Playing with fire? Anyone keep liquor in the house?
 

Ok, so I'm 9 days sober but I haven't emptied out the liquor cabinet. I probably have $500 worth of various spirits handy including my favorite, scotch. I have no desire to open the cabinet and I hope to one day be able to offer a neighbor a drink without feeling like I have to join in. I quit smoking 20 years ago and kept a pack of smokes under a sofa cushion for a year. I felt "empowered"? knowing I could smoke if I wanted to, but never did.

So, should I give my stash away? Or keep it to demonstrate my resolve? At this moment in time I can't fathom ever drinking again (on Antabuse now).

I solicit your comments and experience. Thanks.

Mike

I am not a drinker. An addict. But I would imagine it all depends on what you feel you shpuld do. Does it make you uncomfortable having it so handy? How confident are you that you can know its there at your disposal any time you care to get curious? Are you wanting to keep it just to prove yourself? Or is it the value and feeling like throwing money away?
Whatever the case. It boils down to whether or not it will pose a problem for you later on.
If you think it may cause you to want to drink at some point. Get rid of it.
But again I am not a drinker. So I dont really know. Just thinking aloud I guess. Whatever you do. God luck and keep up the sobriety. 9 days is good.

If you're a glutton for punishment, or into masochism, or just REALLY want to tempt fate, then sure - keep it. Otherwise, get that poison out of your house ASAP.

We have a liquor cabinet upstairs in the game room. It has locks because we have kids in the house. My husband hid the keys to it when I told him about my drinking problem because it still had quite a good bit of liquor in it (several bottles including scotch, rum, vodka, Godiva liqueur, and more). It really started getting to me, knowing that it was there. I even went digging around until I found the keys. And one day when I was having a particularly bad day, I took the keys, went upstairs, opened the cabinet and pulled out a couple of bottles. Thankfully I smelled the rum first - it just about made me throw up (rum never did SMELL good to me, but I liked how it tasted). I stood there, heart pounding, breaking out in a cold sweat, debating whether or not I was ready to throw 90 days of sobriety away.

I finally put the bottles back, locked the cabinet, put the keys back in their hiding spot, and made a big pot of coffee.

That night I asked my husband if we could get rid of the bottles (I did NOT tell him what I had almost done). He said, "Let's do this!" and got the keys to the cabinet. We went upstairs and got all the bottles out and I stood and watched as he - *gasp* - poured every last drop down the drain. On one level it hurt my heart, and on another level I was more relieved than I could ever tell you.

No booze in my house. At least not booze that's here to stay. If we have friends over and they want to bring their own, they can go for it as long as they bring it back home with them at the end of the night. But no way can I have bottles in the house. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon.

Good luck to you.

If I have alcohol in the house, I eventually will drink it. Even if it is only a small amount (half a bottle of wine left by a friend), I will drink one glass of wine one night, and another glass of wine the next night. And then w/i in few days, I will buy some more--and the pattern of drinking each night repeats itself. Kind of an exhausting process really. For me it really is easier to not have it around to begin with.

I could not have it in my house. Eventually I would drink it. I might feel empowered for a bit, but I know me.

It's your choice what to do, but as tough as sobriety is to get (I have a whopping four days now and the last time I had four days was in Sept 07), it is worth more than $500 - to me at least.

This for me is a no brainer, I cannot have it around at all. If there is a 1/2, I drink it then go get more. If there is a pint, I drink it then go get more driving drunk. If a fifth I drink it, then wake up the next day and wonder how my wife got me to bed.

I cant have it around, if I drive too close to a liquor store I get nervous right now. Only been sober for 5 days.

I'd have someone responsible get rid of it.

My 2c.

Hang in there.

I actually quit smoking 8 years ago and still have that last pack in my freezer.......I guess its like my trophy. I feel that you could just as well go out and get some if you really desired. Look within and see if you can treat it like the box of smokes!! Good luck my friend!

It's obviously different for each individual. And as mentioned, it comes down to you. Does it really pose a threat? Only you know. Personally, there are six or seven bottles of hard liquor sitting less than 12 feet away from me. I don't drink hard liquor. I prefer beer. So it will sit there for my friend when he returns from Toronto. I only drank at the bars to socialize.

For me, it really isn't a problem because it's been sitting there for months already.

Just do what you feel comfortable with.

if, you're one of us, get rid of it

If it were in my house, I'd drink it. Not tonight... I'm valuing sobriety right now. But there would come a point where I'd be able to rationalize it or even worse, it would just happen without me even meaning to.

Give it to a non-alcoholic friend if you don't want to dump it out, but get it out of the house.

There is Wiskey & Beer, so other crap that I don't like. But my husband is a drinker, infact drunk right now!
I have no desire to drink that stuff. I really only like Vodka, Rum, wine.

Slightly OT, but I bought a bottle of whiskey (which I hate) and kept it in my house, thinking I'd drink it before I ever drank something I liked (weird psychology but the idea was for me to never pick up a drink if I had to go through whiskey).

Anyway, the night I finally drank it, with wine, with pills - I ended up with a broken rib. Ouch is an understatement! I can't have anything in my house or I will drink it eventually.

Oh believe me if I could get my husband to not drink it would be awesome!

I could have wrote this I am exactly the same.

Rebel, if you can get rid of it, I'd do it.

I live with an alcoholic who just quit drinking 2 weeks ago. I quit 7 months ago. It was Very Hard to live knowing anything I wanted was within my grasp. I think my husband secretly wanted me to pick up again, so that made me more stubborn not to!

Everyone is different. Keep yourself safe.

I don't have alcohol in the house. Even if I didn't drink it, I'd think about the alcohol, I'd think about 'what if'..'just a little'..'just a shot', and the obsession continues. While I understand the whole "I'll keep it here, not drink it, to prove I dont want to". I WANT to, I don't need to prove anything to anyone. I don't play those kind of games with myself, I do not flirt with this addiction. I'd say pour it out, give it away, pronto. I was SO relieved when I emptied my house, it has to be my safe place, nowhere else is.

Hey Mike!

I am married to my drinking partner of 14 years. He still drinks. There is liqour in the house, beer in the fridge outside. Vodka in the outside freezer. No wine. I think that covers the personal inventory.

In a perfect world, there would be none in my house. However, I am only in control of my actions. I can not be responsible for the actions on others nor try to control their behavior.

Congratulations on your sober time!

If it were me, I'd dump it rather than give it away. I didn't realize how widespread alcoholism was until I started to sort myself out. So there's always the possibility that you are passing it along to someone like us who may be active or in recovery. You just never know.

I'm like a few others here - I have it around, only because my husband enjoys a few beers now and then - he's a normie. I decided a year ago when I quit, that I wasn't going to give up my entire lifestyle. It wasn't realistic to expect my husband or friends to never have a drink in my presence. I also didn't want to stop going to the places I enjoyed - living in a resort town, there's a bar/restaurant/nightclub on every corner. I'm around it all the time, & if it was a temptation & I wasn't determined enough to not touch it, I'd have to move to another town - & that's not feasible.

Having said that, the safest and sanest thing is to not have it around. There could come the day when you're tempted & don't have the strength to resist. If there's even the slightest chance of that happening, then get it outta there.