General Discussion > Throw Down the Gauntlet
Slashing My Alcohol Spend by 75% starting now.
TheStrenuousLife:
Hello all,
Long-time lurker and recent joiner here. I discovered MMM in late 2014, and really started working through the canon and applying his principles in the spring of 2015. I am currently just a few articles short of having read the entire blog.
I'm throwing down a challenge for myself in 2017, but actually starting today, and for anyone else that wants to join. Since January 1, 2016 I have been keeping track of every dollar I spent on alcohol and how much alcohol I have been drinking. I'm embarrassed to say that I recently crossed the $2,500.00 CDN mark , as well as being on track to end the year at 1.2 drinks per day (I don't actually drink 1.2 drinks per day, but I am bad at downing several over the course of a Saturday night, for example).
To put this in context, $2500 represents 3.5 months of rent for me and slightly more than my bi-weekly pay-cheque. Basically, more than two weeks of my working year went towards paying for my alcohol consumption.
I've never thought of myself as having a drinking issue per se, but I am appalled at how much money is being flushed down the drain on alcohol. In order to understand how this can happen, keep in mind that I live in Canada and due to alcohol taxes, a pint of beer at a bar will, after the additional application of sales tax and the socially mandatory 15% tip, often cost around $8-$10. Wine and cocktails will easily run in the $12-$16 range at many bars. Even purchasing from your local government-run liquor stores, while a much better deal than drinking out, can result in costs that would shock the average American or European Mustachian.
So, without further ado, my goal is to immediately slash my alcohol spend by 75% and get my total 2017 spend on booze, not including gifts and alcohol used solely for cooking, down to $625 CDN. Even this is quite a high figure based on the amounts suggested by MMM and I am hoping to exceed this goal. In order to accomplish this I see three main avenues:
* Stop drinking as much. Easier said than done given that much of my social life seems to revolve around bars and drinking.
* Slash the amount of drinking I do in bars if I am doing to drink.
* Make my own alcohol. I recently read Mr. Frugal Toque's guide to fine Canadian Wine-Making and ordered a batch from the same DIY wine-making facility he reviewed.
renata ricotta:
27-year-old lawyer here, and I can't really remember the last night when I did not have at least one drink. I'm not super worried about the financial impact - I'm not sure I could carefully separate alcohol purchases from my restaurant and grocery spending to be sure how much it was costing me. Most of the alcohol I drink is either 1) paid for by my employer/clients, or 2) cheap from Trader Joe's. Nevertheless, I am joining you because this habit is bad for me, and I should have another way to relax/destress from work. ~14 drinks per week is no bueno long term.
renata ricotta:
It is indeed. I'll have a hard time even starting this challenge, because I have a work happy hour tonight, my wedding anniversary dinner tomorrow night at a place with fancy craft cocktails that I love, and another drinking-based social event with co-workers on Saturday! I hereby resolve to only have ONE drink tonight and tomorrow, which if I'm being honest ... is slashing my alcohol consumption by 75% at such events. And none on Sunday. Will report back.
With reducing at-home drinking costs, I have previously had success with making sure I always leave my ID at home when I go grocery shopping or to a restaurant, so I can't buy any alcohol while there (my grocery stores are pretty consistent at checking IDs for every transaction). Then if I don't have alcohol at home because I didn't buy it at the store, I end up finding something else to do. I'd like to think I have enough self-control I could just choose not to buy it or not to drink it, but past performance suggests I need these gimmicks and tricks to force myself into abstaining.
Blueskies123:
--- Quote from: bridget on December 15, 2016, 12:02:20 PM ---27-year-old lawyer here, and I can't really remember the last night when I did not have at least one drink. I'm not super worried about the financial impact - I'm not sure I could carefully separate alcohol purchases from my restaurant and grocery spending to be sure how much it was costing me. Most of the alcohol I drink is either 1) paid for by my employer/clients, or 2) cheap from Trader Joe's. Nevertheless, I am joining you because this habit is bad for me, and I should have another way to relax/destress from work. ~14 drinks per week is no bueno long term.
--- End quote ---
Good thing you are joining because you are drinking way too much. Every night? Your liver and kidneys are going to give out in 15 years and all the money you are saving will end up with someone else. Try not drinking one night a week, then two nights, then three. Go the gym instead or change jobs. I am 62 and have lost a lot of friends that drank every night.
MEJG:
I'm in! I can look up tomorrow what are alcohol expenses were this past year. We were planning on a round of Whole30 in January, so no alcohol for 30 days at least.
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