mattparadise

I've noticed that I'm saving a lot of money on not drinking. Credit card bills are much lower. My guess is that many of you have noticed this also.

How much was your bad habit costing each month?

For me probably ~$15/day on cheap stuff or about $450 per month. Wow, that was a huge waste of money. Some months maybe even $700.

UofI2008

With poor performance at work and the amount of money I spent at bars. I would say minimum $1,000.

Total waste of time and my own talents.

mcbb79

I was drinking almost everyday. Sometimes out but mostly at home. I'd estimate $300 a month, sometimes more.

scrambled2012

in the last six months before I quit, 800 that i didn't have to spend

smartblonde

at the very least, $300 a month...estimating $10 bottle of wine each day...but that was just for the wine...sometimes it was margaritas and that was more.

Colossal waste of money. So, over a year that would be at least $3600. Wow...imagine all the cute clothes and shoes I could have bought with that same amount of money? Not to mention, the clothes would be about 2 sizes smaller, due to all the weight I gained from all those extra calories. UGH!

Wow....thank you for posting this! Just one more "wake up call" I needed to hear. :

Hooped

At least $700 per month.
It's pretty expensive to be an alky in Canada.
In the last six months I paid cash for a big screen tv and a new chair, paid off my credit cards... and haven't had a single hangover.

StPeteGrad

Yep- In December I bought a boat, cash! Feeling a bit poor again for the moment, but well worth it.

psychofarms

Yeah, probably in the $450-500 range. Then the endless cycle of returning hundreds of beer bottles, only to turn the deposit money into more bottles to return...

BillyPilgrim

Yes I am looking forward to a good holiday on the money I dont spend on wine. I used to pour bottles down the sink, undrunk to stop myself. Hey why didnt I just hand my wallet to the checkout girl and tell her to go spend on herself!

MustStop

X2 on it being expensive to be a Canadian alky. I spent roughly $300/month on my "take home" booze and probably another $200 on top of that MINIMUM at various bars...per month. So $500, sometimes more, sometimes less but that would certainly be the average. I want a used Dodge Viper by next summer, this can now be a reality.

BackToSquareOne

It wasn't just the cost of the booze, it was also the wild internet shopping sprees when I was half in the bag. Zero thought went into any of the purchases and in some cases the UPS guy would deliver things I didn't remember ordering.

My worst experience was getting wasted on vodka and valium and buying over $3000.00 worth of watches from a Singapore dealer on E-Bay. Why I needed that many watches I have no idea. Then there were the bad stock, commodity and forex trades made while wasted, the list goes on and on.

Smudg3r

It's funny to come across this thread as it was the reason I came back to the forum for the first time in quite a few months.

I was spending around £300 a month. ($480 ?) Unfortunately, it didn't cause any financial hardship - perhaps I would have stopped sooner if it did.

Stretz

I did a rough, conservative estimate of 2011 and the weekday after work pub visits plus the three "Beercations" were around $7000.

Whoa.

Bikeguy

I would estimate around $400.00 in booze and then another $200.00 a month in cigarettes, I'm done with both of them. It was nice to be able to buy the kids great Christmas presents and not have to worry about where the money was coming from.

kiknit

Isn't it amazing?!. It's one of the huge benefits of sobriety thay isn't often mentioned. My DH and I estimated at least $600 monthly. That's like someone saying "quit drinking and I'll buy you a new car". Who wouldn't have to at least think twice about that!

Ranger

The long list of clues I was unable to recognize through the madness includes switching to a discount brand to help offset my considerable intake.

After stopping, the savings was noticeable. But, as a closet drinker it was far more valuable reestablishing financial fidelity with my spouse.

midgetcop

I was probably spending about $200-300 on beer, and I'm not even sure how much I spent going out for meals at the pubs (I always offered we go out and eat, mainly so I could drink pints). I think I've been to the pub *once* in the past 3 months, and I drank a Red Bull.

With the increased cash flow I'm finding that I'm re-directing a lot of it towards paying for my upcoming wedding, rather than dip into as much of my savings. It's a good feeling!

indakut

I spent over $400 a month on alcohol + cigarettes. After 5 months of not drinking, I went on vacation with my child and paid cash for everything. Also on that trip, I managed to buy 6 pairs of shoes and 3 designer handbags with the $ I saved from not drinking in those months. The best part was managing my money well enough to pay my child's school tuition by the deadline. A couple months later, I was down a dress size. NOT drinking has soooooo many benefits.

mattparadise

I'm saving lits. I've been with my GF for 4 years and 7 months today. Yesterday I bought us a week long Paris vacation with the money I'm saving.

BillyPilgrim

I took GBP 200 out of the bank on Thursday, normally, on a Monday, after food shops and other stuff, I am down to about GBP 40. Just looked in wallet and GBP 160 there. Sober weekend , more money. I wonder if there is a correlation