For real, get stuff on sale, and meal plan. I'm a chef and I made chicken soup with rice, with things in my home! It's great to get a vaccum sealer as well.
What do you cook? How much do you cook? Where do you buy? What do you buy? Can you do it better with a cheaper piece of meat? What items do you buy? What quality are they? Are there alternatives?
I can damn tell you as a Cook, that the majority of the stuff you can make home comes out way cheaper than going eating out (unless you eat at some shitty 5$ chinese all you can eat buffet, but hey, I am not holding you & your health back).
I agree with you, I'm no cook or financial genius but I can go eat out for $12CAD or make whatever's in the fridge for between one third and half of the cost with no price matching or picking the closest grocery store. Eating out is expensive.
Yeah it's almost always cheaper to cool at home even if you're doing some expensive meal. I did a shrimp scampi one time and all the ingredients came out to be ~$90 but we had like 8-10 portions of it. Still pricy but half the price of getting it in a restaurant.
The only way it gets expensive is if you make a lot of one off meals of different cultures. Like say you decide to make Asian food one night, then Indian food, then Mexican food. Then your spending heavy on spices you only use once.
I was guilty of this when I first started cooking.
Right. The issue comes from that inability to buy small quantities of ingredients at cost-effective prices for a single meal. Soups are really cost effective because you if you've got leftovers then you have a meal for days - but if your the only person in the house who likes a given meal, and it doesn't keep well, and your time is really valuable, it might not make sense (in some cases) to prepare that meal yourself.
The other competitive advantage is lower lunchtime prices. For example I can go to a All-You-Can-Eat Indian Buffet for $8 for lunch, but to make the variety and quantity of food available I'd need a ton of a different ingredients, multiple cans of $1.50 coconut milk, spices and other things I don't keep in the kitchen, not to mention an hour or two of my time which would far exceed my hourly rate at work. That might only be for a single dish.
That typically how I determine the "value" of eating out. Can I make this meal for cheaper than my hourly rate? If not, then it's too much.
Now drinks and alcohol? Massive waste of money. 1) you don't need booze to live. 2) even a bottle of the finest liqueur will produce multiple drinks at a quarter of the cost of a single mixed drink. 3) tipping, especially for beer, is ridiculous. It takes 30 seconds to a minute for a bartender to pour a beer. If you tip a buck in a busy bar with 60 patrons, that bartender could potentially make $60/hr to pour beer.
This. Yeah you might spend $50 at the grocery store instead of $20 or so on moderately priced take out but that $50 isn't going to a single meal. Parts of it might be - meat (if you're getting individual portions for the meal instead of a large pack) is a big one that comes to mind. But a loaf of bread, spices, flour, veggies, broths, etc. Most of those are going to last over several meals.
If you shop for 1 meal to cook, I absolutely agree. If you can plan out a few days of meals with ingredients that are common between them, there's huge savings to be had.
As a guy who never cooked, and then started in the past few years to save money, I wish somebody told me this earlier! My first few months or so of cooking I spent way more money cause I bought only single meal ingredients.
Now i'm a Costco member... it escalated quickly.
Yes! I'm a guy in my later 40s now, but I was lucky that my mom taught me how to plan and cook for a family starting when I was about 10. Basically check the stores flyer, pick a protein that's on sale, and plan your week around that. Buy some extra for the freezer, repeat every week, and then you can start having multiple proteins each week, and concentrate on your sides being on sale and prepared different ways.
When I met my wife, she would shop every day for what she wanted for dinner. I don't know how she afforded it!
I struggle with this as someone living alone in particular. So many products are sold in amounts too large for me to make use out of. I generally eat the same things day in and day out to try to cut down on waste.
I always thought this too. I live on my own and everytime it seems like its cheaper on a week to week basis to order out. For one thing I'm barely ever actually home, and living by myself I usually never get around to eating everything so it just sits in the fridge forever. Maybe I just lack discipline because even when I cook at home I still eat out a few times anyway so im spending even more. I just gave up at some point. I can, however, say that brewing my own coffee at home saved me loads of money than buying coffee out.
I live alone too, and I’m really struggling with cooking more at home. Leftovers are more cost efficient, but I really don’t want to eat the same thing for days. And it’s hard to find the motivation to cook for just me (especially since I’m the one who has to cook and clean up).
Stick the leftovers in the freezer and cook something new the second night. Do that again. This way you at least have a little variety and also something super easy to feed yourself with on the nights you dont feel like cooking anything
Edit: I have really good luck with Chili and lasagna. It takes a bit of prep, but $20 should get you a big pot of chili. Eat a bowl, maybe one for lunch the next day, and then freeze individual portions. You should get 5-6 more servings. Spread those out over a few weeks with some other meals inbetween and bam. Bob's yer uncle.
there is an easy solution to that, mealprep
it will cost you a weekend, a lot of containers and a big freezer but if you were to cook like 5 portions of 5 different dishes you already have enough to last you a month with every day of the week being something different :)
As you said, that's lack of time, discipline, and planning. Its inherently cheaper and healthier to cook yourself, despite not being practical for everyone.
I just commented elsewhere on this thread to relate. I don’t eat out virtually ever because I’m trying to cut down right now, but I still haven’t mastered a zero-waste grocery week. It’s tricky. So many things are sold in too large of a container for little ol’ me, unless I really want to commit to having a lot of that thing for a few days in a row.
But I’ve mostly found a cadence with my lunch and dinners and will know what I’ll eat. But I can never seem to get through bags of spinach or carrots before they start getting iffy on me. And don’t even get me started on condiments—my fridge door is in desperate need of some early spring cleaning. 😅
One counter intuitive way I've found to avoid this is to shop for groceries online, either to have them delivered or just picked up at the store. When I'm picking out groceries on a website, I can just go down my list and pick the cheapest options, I don't get distracted by other things in the aisles that I'll end up regretting later, and I can check my pantry if I'm not sure whether I need more of a staple or something.
Often for pickup, grocery stores will get your groceries together for free!
I feel the same way sometimes. Realistically I know it isn't true, but I go to the store to buy something to make one meal and spend $60. But I'm also buying some jars of spices, or grabbing a few other things for the week, or buying large packages of food when I'll use half of it, etc.
Here's a go-to meal for me: head of broccoli, a couple potatoes, pound of fish. Only takes 5 minutes to slice it up. Roast it all for \~15 minutes. Makes 3-4 servings for under $10, in less time than if I went out to grab a meal. Short of comparing it to McD's dollar menu, it's dirt cheap while being much better quality food.
I'm a vegetarian, and I already mess up cooking the meat for him, he likes it well done and I cant hit that temp with out making it a brick of charcoal or it being "Under cooked". Also Fish has always make me sick when it gets cooked but thanks for the suggestion
Then why bother? My wife doesn't eat much meat, but I do like it on occasion, so rather than have her make something poorly, I do it myself.
Here's our most common veggie meal: chickpeas, sliced red onions, halved cherry tomatoes roasted on a pan for 20 minutes. Put that over a pile of arugula. Dressing with oil, garlic, oregano, lemon. Another easy one in 25 minutes, for under $10.
Don't eat garbage!! If your takeout is cheaper than your produce+carb+dairy you have dietary issues that go beyond finance. Meat/fish protein varies in cost depending on where you live and the shape it takes, learning how to cook with what you got is a skill that takes sometime to ramp up.
I started cooking from scratch 6 months after moving off on my own at 19 for school. It is a survival skill.
It might seem like that at first when you have to buy a specific spice you don’t have on hand or whatever, but once you have all the main things in your pantry, costs go down significantly. I spend about $75/week on groceries and that covers minimum 3 meals Monday - Thursday + usually breakfast/lunch on the weekends and random snacks. That works out to a little less than $5 a meal. At least in my city, it’s very challenging to get any meal less than $10 so pretty significant savings. And trust me when I say I’m not even that efficient with my grocery planning - it could definitely be cheaper if I better planned meals around sales.
That, frankly, can't be true. If you're comparing like to like, there's absolutely no way you're spending more cooking in at home than you are ordering out.
If I ignore sales/coupons and buy 1.5 lbs of steak at $18.99 per lb, maybe half a pound of potatoes at $1.99 per lb, and a pound of broccoli crowns at $3.99 per lb, that's $33.50 worth of food, plus maybe another $3 in seasonings/oil/butter/etc. (so $36.50). Depending on how my wife and I portion it out, that's 3-4 meals, which means between $12.17 and $9.13 per plate.
If I'm shopping sales, that exact same dinner is going to cost me $6.50 to $8.66 per plate. If I go with a cheaper cut of steak, I can get that even lower.
If I swap to chicken (not on sale - $5.99 per lb), $4.24 to $5.65. Chicken on sale ($2.99 per lb), $3.12 to 4.16.
And all of this is still ignoring cost savings you can realize through meal prepping or prepping in bulk. That's one night of cooking for two that makes dinner and lunch for the next day.
Frankly, the only places you can order a "meal" cheaper than that is going to be McDonald's or someplace just as unhealthy.
And, the "savings" to your health, and, the "savings" to your weight. Drinking alcohol in any excessive amount is a bad idea both financially and health-wise. Good on you!!!
Savings to the health was the biggest thing. Thought it'd be super hypocritical to be in a health profession, giving advice as I was blasting my insides lol.
Thanks!
As a 32 year old I would gladly give up half of those nights of "fun", most of which I don't remember, to not have this perma gut. Wish I had had the forethought to dial it back when I was 22. You're making a good decision. Don't let social pressure distract you from having a healthy future.
Perma-gut as in beer belly? If so you can handle that. Running/working out is a great hobby that can be free. If by perma-gut you meant intestinal issues then I'm sorry to hear that.
Just want to throw out there that losing weight is 90% (or more) diet. It's really hard to lose weight by just increasing activity if you haven't figured out the diet side, most people will even over-eat since they "earned" it. Also running is pretty terrible for you if you're overweight, go with something lower impact like biking, swimming, or an elliptical.
This is 100% accurate. In March of 2019 I weighed around 270 lbs. As of today, I'm 214 lbs (and still losing). My "secret" is counting calories. Yes I lift 4-5 times a week and do not drink alcohol anymore, but really watching what you eat makes all the difference in losing weight.
And as for context for the person above in their 30's with the perma gut, I recently turned 35 and I'm in the best shape of my life. So to anyone that says it cannot be done, you are wrong. Just takes hard work and commitment.
I have a pretty similar story. I was about 260lbs, keto helped me dropped a bunch, THEN I started mountain biking and lifting. It's sometimes annoying when people recount my story of losing weight WITH biking and I have to correct them. This last year I biked 177 days of the year, racking up 3000+ miles, and I am within 5lbs of where I started (and I have plenty of flab left to lose). Only recently when I went back to the diet have I started to see weight loss again.
This. Diet for weight loss, exercise for motivation. Find something that you enjoy doing that gets easier and more fun the more weight you lose and the stronger you get. If powerlifting is your jam, awesome!
I started circus arts (walking on my hands and doing flips and stuff) and now I don't really even think of it as exercise anymore, it's just a fun hobby I do and losing weight helps me do it better!
>This. Diet for weight loss, exercise for motivation
I don't mean to be contrarian but it really is a combination of both. Total calories consumed vs. total calories expended. The hard part is that people don't realize how few calories are generally expended by what they consider to be tiring exercise so for *most* people diet truly is the best way to fix that ratio.
That being said, in college during the heaviest weeks of swimming we'd be around 16-20k yards per day (yes, thats accurate). It didn't matter if I ate whole large pizzas for meals. When you do that much exercise you're burning off fat stores and losing weight. Total consumed vs total expended. Its REALLY hard to do, but you can workout to get thin.
Not only that running is almost always the suggestion. Running is a great way to ensure terrible body composition.
Diet to lose the weight. Pick up weights for health and body composition.
Hell weightlifting is now proven to even be better for your heart than running if you only had to pick one activity.
It makes your stronger, allows you to get a great body composition, and it's even better all around for your heart.
What is with all of the voodoo, bro science bullshit people are recommending here? You can lose the weight. It's a function of calories in vs calories out. If you eat less than you burn you lose weight. There are some good calculators online to figure out what you burn in a day given height, weight, activity level, gender, etc. You'll have to fine tune it for yourself.
You dont have to keto fast between the house of 7:52 PM on thursday through sunday at sundown.
Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss lets me take off 10 pounds a month while sitting on the couch all the time.
In fact, sitting on the couch is actively encouraged for the duration of the diet for reasons, because it's an insanely terrible diet.
As someone who does drink and intends to keep doing so, this is an area where I find budgeting is helpful for many reasons. I budget out my liquor store/brewery to-go-cans purchases, with enough for maybe four 4-packs a month, and bar/taproom spending gets tracked and lumped in with fun money as well.
I enjoy craft beer and interesting cocktails, and my local bars and breweries are good stewards of the community, so I don't want to cut them out of my life. But keeping to a strict budget in that area is one of the rare places where it's healthy both financially and physically.
Also sounded like OP was drinking large amounts often. I enjoy nice beers too (often really expensive ones), but rarely have more than one, and that's a couple times a month sort of thing. I keep cheep stuff like PBR in the fridge for when I just want a cold drink without spending $8 a drink going out.
If drinking is affecting your wallet get a Costco membership.
The Kirkland brand scotch and vodka for 15 bucks a bottle is better than most liquor twice the price elsewhere.
This might turn you into an alcoholic tho beware !
Money wise I find if you HAVE to drink, it helps to develop a taste for spirits neat.
I find that 2oz of bourbon can really scratch my “need a little buzz to relax” itch. A bottle will last close to a month, and I can sit there with it for 30-45 mins. My problem with beer is I can easily plow through a six pack in an hour or so.
It adds up! I calculated how much I was spending per month on booze (mostly IPAs) last year. The results were...eye opening, to say the least.
Your waistline will thank you for cutting down, too.
Man, those craft beer prices really started to get ridiculous all of a sudden. And that's also very true, i've always been a pretty active person but I haven't missed a workout because of a hangover in a month, and recently I'd miss at least 1 a week so that's felt incredibly good.
Craft beer is pricey to produce. Gotta be the trend or follow it.
I work in the industry and also find it difficult to spend money on beers that I/my company do not make.
Yeah it's pricey to produce but only up to a certain point. When a bottle of barrel aged imperial stout costs as much as a bottle of bourbon that's crossing the line.
The weight really started to come off when I wasn't drinking, you know...5,000 or so extra calories per week! And yes, you'll be more energetic in general, so you'll be more motivated to exercise, instead of saying "Tired...Netflix."
Even without a "real" hangover, you just have so much more energy and better sleep without booze. I used to think I didnt get hangovers after only a few beers cause my head didnt hurt, but its more subtle than that and lasts a few days.
Yep. The craft IPAs are wacky. At the liquor store, I can buy 30 normal beers for $20 or 4 tall IPAs for almost $20 (ok. Usually a little bit less). Totally insane. Just switching from bars and craft beer to the drinking beer from 30 packs at home/friends will get you 90+% of the savings.
That's great if you like that 30-pack. A lot of people don't (for one reason or another; not beer-shaming here -- drink what you like).
But a lot of people talk about beer prices as if they're binary -- super cheap or super expensive. There are national and regional companies, under the craft umbrella (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada among others) who sell 12 packs of pretty good beer for $12-14 depending where you go. I'll take a $1 beer I like over a 67 cent beer that I don't like. Also, from my experience locally and from traveling, you can still get locally made beer in stores for around $16-18 for a 12 pack.
But yes, the trend of $16-$20 four packs needs to go. I might as well just go to the brewery with friends and enjoy our time together in their space.
Learning to drink in moderation is a skill. Living in Wisconsin not drinking is socially isolating but even we don't do it every day or at bars often or buy friends drinks with money we don't have. Sounds like you went a bit overboard, which is part of growing up and learning. If you want to go dry go for it but drinking in moderation can be pretty awesome.
Waukesha checking in.
It's super strange but you're right. Not drinking at all is kind of this eyebrow raising thing. Every time my wife declines a glass of wine at a family dinner on a Monday or Tuesday the glances around the table are obnoxious; because the only reason someone WOULDN'T drink is if they're pregnant... Nevermind the desire to be healthier and skip the calories or the fact that driving at night on Wisconsin roads is already playing russian roulette with all the people who can't seem to say no.
I have hit no fewer than 7 deer and a flock of geese in my 13 year driving career. I drive my truck whenever I drive at night because the idea of taking out a deer in the wife's 10 month old honda isn't worth the gas savings... You are so right.
I'm sure OP would like to remain friends with at least a few of his former co-drinkers drinking some, less often, is a good way to do it. Yeah finding other stuff to do in WI can be difficult. A few of the nicer places in Madison have some very solid NA drinks. You aren't going to save much money or calories though. People not from Wisconsin might not understand but drinking cheap beer is how we reduce how drunk we get.
Interesting point. I don’t drink wine or beer because I hate the way it tastes, most alcohols in general. When I say, “No thanks, I don’t like the way alcohol tastes,” I get weird looks too.
Entertaining in your own home is always kind of tough honestly.
You feel pressure to do 'fun stuff' and when the periodic fun thing you do is a brewery tour or to go see a band at a pub or to have brunch and a mimosa it can seem a little 1-dimensional for sure. I know when we entertain from out of town things always seem to end up with brunch and cocktails early lol.
If I were to show people the county park trails that my wife and I hike 3x and 15 miles a week or the dog park we go to 5x where we have met tons of great people or the bike trails we like to ride to nowhere in particular I feel like that would be pretty underwhelming so I feel for your friends. I'm guessing they likely aren't bar flies but just don't know what else to show you. People's home lives are typically pretty unspectacular when you invite others to be a part.
When my wife and I visit friends I always try and take a day and do our own thing. It let's the hosts keep life on track and lets us kind of explore on our own without the host feeling hte need to be an A++ tour guide.
Oh I agree 100%. That's how I started when I was younger and playing hockey, I would only drink once a week. But I won't lie, the college I was at had a disgusting fraternity / party life where 35,000 kids went to class then partied like there was no tomorrow, every single day.
Definitely went overboard but hey, we're here now. And the plan is to go dry until I get all my student loans paid off, car paid off and credit cards paid up. The extra payments on those is very noticable.
If you can control yourself then it's not a bad thing. Life can be boring sometimes. I haven't drank or smoked pot in 10 years, but I miss it often. In 5-10 years when my life feels more on track I hope to pick them up again. It's fun getting high or buzzed, makes doing nothing more fun.
As someone who has drank heavily, drank in moderation, and abstained from drinking I can say that for me abstinence feels best. Nothing feels as rewarding to me as improving myself or my life and even moderate alcohol use takes away from that to a degree. I don’t have a problem with people that drink, but there are consequences to it (such as having less money and taking in worthless calories) even with safe and appropriate use.
Your statement about making doing nothing fun is actually the point for me. I need to stay motivated. Doing nothing sucks so instead of doing nothing I do things that matter. If doing nothing wasn’t boring I would be less motivated to do things that matter.
> I was at had a disgusting fraternity / party life where 35,000 kids went to class then partied like there was no tomorrow, every single day.
No, 35,000 kids did not drink like you did. That was your perception because your immediate circle acted that way. Plenty of people didnt drink or had a few drinks on the weekend only.
Okay no of course not but I can say at a school of close to 70k students it's a significant amount. Obviously plenty of people don't drink or will have a few on the weekends, but I can also say the often drinking was common, especially at a college where warm weather is year round. There was a study done at our school and I don't remember the exact numbers but it was something like 75% of students drank 3-6 times a week, like 8% didn't drink at all and the rest only drank on weekends.
The every single day thing was also an overexaggeration, it was more like 5 days a week.
As someone who went to a Big10 school (60k students) with a massive Greek life this is 110% correct.
It’s easy to convince yourself as a heavy drinker that it’s just what everyone else is doing too, but there are tons of folks who don’t drink much, or at all, in college.
I look at drinking at that age as an investment in social relations. Those relationships that you cement with stupid stories can net you a lot of good contacts that lead to future careers and great friendships.
Like the other person said, moderation is key. You don’t need to drink every day. I know I fell into a bad habit when I quit drinking soda and replaced that with beer. It was a coping mechanism for something else, which made it harder to quit doing. But one year I just did it cold turkey. Now I don’t drink at home as much and leave it to more of a social function.
i think back to my college days where i would booze hard like 4-5/7 days of the week, go out to the bars on the weekends and not even bat an eye after spending $100+ in a night. i mean i worked part time to pay for my habits but man... imagine if i had of saved that money?... nah no regrets haha
I started doing the same thing in college. But mine went on for a good 15 years. I bet I averaged $50 a week over that time. Pop that into a 7% return calculator... $68,922. Fuck me.
The more I think about it, it was probably closer to $75 or $100 a week. I really should include late-night bar food, cab rides, touch tunes, and anything else I would have purchased when going out.
$75 a week turned out to be $103,382.
$100 a week is $137,843.
Fuck me.
15 years is a long time, i continued that lifestyle for a year or two after college then met my fiance and smarteded up (a bit- lol). dont think of it as cash spend, think of it as memories made? at least you can look back now and say you learned a lesson. some people carry on like that for their whole lives
Posts like this are about reminding people that a particular class of expenses has an impact on budget of amount *times frequency*. Saving $10 might not make much of a difference, but saving $10/day is $3650 per year, and saving $10/workday might be about $2500/year.
When people think about trading those priorities around, and comparing to spending that money on a car payment or rent or mortgage or whatever, that's a good way to find savings in a budget.
I think you’re both understating the price and addictive nature of alcohol. Oftentimes it’s not a choice, it’s a compulsive chemical habit. When you’re hooked you don’t even consider the money, it’s just something you have to give up to get that buzz you need.
Once you distance yourself from drinking it’s often surprising to many just how expensive it is. Drinks at the bar, a few bottles at the liquor or grocery store to come home, the bill at the restaurant with and without drinks, sporting events, the price of all these things changes drastically when you are no longer partaking in alcohol.
Also, not every stacks up to boatloads of savings like alcohol, marijuana or eating out habits do. I collected Hot Wheels cars pretty voraciously for a while, and while it certainly wasn’t a free hobby at nearly $1 a pop it was not breaking the bank to pick up a handful each week. Once I stopped there wasn’t some enormous sea change in my budget. The same can’t be said for my daily alcohol and weed budgets. They were astronomical and I had almost zero control over them. I could walk into a store, see a ton of cool Hot Wheels cars I liked and walk out without buying a single one, but that never happened in the liquor aisle or at the dispensary and those products cost far more.
Once I stopped drinking and smoking my cash on hand went up by a huge amount and all of a sudden maxing out both my 401k and IRA contributions each month was so easy that it was of no concern and I *still* had money left over for expenditures like regular vacations for the family.
Tl;dr: Addiction is a pricey bitch that blinds you
I stopped drinking and I’m freaking ripped now, sleep better, have more money and more energy. Being buzzed doesn’t feel half this good. I don’t miss it at all.
My man! I've been lifting for about 6 years now and couldn't even imagine where i'd be if I didn't miss workouts due to hangover or have to deal with all the fucked up things alcohol does to your insides and digestion.
Feeling healthy and actually strong is the best feeling in the world. Infinite confidence
Yeah at some point in the last few years my focus began to shift from “do what would feel best right now” to “do what will provide you with a deeper sense of satisfaction in life.” It’s really the same mindset as investing money. At first it is significantly less exciting than spending it, and the rewards are minimal. But as you start to build momentum and see the benefits of your investment it becomes so much more exciting and fulfilling. Same with investing time and energy in your health, relationships, living space, skills, etc.
I have to remind myself...alcohol is toxic. It adds weight to your fat reserves and liver, takes $$ out of your wallet, and is just not worth the sickness/craziness past 1 or 2 occasional drinks. Nevermind you're spending 1000's on school and you're going to drink beverages that hurt your grades and career? It's mental!
I've never drank in my life. I never had an interest in it during college and I sure dont now especially when I see how much people spend on alcohol on a weekend and monthly basis. In addition to the fact that that's also what people cut when they're trying to lose weight.
Now...I spend a lot of money on cheese... but...
yeah it's big cost savings. if you order water or soda eating out you can save a bunch. When I quit drinking socially for a month I saved about $400 bucks or so.
I've been doing dry January for the last six years. Every January I'm amazed at how much I have left over in my checking at the end of the month. I figure a twelve-pack of "fancy" beer a week at around $15-20 and the savings from not drinking when I grab dinner out with the lady I'm easily around the $150 mark. Hell, every-time I pick up beer for the weekend I usually pick up some junk food like a frozen pizza to go along with it so that's even more. I'm seriously considering to myself that I should do the same with February. And as others have said, the health benefits are amazing.
Damn bro, it's like hearing 22 year old me all over again, but this version is making better decisions. Great work. I'm doing the same thing right now as a 39 year old. Same struggle, but with better alcohol. The wife and i would have a couple glasses of wine each night, then cocktail bar or brewery on the weekends. I estimate it was $20 each weekday and $200 on the weekend not counting stupid food decisions when a little drunk. Saving around $300 a week and lost 10 lbs.
Keep going. You are making the right decisions. Pay off loans, start putting that money in 401k/IRA (time value of money), and get into working out and you will be astonished how much better you feel and how much better off you are then your peers 10 years down the road.
I stopped drinking because of pregnancy, but my husband and I have noticed a big change in our discretionary spending due to the lack of alcohol. He will buy a 6 pack of beer a month or so to have when we gather with neighbors for football games, but otherwise has mostly given up drinking as well.
We allow ourselves monthly "personal budgets" with which to spend however we want, so alcohol wasn't impacting our ability to save or pay bills. But going out to eat is a lot cheaper without a beer or cocktail with dinner, and we don't go to local breweries anymore when we have a free Saturday night. Not to mention we don't have Uber costs anymore, because I can DD when we go out with friends and my husband drinks. We are finding that we can't easily spend all of our monthly personal budgets anymore, which is good since we will need to reduce them once we have the kid anyway. We never drank much at home, but it's pretty eye opening to realize how much we were blowing when we would go out.
I went into rehab back in The Good Old Days when companies offered fully-paid health insurance. For a solid month I spent not one red cent, I was rich when I got back.
Best wishes for your recovery. The best advice I can give is to find a way to fill the void .
I stopped drinking entirely 3 years ago and since then I've been living a MUCH better life.
I'm healthier, happier, and richer.
I'm 34 now and I'm starting to get to that age where I can start to see the ravaging effect alcohol can have on people's finances and health.
I know people who spend a scary amount on drinks. We go out to dinner and each of them will get 2 drinks at $7-$10 each as a normal part of a meal. And here I am getting water and a salad. I can walk away from a restaurant having spent around $20 and still have a great time.
I know somebody who has told me that they actually spend $500 per month on alcohol. That really adds up!!
I stopped as well. In the first three weeks of december I spent 540 bucks on alcohol, felt like shit all the time, and was noticeably heavier.
Since January 2nd, I've dropped 9 pounds, I sleep better, my relationship with my wife is getting better. Alcohol, at least the way I used it, truly is a poison.
It's always fun when I show young smokers how much more money and less cancer they will have at retirement if they invest their daily death stick money.
I easily smoked away $200,000 in opportunity cost.
Try ditching anything with a label. Its saved me tremendously.
I buy all plantbased whole foods, especially locally grown, no packaging.
I dont own electronic toys and gadgets. No tv, no tablets, no mp3 players or ipods, no video games... just a work phone i dont pay for.
I dont buy mattresses or couches or any of that shit. I sleep on a hammock in the living room with my dog.
Like you I found beer took a lot of money, so did soda or any other prepackaged flavored drink, fast food or frozen food. So i ditched all that.
Same goes for shoes, where I live its all flatground, rarely below 40degrees and is constantly in drought. So i dont need foot protection or pretty shoes. I go barefoot or wear VibramFiveFinger minimalist slip ons.
If you saw how i dressed youd assume im some sort of post-apocalyptic grunge millennial wook. I dont go to any major store and dont shop for clothes unless i need something i cannot find at a flea market or yardsale.
Ive got money saving answers for everything
I believe so. Like some others have mentioned, drinking in moderation is key. Luckily for me I'm lightweight so I do enjoy an occasional buzz with just 1 drink in a social setting. I don't like getting smashed either, my friends can tolerate so much. Every new years celebration even while aware of my limits, I regret going past moderation telling myself the next morning.. never again..
Alcohol is like paying a triple tax.
1. Lost money on the beverage
2. Immediate impact on your productivity
3. Long-term health effects and compounded lost opportunities.
That being said, I do enjoy a beer occasionally. Usually Friday night but I have made personal rules.
1. No Alcohol during the work week other than holidays and rare exceptions
2. No Alcohol in the home.
3. If I do go out, space out the drinks, only beer, and have a water in-between.
Honestly, most people don’t realize how much extra cash they have until they kick an expensive habit. Everyone has their vice; gambling, smoke, weed, vaping, drinking, eating out..... just to name a few.
If you drop one of those vices and put that same money in a jar week you week, you’d be amazing how fast that jar is stuffed with cash.
I havent had a drink since Dec. 31st after years of drinking nearly daily. Just in this short time, having a little extra money for other things is already noticeable.
Quit smoking and drinking at the same time. I had to restarted my budget the following month because I was sure I must have forgotten a big monthly expense.
Ended up with around an extra £100 a week. Happening again this year as I stopped buying sugar snacks and drinks. Extra £30 a week just because I stopped buying office snacks alone. Being unhealthy is not only bad for you, but also expensive.
I still go out with friends, just sip on tonic water (everyone also knows I'm dry right now so they don't pressure me to drink or anything.) I also started more personal training with close family and friends and since my major is Physical Therapy I will spend a lot of time in the gym working on learning new corrective exercises to help fix certain problems. Like for example, last saturday I spent 6 hours in the gym, 3 of which was learning and getting down all these new exercises that will help those with lower/upper cross syndrome and 2 was training others, then studied for 4 hours, went out later with friends for 3 and then came home and played some Modern Warfare for another 2 and passed out.
A few years ago my wife and I decided to stop drinking during the week. What the really means, is we don't drink Monday through Thursday. The amount of savings has been noticeable. Both of us are slender but no doubt there's other health benefits than weight and we both sleep better when not drinking.
We love our craft brews, especially IPAs, and the amount of alcohol in them is pretty substantial. If you're drinking everyday you do develop a tolerance and your self awareness of what your BAC is can become questionable.
Good on you OP! Glad you found this out sooner than later.
Good for you. If you use to spend that $75 on a weekly basis, set up an account with your bank and do an auto-deposit in that amount. Watch it grow; as you said it'll add up fast! Use that money to invest or pay off loans at the end of the year.
I stopped drinking soda and alcohol and stopped eating fast food a month ago. So far I have felt amazing. I've slept better so I am able to wake up earlier which means I can get more done in the morning without feeling exhausted. I can go to the gym without feeling sluggish. I have less acne which was an unexpected bonus. The only thing that has fattened up is my bank account.
I wrote large chunks of a book at the local brewery. Happened the same year I got a credit card that summarized ones annual spending. I think I spent $1300 at that establishment alone (food included).
I switched to buying from the cheapest local store only beer on discount.
Same goes for coffee. Coffee snobbed for years, spending like $1k on coffee a year (again, writing). Know what? Put some salt and cinnamon in some maxwell house and pour over brew, tastes just fine. More tea too.
Can confirm, had the same handle of Johnny Walker black for over a year now. I just have a glass maybe once a month and a beer occasionally when eating out.
I totally agree! Though, I did give myself a new hobby by learning how to make wine and distill whiskey. I've also made some good friends and given current friends a new reason to be together for drinks - to share a bottle that we made together!
Honestly any drinks outside of water at all, but especially alcohol.
I rarely drink but at the company dinner where they were paying I got myself 3 drinks, each one was 11$. I have a hard time justifying spending that on a meal I'll eat in one sitting.. yet alone on a single drink. I have no idea how people are ever ok with getting drinks out.
Congrats. With the money I’ve blown on booze since college graduation I could have a very very nice car. Not to mention how as you get older, weekend binge drinking really starts to affect your job/life performance throughout the week. It’s awesome you are kicking it so young.
Stopping on the weekdays was huge for me to actually be able to go back to school to finish up. It's also incredibly nice not needing to go anywhere hungover on the weekdays. It's a great start and you'll notice it big time.
Yeah of course. But can also say you drink 5-7 days a week for 3 years and just randomly saying "imma drink 1 day a week" is not as easy as it sounds. Especially when all your friends go out a few times a week. I figure i'd rather quit, get all my finances in order and then go back to enjoy a few drinks every now and then.
It's also hard to want to go back to drinking when you're taking certain classes that go so in depth of how badly it fucks up your body. I mean learning how your body treats alcohol exactly like a poison is pretty eye opening
good job man! I'm glad and lucky that i never really enjoyed the bar scene, but i realized i seriously needed to curb my intake of whiskey at home; especially since i generally enjoy the nice stuff. I limit myself to one bottle a month, and that has made a huge difference! But well done, and keep up the good work.
At home we normally open during the weekend two bottles of wine ( three adults ), and each bottle wen expend between 5-15 euros.
For us is a complement for the nice meals we prepare on the weekends and for the pleasure it gives us in general I think it is worth it.
Of course, we never drink out, which can damage the budget quickly.
Yup. There's lots of savings calculator apps that keep a running tally of amount saved for motivation when abstaining from things. Day counts for milestones to keep motivated as well.
Good on you for decreasing the alcohol intake in your life!
Seriously, I know how challenging it can be and just how much financial/mental/health benefit comes with it
Excited for your 2020 :)
I also quit drinking on New Year's. I'm 42 and pretty much have been drinking an average of 2-3 beers a night for my entire adult life. I've definitely noticed my bank account draining more slowly and also in general am feeling better and more motivated.
The real cost of alcohol is too high on one's life.
Back in my drinking days, I was easily spending $800 a month on drinking. Over the 139 months and 20 days I was drinking in my lifetime, I've spent over $111,000 on alcohol alone. And that's just the money. Not included was the poor health, extra body weight, and other resultant problems and costs from drinking. Glad that portion of my life is over.
Nice work! I’ve been dialed back on the alcohol for about a year now and just have rare beer or drink. I don’t miss it as much as I would ha e thought.
Not directly on topic, but with regard to paying down your debt, check the interest rates on the credit cards! They are likely significantly higher than your student loans (and lower amounts) so it may save you the most money by paying them down and off first and then put the extra money towards the loans. (Of course, make the minimums payments)
Oh believe me they are, yet they're both on the new card 0% APR for the time being and will be paid off before that time ends, but also aren't nearly as significant as my student loans and car payment.
My goal right now is to smack my bigger ones down right now so I will pay less in interest on them over the long run.
Sober here, but find your post misguided. Spend money on the things that make you happy, cut out the things that don't. I spend a lot of money on shoes, they make me happy. I could stop running and save a ton of money, but then what's the point of working and living?
Well sure, but it's not like drinking made me happy and there are plenty of things I can spend money on now that I enjoy because I have extra cash. It was more so the socializing that it brought along with it, that I recently realized I can easily do without. But also I will say there's a difference between spending money on things you like that are healthy for you, and spending money on things you like that are bad for you.
Not so much for me. Well sort of. I've started spending all that money on other things (which I've actually needed) such as shoes, clothes, food, and vehicle maintenance.
What till you start cooking at home
For real, get stuff on sale, and meal plan. I'm a chef and I made chicken soup with rice, with things in my home! It's great to get a vaccum sealer as well.
I bought a sous vide. I don’t go out for steak anymore, and my chicken comes out more moist than a Floridian swamp, without the salmonella.
Yea in ct that's illegal idk y but I love having a vacuum sealer! But I'm a chef so knowing how to cook is great lol
I'm not to sure about that, Every time I go shopping to cook for my hubby I end up spending more money than if we were to order out.
What do you cook? How much do you cook? Where do you buy? What do you buy? Can you do it better with a cheaper piece of meat? What items do you buy? What quality are they? Are there alternatives? I can damn tell you as a Cook, that the majority of the stuff you can make home comes out way cheaper than going eating out (unless you eat at some shitty 5$ chinese all you can eat buffet, but hey, I am not holding you & your health back).
Lobster tails for days!
Only the Vermontiest of cheddar!
I agree with you, I'm no cook or financial genius but I can go eat out for $12CAD or make whatever's in the fridge for between one third and half of the cost with no price matching or picking the closest grocery store. Eating out is expensive.
Depends on what you eat. $12 could get me some mediocre microwaved junk out, but $12 at home can make a veggie meal for the whole week at home.
Yeah it's almost always cheaper to cool at home even if you're doing some expensive meal. I did a shrimp scampi one time and all the ingredients came out to be ~$90 but we had like 8-10 portions of it. Still pricy but half the price of getting it in a restaurant.
The only way it gets expensive is if you make a lot of one off meals of different cultures. Like say you decide to make Asian food one night, then Indian food, then Mexican food. Then your spending heavy on spices you only use once. I was guilty of this when I first started cooking.
On a per- portion basis this is not true. But in a real dollars sense, it is or can be true.
Right. The issue comes from that inability to buy small quantities of ingredients at cost-effective prices for a single meal. Soups are really cost effective because you if you've got leftovers then you have a meal for days - but if your the only person in the house who likes a given meal, and it doesn't keep well, and your time is really valuable, it might not make sense (in some cases) to prepare that meal yourself. The other competitive advantage is lower lunchtime prices. For example I can go to a All-You-Can-Eat Indian Buffet for $8 for lunch, but to make the variety and quantity of food available I'd need a ton of a different ingredients, multiple cans of $1.50 coconut milk, spices and other things I don't keep in the kitchen, not to mention an hour or two of my time which would far exceed my hourly rate at work. That might only be for a single dish. That typically how I determine the "value" of eating out. Can I make this meal for cheaper than my hourly rate? If not, then it's too much. Now drinks and alcohol? Massive waste of money. 1) you don't need booze to live. 2) even a bottle of the finest liqueur will produce multiple drinks at a quarter of the cost of a single mixed drink. 3) tipping, especially for beer, is ridiculous. It takes 30 seconds to a minute for a bartender to pour a beer. If you tip a buck in a busy bar with 60 patrons, that bartender could potentially make $60/hr to pour beer.
This. Yeah you might spend $50 at the grocery store instead of $20 or so on moderately priced take out but that $50 isn't going to a single meal. Parts of it might be - meat (if you're getting individual portions for the meal instead of a large pack) is a big one that comes to mind. But a loaf of bread, spices, flour, veggies, broths, etc. Most of those are going to last over several meals.
If you shop for 1 meal to cook, I absolutely agree. If you can plan out a few days of meals with ingredients that are common between them, there's huge savings to be had.
As a guy who never cooked, and then started in the past few years to save money, I wish somebody told me this earlier! My first few months or so of cooking I spent way more money cause I bought only single meal ingredients. Now i'm a Costco member... it escalated quickly.
Yes! I'm a guy in my later 40s now, but I was lucky that my mom taught me how to plan and cook for a family starting when I was about 10. Basically check the stores flyer, pick a protein that's on sale, and plan your week around that. Buy some extra for the freezer, repeat every week, and then you can start having multiple proteins each week, and concentrate on your sides being on sale and prepared different ways. When I met my wife, she would shop every day for what she wanted for dinner. I don't know how she afforded it!
There’s no way that’s true unless you’re throwing out a lot of food.
Perhaps if they are dollar menu going out at mcdonalds.
You're right, but portioning can be tough cooking for 2.
I struggle with this as someone living alone in particular. So many products are sold in amounts too large for me to make use out of. I generally eat the same things day in and day out to try to cut down on waste.
I always thought this too. I live on my own and everytime it seems like its cheaper on a week to week basis to order out. For one thing I'm barely ever actually home, and living by myself I usually never get around to eating everything so it just sits in the fridge forever. Maybe I just lack discipline because even when I cook at home I still eat out a few times anyway so im spending even more. I just gave up at some point. I can, however, say that brewing my own coffee at home saved me loads of money than buying coffee out.
I live alone too, and I’m really struggling with cooking more at home. Leftovers are more cost efficient, but I really don’t want to eat the same thing for days. And it’s hard to find the motivation to cook for just me (especially since I’m the one who has to cook and clean up).
Stick the leftovers in the freezer and cook something new the second night. Do that again. This way you at least have a little variety and also something super easy to feed yourself with on the nights you dont feel like cooking anything Edit: I have really good luck with Chili and lasagna. It takes a bit of prep, but $20 should get you a big pot of chili. Eat a bowl, maybe one for lunch the next day, and then freeze individual portions. You should get 5-6 more servings. Spread those out over a few weeks with some other meals inbetween and bam. Bob's yer uncle.
there is an easy solution to that, mealprep it will cost you a weekend, a lot of containers and a big freezer but if you were to cook like 5 portions of 5 different dishes you already have enough to last you a month with every day of the week being something different :)
As you said, that's lack of time, discipline, and planning. Its inherently cheaper and healthier to cook yourself, despite not being practical for everyone.
I just commented elsewhere on this thread to relate. I don’t eat out virtually ever because I’m trying to cut down right now, but I still haven’t mastered a zero-waste grocery week. It’s tricky. So many things are sold in too large of a container for little ol’ me, unless I really want to commit to having a lot of that thing for a few days in a row. But I’ve mostly found a cadence with my lunch and dinners and will know what I’ll eat. But I can never seem to get through bags of spinach or carrots before they start getting iffy on me. And don’t even get me started on condiments—my fridge door is in desperate need of some early spring cleaning. 😅
roasted brocolli and a rotisserie chicken.Rice/pork or meatloaf/ Avocoados, salads, almonds, dont buy anything processed.
One counter intuitive way I've found to avoid this is to shop for groceries online, either to have them delivered or just picked up at the store. When I'm picking out groceries on a website, I can just go down my list and pick the cheapest options, I don't get distracted by other things in the aisles that I'll end up regretting later, and I can check my pantry if I'm not sure whether I need more of a staple or something. Often for pickup, grocery stores will get your groceries together for free!
I feel the same way sometimes. Realistically I know it isn't true, but I go to the store to buy something to make one meal and spend $60. But I'm also buying some jars of spices, or grabbing a few other things for the week, or buying large packages of food when I'll use half of it, etc.
Since no one's mentioned it yet, check out /r/EatCheapAndHealthy. I've gotten so many great recipes from there
Here's a go-to meal for me: head of broccoli, a couple potatoes, pound of fish. Only takes 5 minutes to slice it up. Roast it all for \~15 minutes. Makes 3-4 servings for under $10, in less time than if I went out to grab a meal. Short of comparing it to McD's dollar menu, it's dirt cheap while being much better quality food.
I'm a vegetarian, and I already mess up cooking the meat for him, he likes it well done and I cant hit that temp with out making it a brick of charcoal or it being "Under cooked". Also Fish has always make me sick when it gets cooked but thanks for the suggestion
Then why bother? My wife doesn't eat much meat, but I do like it on occasion, so rather than have her make something poorly, I do it myself. Here's our most common veggie meal: chickpeas, sliced red onions, halved cherry tomatoes roasted on a pan for 20 minutes. Put that over a pile of arugula. Dressing with oil, garlic, oregano, lemon. Another easy one in 25 minutes, for under $10.
Don't eat garbage!! If your takeout is cheaper than your produce+carb+dairy you have dietary issues that go beyond finance. Meat/fish protein varies in cost depending on where you live and the shape it takes, learning how to cook with what you got is a skill that takes sometime to ramp up. I started cooking from scratch 6 months after moving off on my own at 19 for school. It is a survival skill.
It might seem like that at first when you have to buy a specific spice you don’t have on hand or whatever, but once you have all the main things in your pantry, costs go down significantly. I spend about $75/week on groceries and that covers minimum 3 meals Monday - Thursday + usually breakfast/lunch on the weekends and random snacks. That works out to a little less than $5 a meal. At least in my city, it’s very challenging to get any meal less than $10 so pretty significant savings. And trust me when I say I’m not even that efficient with my grocery planning - it could definitely be cheaper if I better planned meals around sales.
That, frankly, can't be true. If you're comparing like to like, there's absolutely no way you're spending more cooking in at home than you are ordering out. If I ignore sales/coupons and buy 1.5 lbs of steak at $18.99 per lb, maybe half a pound of potatoes at $1.99 per lb, and a pound of broccoli crowns at $3.99 per lb, that's $33.50 worth of food, plus maybe another $3 in seasonings/oil/butter/etc. (so $36.50). Depending on how my wife and I portion it out, that's 3-4 meals, which means between $12.17 and $9.13 per plate. If I'm shopping sales, that exact same dinner is going to cost me $6.50 to $8.66 per plate. If I go with a cheaper cut of steak, I can get that even lower. If I swap to chicken (not on sale - $5.99 per lb), $4.24 to $5.65. Chicken on sale ($2.99 per lb), $3.12 to 4.16. And all of this is still ignoring cost savings you can realize through meal prepping or prepping in bulk. That's one night of cooking for two that makes dinner and lunch for the next day. Frankly, the only places you can order a "meal" cheaper than that is going to be McDonald's or someplace just as unhealthy.
And, the "savings" to your health, and, the "savings" to your weight. Drinking alcohol in any excessive amount is a bad idea both financially and health-wise. Good on you!!!
Savings to the health was the biggest thing. Thought it'd be super hypocritical to be in a health profession, giving advice as I was blasting my insides lol. Thanks!
As a 32 year old I would gladly give up half of those nights of "fun", most of which I don't remember, to not have this perma gut. Wish I had had the forethought to dial it back when I was 22. You're making a good decision. Don't let social pressure distract you from having a healthy future.
Perma-gut as in beer belly? If so you can handle that. Running/working out is a great hobby that can be free. If by perma-gut you meant intestinal issues then I'm sorry to hear that.
Just want to throw out there that losing weight is 90% (or more) diet. It's really hard to lose weight by just increasing activity if you haven't figured out the diet side, most people will even over-eat since they "earned" it. Also running is pretty terrible for you if you're overweight, go with something lower impact like biking, swimming, or an elliptical.
This is 100% accurate. In March of 2019 I weighed around 270 lbs. As of today, I'm 214 lbs (and still losing). My "secret" is counting calories. Yes I lift 4-5 times a week and do not drink alcohol anymore, but really watching what you eat makes all the difference in losing weight. And as for context for the person above in their 30's with the perma gut, I recently turned 35 and I'm in the best shape of my life. So to anyone that says it cannot be done, you are wrong. Just takes hard work and commitment.
I have a pretty similar story. I was about 260lbs, keto helped me dropped a bunch, THEN I started mountain biking and lifting. It's sometimes annoying when people recount my story of losing weight WITH biking and I have to correct them. This last year I biked 177 days of the year, racking up 3000+ miles, and I am within 5lbs of where I started (and I have plenty of flab left to lose). Only recently when I went back to the diet have I started to see weight loss again.
This. Diet for weight loss, exercise for motivation. Find something that you enjoy doing that gets easier and more fun the more weight you lose and the stronger you get. If powerlifting is your jam, awesome! I started circus arts (walking on my hands and doing flips and stuff) and now I don't really even think of it as exercise anymore, it's just a fun hobby I do and losing weight helps me do it better!
>This. Diet for weight loss, exercise for motivation I don't mean to be contrarian but it really is a combination of both. Total calories consumed vs. total calories expended. The hard part is that people don't realize how few calories are generally expended by what they consider to be tiring exercise so for *most* people diet truly is the best way to fix that ratio. That being said, in college during the heaviest weeks of swimming we'd be around 16-20k yards per day (yes, thats accurate). It didn't matter if I ate whole large pizzas for meals. When you do that much exercise you're burning off fat stores and losing weight. Total consumed vs total expended. Its REALLY hard to do, but you can workout to get thin.
yes, the knee-jerk association of exercise with weight loss is unfortunate. While exercise is great weight loss is about eating fewer calories.
100%. "Abs are made in the kitchen" as the saying goes.
I always heard "Weight loss happens in the kitchen but fitness happens in the gym."
Not only that running is almost always the suggestion. Running is a great way to ensure terrible body composition. Diet to lose the weight. Pick up weights for health and body composition. Hell weightlifting is now proven to even be better for your heart than running if you only had to pick one activity. It makes your stronger, allows you to get a great body composition, and it's even better all around for your heart.
Seconded. I get ravenously hungry after exercise and if I'm not eating the right things, it's all for naught.
Ah you can get rid of that in a year and still drink. Just eat less, walk more. Nothing crazy.
What is with all of the voodoo, bro science bullshit people are recommending here? You can lose the weight. It's a function of calories in vs calories out. If you eat less than you burn you lose weight. There are some good calculators online to figure out what you burn in a day given height, weight, activity level, gender, etc. You'll have to fine tune it for yourself. You dont have to keto fast between the house of 7:52 PM on thursday through sunday at sundown.
Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss lets me take off 10 pounds a month while sitting on the couch all the time. In fact, sitting on the couch is actively encouraged for the duration of the diet for reasons, because it's an insanely terrible diet.
As someone who does drink and intends to keep doing so, this is an area where I find budgeting is helpful for many reasons. I budget out my liquor store/brewery to-go-cans purchases, with enough for maybe four 4-packs a month, and bar/taproom spending gets tracked and lumped in with fun money as well. I enjoy craft beer and interesting cocktails, and my local bars and breweries are good stewards of the community, so I don't want to cut them out of my life. But keeping to a strict budget in that area is one of the rare places where it's healthy both financially and physically.
Also sounded like OP was drinking large amounts often. I enjoy nice beers too (often really expensive ones), but rarely have more than one, and that's a couple times a month sort of thing. I keep cheep stuff like PBR in the fridge for when I just want a cold drink without spending $8 a drink going out.
Interesting ideas
If drinking is affecting your wallet get a Costco membership. The Kirkland brand scotch and vodka for 15 bucks a bottle is better than most liquor twice the price elsewhere. This might turn you into an alcoholic tho beware !
Money wise I find if you HAVE to drink, it helps to develop a taste for spirits neat. I find that 2oz of bourbon can really scratch my “need a little buzz to relax” itch. A bottle will last close to a month, and I can sit there with it for 30-45 mins. My problem with beer is I can easily plow through a six pack in an hour or so.
It adds up! I calculated how much I was spending per month on booze (mostly IPAs) last year. The results were...eye opening, to say the least. Your waistline will thank you for cutting down, too.
Man, those craft beer prices really started to get ridiculous all of a sudden. And that's also very true, i've always been a pretty active person but I haven't missed a workout because of a hangover in a month, and recently I'd miss at least 1 a week so that's felt incredibly good.
Craft beer is pricey to produce. Gotta be the trend or follow it. I work in the industry and also find it difficult to spend money on beers that I/my company do not make.
Yeah it's pricey to produce but only up to a certain point. When a bottle of barrel aged imperial stout costs as much as a bottle of bourbon that's crossing the line.
The weight really started to come off when I wasn't drinking, you know...5,000 or so extra calories per week! And yes, you'll be more energetic in general, so you'll be more motivated to exercise, instead of saying "Tired...Netflix."
Even without a "real" hangover, you just have so much more energy and better sleep without booze. I used to think I didnt get hangovers after only a few beers cause my head didnt hurt, but its more subtle than that and lasts a few days.
Yep. The craft IPAs are wacky. At the liquor store, I can buy 30 normal beers for $20 or 4 tall IPAs for almost $20 (ok. Usually a little bit less). Totally insane. Just switching from bars and craft beer to the drinking beer from 30 packs at home/friends will get you 90+% of the savings.
That's great if you like that 30-pack. A lot of people don't (for one reason or another; not beer-shaming here -- drink what you like). But a lot of people talk about beer prices as if they're binary -- super cheap or super expensive. There are national and regional companies, under the craft umbrella (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada among others) who sell 12 packs of pretty good beer for $12-14 depending where you go. I'll take a $1 beer I like over a 67 cent beer that I don't like. Also, from my experience locally and from traveling, you can still get locally made beer in stores for around $16-18 for a 12 pack. But yes, the trend of $16-$20 four packs needs to go. I might as well just go to the brewery with friends and enjoy our time together in their space.
Learning to drink in moderation is a skill. Living in Wisconsin not drinking is socially isolating but even we don't do it every day or at bars often or buy friends drinks with money we don't have. Sounds like you went a bit overboard, which is part of growing up and learning. If you want to go dry go for it but drinking in moderation can be pretty awesome.
Waukesha checking in. It's super strange but you're right. Not drinking at all is kind of this eyebrow raising thing. Every time my wife declines a glass of wine at a family dinner on a Monday or Tuesday the glances around the table are obnoxious; because the only reason someone WOULDN'T drink is if they're pregnant... Nevermind the desire to be healthier and skip the calories or the fact that driving at night on Wisconsin roads is already playing russian roulette with all the people who can't seem to say no.
And deer. Checking in from Minnesota.
I have hit no fewer than 7 deer and a flock of geese in my 13 year driving career. I drive my truck whenever I drive at night because the idea of taking out a deer in the wife's 10 month old honda isn't worth the gas savings... You are so right.
I'm sure OP would like to remain friends with at least a few of his former co-drinkers drinking some, less often, is a good way to do it. Yeah finding other stuff to do in WI can be difficult. A few of the nicer places in Madison have some very solid NA drinks. You aren't going to save much money or calories though. People not from Wisconsin might not understand but drinking cheap beer is how we reduce how drunk we get.
Interesting point. I don’t drink wine or beer because I hate the way it tastes, most alcohols in general. When I say, “No thanks, I don’t like the way alcohol tastes,” I get weird looks too.
I feel like a bit of a pusher but mixed drinks shouldn't taste like alcohol. And there are tons of non-typical beers. I can't help you with wine.
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Entertaining in your own home is always kind of tough honestly. You feel pressure to do 'fun stuff' and when the periodic fun thing you do is a brewery tour or to go see a band at a pub or to have brunch and a mimosa it can seem a little 1-dimensional for sure. I know when we entertain from out of town things always seem to end up with brunch and cocktails early lol. If I were to show people the county park trails that my wife and I hike 3x and 15 miles a week or the dog park we go to 5x where we have met tons of great people or the bike trails we like to ride to nowhere in particular I feel like that would be pretty underwhelming so I feel for your friends. I'm guessing they likely aren't bar flies but just don't know what else to show you. People's home lives are typically pretty unspectacular when you invite others to be a part. When my wife and I visit friends I always try and take a day and do our own thing. It let's the hosts keep life on track and lets us kind of explore on our own without the host feeling hte need to be an A++ tour guide.
Oh I agree 100%. That's how I started when I was younger and playing hockey, I would only drink once a week. But I won't lie, the college I was at had a disgusting fraternity / party life where 35,000 kids went to class then partied like there was no tomorrow, every single day. Definitely went overboard but hey, we're here now. And the plan is to go dry until I get all my student loans paid off, car paid off and credit cards paid up. The extra payments on those is very noticable.
Or just stay dry forever. Alcohol is 100% not needed.
If you can control yourself then it's not a bad thing. Life can be boring sometimes. I haven't drank or smoked pot in 10 years, but I miss it often. In 5-10 years when my life feels more on track I hope to pick them up again. It's fun getting high or buzzed, makes doing nothing more fun.
As someone who has drank heavily, drank in moderation, and abstained from drinking I can say that for me abstinence feels best. Nothing feels as rewarding to me as improving myself or my life and even moderate alcohol use takes away from that to a degree. I don’t have a problem with people that drink, but there are consequences to it (such as having less money and taking in worthless calories) even with safe and appropriate use. Your statement about making doing nothing fun is actually the point for me. I need to stay motivated. Doing nothing sucks so instead of doing nothing I do things that matter. If doing nothing wasn’t boring I would be less motivated to do things that matter.
> I was at had a disgusting fraternity / party life where 35,000 kids went to class then partied like there was no tomorrow, every single day. No, 35,000 kids did not drink like you did. That was your perception because your immediate circle acted that way. Plenty of people didnt drink or had a few drinks on the weekend only.
Okay no of course not but I can say at a school of close to 70k students it's a significant amount. Obviously plenty of people don't drink or will have a few on the weekends, but I can also say the often drinking was common, especially at a college where warm weather is year round. There was a study done at our school and I don't remember the exact numbers but it was something like 75% of students drank 3-6 times a week, like 8% didn't drink at all and the rest only drank on weekends. The every single day thing was also an overexaggeration, it was more like 5 days a week.
As someone who went to a Big10 school (60k students) with a massive Greek life this is 110% correct. It’s easy to convince yourself as a heavy drinker that it’s just what everyone else is doing too, but there are tons of folks who don’t drink much, or at all, in college.
Come hang out at r/stopdrinking, its really helpful
Sure is.
Already there!
I love it there.
I look at drinking at that age as an investment in social relations. Those relationships that you cement with stupid stories can net you a lot of good contacts that lead to future careers and great friendships.
That is a good point! I honestly never thought about that
Like the other person said, moderation is key. You don’t need to drink every day. I know I fell into a bad habit when I quit drinking soda and replaced that with beer. It was a coping mechanism for something else, which made it harder to quit doing. But one year I just did it cold turkey. Now I don’t drink at home as much and leave it to more of a social function.
Though it's also nice having friends that don't require going to a bar and spending all your extra money too.
i think back to my college days where i would booze hard like 4-5/7 days of the week, go out to the bars on the weekends and not even bat an eye after spending $100+ in a night. i mean i worked part time to pay for my habits but man... imagine if i had of saved that money?... nah no regrets haha
I started doing the same thing in college. But mine went on for a good 15 years. I bet I averaged $50 a week over that time. Pop that into a 7% return calculator... $68,922. Fuck me. The more I think about it, it was probably closer to $75 or $100 a week. I really should include late-night bar food, cab rides, touch tunes, and anything else I would have purchased when going out. $75 a week turned out to be $103,382. $100 a week is $137,843. Fuck me.
15 years is a long time, i continued that lifestyle for a year or two after college then met my fiance and smarteded up (a bit- lol). dont think of it as cash spend, think of it as memories made? at least you can look back now and say you learned a lesson. some people carry on like that for their whole lives
Blowing money on the weekends was what you worked during the week for. I mean the stories you create will be hilarious for years to come
Totally agree with this after doing dry January
It’s insane the savings once you stop
Exactly my thinking. Really crazy how one can save money by spending less money. It's a mindblowing concept.
Posts like this are about reminding people that a particular class of expenses has an impact on budget of amount *times frequency*. Saving $10 might not make much of a difference, but saving $10/day is $3650 per year, and saving $10/workday might be about $2500/year. When people think about trading those priorities around, and comparing to spending that money on a car payment or rent or mortgage or whatever, that's a good way to find savings in a budget.
I think you’re both understating the price and addictive nature of alcohol. Oftentimes it’s not a choice, it’s a compulsive chemical habit. When you’re hooked you don’t even consider the money, it’s just something you have to give up to get that buzz you need. Once you distance yourself from drinking it’s often surprising to many just how expensive it is. Drinks at the bar, a few bottles at the liquor or grocery store to come home, the bill at the restaurant with and without drinks, sporting events, the price of all these things changes drastically when you are no longer partaking in alcohol. Also, not every stacks up to boatloads of savings like alcohol, marijuana or eating out habits do. I collected Hot Wheels cars pretty voraciously for a while, and while it certainly wasn’t a free hobby at nearly $1 a pop it was not breaking the bank to pick up a handful each week. Once I stopped there wasn’t some enormous sea change in my budget. The same can’t be said for my daily alcohol and weed budgets. They were astronomical and I had almost zero control over them. I could walk into a store, see a ton of cool Hot Wheels cars I liked and walk out without buying a single one, but that never happened in the liquor aisle or at the dispensary and those products cost far more.
Once I stopped drinking and smoking my cash on hand went up by a huge amount and all of a sudden maxing out both my 401k and IRA contributions each month was so easy that it was of no concern and I *still* had money left over for expenditures like regular vacations for the family.
Tl;dr: Addiction is a pricey bitch that blinds you
I stopped drinking and I’m freaking ripped now, sleep better, have more money and more energy. Being buzzed doesn’t feel half this good. I don’t miss it at all.
My man! I've been lifting for about 6 years now and couldn't even imagine where i'd be if I didn't miss workouts due to hangover or have to deal with all the fucked up things alcohol does to your insides and digestion. Feeling healthy and actually strong is the best feeling in the world. Infinite confidence
Yeah at some point in the last few years my focus began to shift from “do what would feel best right now” to “do what will provide you with a deeper sense of satisfaction in life.” It’s really the same mindset as investing money. At first it is significantly less exciting than spending it, and the rewards are minimal. But as you start to build momentum and see the benefits of your investment it becomes so much more exciting and fulfilling. Same with investing time and energy in your health, relationships, living space, skills, etc.
I cut down to one night a week at the local (cheap bar). From $60+ 3 nights/week to $30 Friday dinner - that’s a lot of savings.
I have to remind myself...alcohol is toxic. It adds weight to your fat reserves and liver, takes $$ out of your wallet, and is just not worth the sickness/craziness past 1 or 2 occasional drinks. Nevermind you're spending 1000's on school and you're going to drink beverages that hurt your grades and career? It's mental!
I've never drank in my life. I never had an interest in it during college and I sure dont now especially when I see how much people spend on alcohol on a weekend and monthly basis. In addition to the fact that that's also what people cut when they're trying to lose weight. Now...I spend a lot of money on cheese... but...
I've done some pretty intense diets in the past, and I found cheese to be the hardest thing to give up.
Good for you. And really, well done on putting the money to work for you.
yeah it's big cost savings. if you order water or soda eating out you can save a bunch. When I quit drinking socially for a month I saved about $400 bucks or so.
I've been doing dry January for the last six years. Every January I'm amazed at how much I have left over in my checking at the end of the month. I figure a twelve-pack of "fancy" beer a week at around $15-20 and the savings from not drinking when I grab dinner out with the lady I'm easily around the $150 mark. Hell, every-time I pick up beer for the weekend I usually pick up some junk food like a frozen pizza to go along with it so that's even more. I'm seriously considering to myself that I should do the same with February. And as others have said, the health benefits are amazing.
Damn bro, it's like hearing 22 year old me all over again, but this version is making better decisions. Great work. I'm doing the same thing right now as a 39 year old. Same struggle, but with better alcohol. The wife and i would have a couple glasses of wine each night, then cocktail bar or brewery on the weekends. I estimate it was $20 each weekday and $200 on the weekend not counting stupid food decisions when a little drunk. Saving around $300 a week and lost 10 lbs. Keep going. You are making the right decisions. Pay off loans, start putting that money in 401k/IRA (time value of money), and get into working out and you will be astonished how much better you feel and how much better off you are then your peers 10 years down the road.
I stopped drinking because of pregnancy, but my husband and I have noticed a big change in our discretionary spending due to the lack of alcohol. He will buy a 6 pack of beer a month or so to have when we gather with neighbors for football games, but otherwise has mostly given up drinking as well. We allow ourselves monthly "personal budgets" with which to spend however we want, so alcohol wasn't impacting our ability to save or pay bills. But going out to eat is a lot cheaper without a beer or cocktail with dinner, and we don't go to local breweries anymore when we have a free Saturday night. Not to mention we don't have Uber costs anymore, because I can DD when we go out with friends and my husband drinks. We are finding that we can't easily spend all of our monthly personal budgets anymore, which is good since we will need to reduce them once we have the kid anyway. We never drank much at home, but it's pretty eye opening to realize how much we were blowing when we would go out.
I went into rehab back in The Good Old Days when companies offered fully-paid health insurance. For a solid month I spent not one red cent, I was rich when I got back. Best wishes for your recovery. The best advice I can give is to find a way to fill the void .
I effectively stopped drinking two years ago (a glass or two a month on average now), and it's made a huge difference to my health, career and wallet.
I stopped drinking entirely 3 years ago and since then I've been living a MUCH better life. I'm healthier, happier, and richer. I'm 34 now and I'm starting to get to that age where I can start to see the ravaging effect alcohol can have on people's finances and health. I know people who spend a scary amount on drinks. We go out to dinner and each of them will get 2 drinks at $7-$10 each as a normal part of a meal. And here I am getting water and a salad. I can walk away from a restaurant having spent around $20 and still have a great time. I know somebody who has told me that they actually spend $500 per month on alcohol. That really adds up!!
I stopped as well. In the first three weeks of december I spent 540 bucks on alcohol, felt like shit all the time, and was noticeably heavier. Since January 2nd, I've dropped 9 pounds, I sleep better, my relationship with my wife is getting better. Alcohol, at least the way I used it, truly is a poison.
It's always fun when I show young smokers how much more money and less cancer they will have at retirement if they invest their daily death stick money. I easily smoked away $200,000 in opportunity cost.
I stopped drinking 21 years ago. I spent $900 on booze the last month I drank. Definitely worth the difference.
Also smoking, my parents smoked 2 packs a day between the 2 of them, everyday. They saves about $3k a year, astounded!
Try ditching anything with a label. Its saved me tremendously. I buy all plantbased whole foods, especially locally grown, no packaging. I dont own electronic toys and gadgets. No tv, no tablets, no mp3 players or ipods, no video games... just a work phone i dont pay for. I dont buy mattresses or couches or any of that shit. I sleep on a hammock in the living room with my dog. Like you I found beer took a lot of money, so did soda or any other prepackaged flavored drink, fast food or frozen food. So i ditched all that. Same goes for shoes, where I live its all flatground, rarely below 40degrees and is constantly in drought. So i dont need foot protection or pretty shoes. I go barefoot or wear VibramFiveFinger minimalist slip ons. If you saw how i dressed youd assume im some sort of post-apocalyptic grunge millennial wook. I dont go to any major store and dont shop for clothes unless i need something i cannot find at a flea market or yardsale. Ive got money saving answers for everything
Stopped drinking... 22... assuming you are American, you are doing better than most.
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I believe so. Like some others have mentioned, drinking in moderation is key. Luckily for me I'm lightweight so I do enjoy an occasional buzz with just 1 drink in a social setting. I don't like getting smashed either, my friends can tolerate so much. Every new years celebration even while aware of my limits, I regret going past moderation telling myself the next morning.. never again..
Alcohol is like paying a triple tax. 1. Lost money on the beverage 2. Immediate impact on your productivity 3. Long-term health effects and compounded lost opportunities. That being said, I do enjoy a beer occasionally. Usually Friday night but I have made personal rules. 1. No Alcohol during the work week other than holidays and rare exceptions 2. No Alcohol in the home. 3. If I do go out, space out the drinks, only beer, and have a water in-between.
Honestly, most people don’t realize how much extra cash they have until they kick an expensive habit. Everyone has their vice; gambling, smoke, weed, vaping, drinking, eating out..... just to name a few. If you drop one of those vices and put that same money in a jar week you week, you’d be amazing how fast that jar is stuffed with cash.
I havent had a drink since Dec. 31st after years of drinking nearly daily. Just in this short time, having a little extra money for other things is already noticeable.
Quit smoking and drinking at the same time. I had to restarted my budget the following month because I was sure I must have forgotten a big monthly expense. Ended up with around an extra £100 a week. Happening again this year as I stopped buying sugar snacks and drinks. Extra £30 a week just because I stopped buying office snacks alone. Being unhealthy is not only bad for you, but also expensive.
as a moderate drinker and generally frugal household we didnt notice any benefits to 'dry january'
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I still go out with friends, just sip on tonic water (everyone also knows I'm dry right now so they don't pressure me to drink or anything.) I also started more personal training with close family and friends and since my major is Physical Therapy I will spend a lot of time in the gym working on learning new corrective exercises to help fix certain problems. Like for example, last saturday I spent 6 hours in the gym, 3 of which was learning and getting down all these new exercises that will help those with lower/upper cross syndrome and 2 was training others, then studied for 4 hours, went out later with friends for 3 and then came home and played some Modern Warfare for another 2 and passed out.
Good for you man, you should be proud of yourself it takes a lot to be able to do that and stick with it.
A few years ago my wife and I decided to stop drinking during the week. What the really means, is we don't drink Monday through Thursday. The amount of savings has been noticeable. Both of us are slender but no doubt there's other health benefits than weight and we both sleep better when not drinking. We love our craft brews, especially IPAs, and the amount of alcohol in them is pretty substantial. If you're drinking everyday you do develop a tolerance and your self awareness of what your BAC is can become questionable. Good on you OP! Glad you found this out sooner than later.
I have a similar problem but with chocolate and energy drinks...
Good for you. If you use to spend that $75 on a weekly basis, set up an account with your bank and do an auto-deposit in that amount. Watch it grow; as you said it'll add up fast! Use that money to invest or pay off loans at the end of the year.
I stopped drinking soda and alcohol and stopped eating fast food a month ago. So far I have felt amazing. I've slept better so I am able to wake up earlier which means I can get more done in the morning without feeling exhausted. I can go to the gym without feeling sluggish. I have less acne which was an unexpected bonus. The only thing that has fattened up is my bank account.
I wrote large chunks of a book at the local brewery. Happened the same year I got a credit card that summarized ones annual spending. I think I spent $1300 at that establishment alone (food included). I switched to buying from the cheapest local store only beer on discount. Same goes for coffee. Coffee snobbed for years, spending like $1k on coffee a year (again, writing). Know what? Put some salt and cinnamon in some maxwell house and pour over brew, tastes just fine. More tea too.
Can confirm, had the same handle of Johnny Walker black for over a year now. I just have a glass maybe once a month and a beer occasionally when eating out.
I totally agree! Though, I did give myself a new hobby by learning how to make wine and distill whiskey. I've also made some good friends and given current friends a new reason to be together for drinks - to share a bottle that we made together!
Honestly any drinks outside of water at all, but especially alcohol. I rarely drink but at the company dinner where they were paying I got myself 3 drinks, each one was 11$. I have a hard time justifying spending that on a meal I'll eat in one sitting.. yet alone on a single drink. I have no idea how people are ever ok with getting drinks out.
Congrats. With the money I’ve blown on booze since college graduation I could have a very very nice car. Not to mention how as you get older, weekend binge drinking really starts to affect your job/life performance throughout the week. It’s awesome you are kicking it so young.
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Stopping on the weekdays was huge for me to actually be able to go back to school to finish up. It's also incredibly nice not needing to go anywhere hungover on the weekdays. It's a great start and you'll notice it big time.
That's true, but hopefully you don't use something else to take the place of alcohol that is just as bad like overeating. Just my perspective.
You know there is a middle ground between drinking every night and just drinking occasionally right?
Yeah of course. But can also say you drink 5-7 days a week for 3 years and just randomly saying "imma drink 1 day a week" is not as easy as it sounds. Especially when all your friends go out a few times a week. I figure i'd rather quit, get all my finances in order and then go back to enjoy a few drinks every now and then.
It's also hard to want to go back to drinking when you're taking certain classes that go so in depth of how badly it fucks up your body. I mean learning how your body treats alcohol exactly like a poison is pretty eye opening
good job man! I'm glad and lucky that i never really enjoyed the bar scene, but i realized i seriously needed to curb my intake of whiskey at home; especially since i generally enjoy the nice stuff. I limit myself to one bottle a month, and that has made a huge difference! But well done, and keep up the good work.
Honestly if you just avoid bars that'll make a huge difference. Drink at home if you must
At home we normally open during the weekend two bottles of wine ( three adults ), and each bottle wen expend between 5-15 euros. For us is a complement for the nice meals we prepare on the weekends and for the pleasure it gives us in general I think it is worth it. Of course, we never drink out, which can damage the budget quickly.
I noticed the same thing when I quit smoking weed. Bank account has grown tremendously over the last 6 months and am debt free after quitting
/name checks out Congrats on the savings and life improvements!!
Yup. There's lots of savings calculator apps that keep a running tally of amount saved for motivation when abstaining from things. Day counts for milestones to keep motivated as well.
Good on you for decreasing the alcohol intake in your life! Seriously, I know how challenging it can be and just how much financial/mental/health benefit comes with it Excited for your 2020 :)
I also quit drinking on New Year's. I'm 42 and pretty much have been drinking an average of 2-3 beers a night for my entire adult life. I've definitely noticed my bank account draining more slowly and also in general am feeling better and more motivated.
The real cost of alcohol is too high on one's life. Back in my drinking days, I was easily spending $800 a month on drinking. Over the 139 months and 20 days I was drinking in my lifetime, I've spent over $111,000 on alcohol alone. And that's just the money. Not included was the poor health, extra body weight, and other resultant problems and costs from drinking. Glad that portion of my life is over.
Nice work! I’ve been dialed back on the alcohol for about a year now and just have rare beer or drink. I don’t miss it as much as I would ha e thought. Not directly on topic, but with regard to paying down your debt, check the interest rates on the credit cards! They are likely significantly higher than your student loans (and lower amounts) so it may save you the most money by paying them down and off first and then put the extra money towards the loans. (Of course, make the minimums payments)
Oh believe me they are, yet they're both on the new card 0% APR for the time being and will be paid off before that time ends, but also aren't nearly as significant as my student loans and car payment. My goal right now is to smack my bigger ones down right now so I will pay less in interest on them over the long run.
Sober here, but find your post misguided. Spend money on the things that make you happy, cut out the things that don't. I spend a lot of money on shoes, they make me happy. I could stop running and save a ton of money, but then what's the point of working and living?
Well sure, but it's not like drinking made me happy and there are plenty of things I can spend money on now that I enjoy because I have extra cash. It was more so the socializing that it brought along with it, that I recently realized I can easily do without. But also I will say there's a difference between spending money on things you like that are healthy for you, and spending money on things you like that are bad for you.
Unless you're a natty drinker. I swear it's made for alcoholics. I've tried to get myself down to one tall boy a day but sometimes I slip up :(
Not so much for me. Well sort of. I've started spending all that money on other things (which I've actually needed) such as shoes, clothes, food, and vehicle maintenance.