didn't want any booze around. This time around it hasn't made any difference. It's still in the cabinet. I don't want it. I can see how people would want to dump it though!
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
A couple of times, I dumped vodka bottles filled with water in front of my girlfriend, and then found ways to drink without her seeing me drinking later that night. She wasn't surprised that there was alcohol on my breath since I'd drink real vodka in front of her before dumping.
Wonder why she stopped trusting me?
Wonder why she stopped trusting me?
Re-Tread
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Meditation
Posts: 1,300
Ya know I had never dumped it out because I expect I would always have the cash and the liquor store is right up the street. I get it.
This time though I was fed up and I needed to be rid of it. I dumped out my whole liquor cabinet the day after my last drink. I still had a bunch of fine wine downstairs... but I knew I wouldn't touch that. Then after around a month of me being sober we got some liquor for gifts and from a party we had.
I stayed sober.
It was nice to have the house 'dry' for that first month. My wife still drinks a little so we have beers in the fridge these days.
It doesn't matter to me. I have a few half empty bottles of liquor sitting in the cabinet 5 feet away from me as I type this. They have been there for 6/7 months. I rarely think about it. I would say my level of comfort in sobriety is extremely high though. I don't want to drink and even if I did want to drink I wouldn't.
Its much harder to drink if you have no booze. That's for sure.
I say if you are serious about staying sober dump it out and move forward.
This time though I was fed up and I needed to be rid of it. I dumped out my whole liquor cabinet the day after my last drink. I still had a bunch of fine wine downstairs... but I knew I wouldn't touch that. Then after around a month of me being sober we got some liquor for gifts and from a party we had.
I stayed sober.
It was nice to have the house 'dry' for that first month. My wife still drinks a little so we have beers in the fridge these days.
It doesn't matter to me. I have a few half empty bottles of liquor sitting in the cabinet 5 feet away from me as I type this. They have been there for 6/7 months. I rarely think about it. I would say my level of comfort in sobriety is extremely high though. I don't want to drink and even if I did want to drink I wouldn't.
Its much harder to drink if you have no booze. That's for sure.
I say if you are serious about staying sober dump it out and move forward.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Melbourne, Victoria Australia
Posts: 1,202
I've dumped alcohol (wine) so many times now I could probably have a little weekend break somewhere on the dollars down the drain. As well, of course, even an even bigger break somewhere on the dollars down my throat.
It's almost a moot point for me now. I spent the last year and a half of what I earnestly believed was (serious / this is the end) recovery completely avoiding going out anywhere where drinking could or does take place. And the very rare times I did go out (I don't go to pubs or bars, I'm talking merely cafes or restaurants, or even certain movie or live theatres where there's a very small bar - where people have a couple of wines or a beer before the show), I was able to look away - grinding my teeth, a little but not too bad.
No, my drinking has almost entirely taken place at home in the past several years. And as others have said: I've thrown it out. Then, when the terrible cravings hit, I'm off to the little bottle shop nearby. That's part of what I truly hate about the easy availability of alcohol in our culture.
And, I simply cannot understand good folk such as Fallow - a few others have said similar things on this forum: having stuff in the liquor cabinet? Being able to pass it by every day, not wanting to drink it? And not drinking some of it even when you wanted to? To me, even in my one pretty secure (I thought) 6 months of sobriety last year, I couldn't have been in that kind of mind space. All power to any who can!
It's almost a moot point for me now. I spent the last year and a half of what I earnestly believed was (serious / this is the end) recovery completely avoiding going out anywhere where drinking could or does take place. And the very rare times I did go out (I don't go to pubs or bars, I'm talking merely cafes or restaurants, or even certain movie or live theatres where there's a very small bar - where people have a couple of wines or a beer before the show), I was able to look away - grinding my teeth, a little but not too bad.
No, my drinking has almost entirely taken place at home in the past several years. And as others have said: I've thrown it out. Then, when the terrible cravings hit, I'm off to the little bottle shop nearby. That's part of what I truly hate about the easy availability of alcohol in our culture.
And, I simply cannot understand good folk such as Fallow - a few others have said similar things on this forum: having stuff in the liquor cabinet? Being able to pass it by every day, not wanting to drink it? And not drinking some of it even when you wanted to? To me, even in my one pretty secure (I thought) 6 months of sobriety last year, I couldn't have been in that kind of mind space. All power to any who can!
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,572
I did it multiple multiple times.
It's a real waste of money if you go out and restock a few days later.
But it really helps when you are sitting there, a couple weeks sober, that voice is telling you to drink, it's late at night, and there is no booze in the house.
You wake up the next day , and are so grateful that temptation wasn't just a few steps away in the closet.
Later on, you probably can have it around again, but getting through those heavy craving times, not having in the house is a real good idea.
It's a real waste of money if you go out and restock a few days later.
But it really helps when you are sitting there, a couple weeks sober, that voice is telling you to drink, it's late at night, and there is no booze in the house.
You wake up the next day , and are so grateful that temptation wasn't just a few steps away in the closet.
Later on, you probably can have it around again, but getting through those heavy craving times, not having in the house is a real good idea.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 807
I dumped it all right down my throat, LOL. I had made the decision to quit as soon as that bottle was gone and I did (so far), currently no booze in the house. I was always an at home drinker so for now the house is alcohol free.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 5,937
I did dump out a bottle of rum a couple months ago simply because I was tired of looking at it. I never really liked rum much, I don't even know where it came from...seems like someone left if here one night. Lucky thing, too- a few weeks ago my brother was rooting around the cupboard and knocked the empty decanter off onto a very expensive piece of kitchen gear! Had there still been booze in it I'd probably be out a thousand dollars to replace that unit.
Having booze around is no longer a temptation to drink. If I want to drink I will simply go get some. I've told myself there's nothing stopping me besides good sense. I do keep a booze around occasionally. For instance, tomatoes have some flavor components that are soluble in alcohol but not in water; that's why you so often see tomato sauces with vodka in restaurants. So sometimes I have a little airline-type bottle around if I'm cooking. Ditto for wine. However, since wine was my greatest love and greatest weakness, I don't tempt myself by keeping much good stuff around, just a small bottle that's good for recipes.
Having booze around is no longer a temptation to drink. If I want to drink I will simply go get some. I've told myself there's nothing stopping me besides good sense. I do keep a booze around occasionally. For instance, tomatoes have some flavor components that are soluble in alcohol but not in water; that's why you so often see tomato sauces with vodka in restaurants. So sometimes I have a little airline-type bottle around if I'm cooking. Ditto for wine. However, since wine was my greatest love and greatest weakness, I don't tempt myself by keeping much good stuff around, just a small bottle that's good for recipes.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Western New York
Posts: 375
There's a built in wine rack in the kitchen - came with the house - and there's a few bottles of wine we've gotten as gifts - no temptation there. I wouldn't dare keep cold beer in the house though, any beer we had went down the drain the day I quit.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Australia
Posts: 11,351
Has to be alcohol free zone for me as its often when you are feeling so good and indestructible at 6 months sober that you think aaah 1 wont hurt ....yeah right! It hurts big time.....sends you back to the horrid beginning all over again. It's exhausting Removing any temptations is best in early recovery , for me anyhow. Good luck x 
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AA member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: United Kingdom.
Posts: 3,007
Once I was committed to staying sober having the house alcohol free was helpful.
If I had a craving to drink I would call a sober friend and talk it through.Gave me the opportunity to let the craving pass.If alcohol had been in the house I would have drunk it.
Makes no sense to me an Alcoholic keeping booze in the house.Playing with fire.
If I had a craving to drink I would call a sober friend and talk it through.Gave me the opportunity to let the craving pass.If alcohol had been in the house I would have drunk it.
Makes no sense to me an Alcoholic keeping booze in the house.Playing with fire.
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