RoyGBiv

i was spending $20 a night drinking out then drinking more at home, all told $600 a month probably. Now I can go out to eat every night and spend less. And gain weight. Oops.

Marcher13

When I stopped back in March I worked out what I'd been spending each week on alcohol and nictone -- a conservative estimate was $120 a week -- and I saved that amount each week. When I got to six months I bought myself a new iPod and speaker, since then I've been revving up my wardrobe with high quality items that make me feel good. Last week instead of buying cheap clothing, I picked up two pure linen shirts and some beautiful leather sandals. I've still got money to spend out of those savings and more to save.

zach4677

my total is a lot less because of my age but I spent about 20 a week until I turned 21 then it went over 50 a week

ZeldaFan

I would ballpark it at about $2,000 for my last year drinking and at least $1,000+ leading up to that. All in, at least $5,000 - $6,000 just in booze. And that doesn't include all the stupid food I bought (countless pizza deliveries) during that time as well.

Stang

I don't see anything about this as a downer or worrying about the past I think it's interesting. Over 30 years all things alcohol related ...at least 150k. I could have paid cash for my house, and not have to work a job I really don't like because it pays good money. Oh well hopefully I'll live long enough to enjoy saving at least $300.000 a month.

360shoes

Not a downer at all. I thought it was very motivating to read. Despite the fact we all took a big hit in the wasting money department, I loved how it strongly came across that most of us are just damn happy it stopped.

It all sounded like gratitude to me.

BustedFlat

30 year period easy $500,000 all in...

DoPerdition

I'll say I spent easily 40,000. I was a bar manager for many years and have a caviar taste. I would often spend over 100 dollars on a bottle of wine and often more than one in a sitting.

Somehow that made it all "classier" to me. I would love that money back.

SnoozyQ

Thanks newme

Food for thought

Your post certainly wasn't a downer , its great to think of the $15000 you are going to save now for not drinking

So that's a positive thing ;-)

Its good to remind ourselves of these things as we all move forward xxxx

I've gained by not drinking and that includes weight ...ugh. . Cos i eat way more now than when I was flaking out and going to bed !

SnowDawg

This is really bad, but I worked quite a few years in various bottle shoppes. Gee.... the alkie that works in a bottle shoppe, go figure. Anyway, I either got my swill at a cut-rate or just took it. So I've been clever in finding ways to support my hunger. In the past few years, I just bought the cheap stuff, so I have no idea how much of a monetary value I'd put on my consumption.

NoJimmy

I'm sure I've spent an obscene amount on drinking (and to a lesser extent drugs), but it doesn't hold a candle to the relationships I've lost.

EADGBE

I like this thread. I don't see looking back and assessing the damage as a negative necessarily. To be honest this is a great reminder of why I chose to quit.

For me it's around $150,000 as a low estimate. The extra money from not drinking now has allowed me to pay off over $60,000 in credit card debt. I literally have one payment left at end of December and i am almost debt free. Just my mortgage left. Ahhhhhhhh......feels great.

Quitting drinking has positively turned around my life in so many ways.

MythOfSisyphus

By the time I finally quit I was up to three bottles of good wine a day. My estimation was that I spent roughly $6500/year on booze about 20 years!

Glenfoolish

I cant even imagine wow
i even tried giving someone else my money but that did not work because i have surrounded myself with drinking Friends
so even if i don't have money they do

BikerAcct

I've been putting aside $35 a week since I quit drinking. I think that's probably about average for what I was spending, maybe a bit on the low side. I mostly drank at home, so it wasn't that always a high dollar amount. Of course the weeks I did hit the bar, really blew that number higher.

So Far, since April 8 2013

38 weeks x 35 = $1,330 saved! And in the bank account.

newme2day

I am so impressed by all of you that have saved the money which you used to spend on drinking. How encouraging!! It is so awesome to share these stories. In the short time i have been here, i am amazed at what a help we are to each other!! Big thanks to all of you! Enjoy another day of sobriety! God bless!

snipe

I think we have a "winner", LOL.

I drank at home but at about $10/day for 30 years it adds up to over $100,000. That doesn't include $20,000+ worth of co-pays for rehabs and other medical expenses.

anchorbird

I was also about $10 a day in booze, but that doesn't count junk food I would order, fees in bills that got paid late because I just wasn't with it enough to pay on time, alcohol while out to eat, frugal spending because I thought I was the SH*T. Hmmmm, in my 2 years of HEAVY drinking, I would say $8000.-$10000.

Funny how much extra $$ is in my account at the end of the month now ;-) I do have to say I SO THANKFUL we have always had our savings taken out automatically at the first of the month. I probably would have spent more.