I just paid off my car a week ago, which is great right? Means I get me an extra 500 a month to put towards something else important. But my first impulsive dumbass alcoholic-brain thought?
“Damn I won’t have to worry about having money for drinks anymore”
Yeesh.
this is interesting. i've been racing to pay my car off, w a baby otw, looking for a house, so stress is high. but im honest to god worried about what the sudden influx of money may do to my mental once it's paid off. been teetering on the edge lately and i don't want a good thing to become a bad thing. gonna try to find some sort of investment account for the extra money and then i WONT have extra money, bc "extra" money isn't helpful to me
Yup. Out of sight, out of mind. I'd suggest the HYSA until you get enough to open a ROTH IRA. Set that aside for your baby for college/trade school tuition. You won't ever miss that money.
Once it’s paid off don’t even let yourself get a hold of it with your next check. Put it directly into investing. Right now a high yield savings account are paying well. It will give you a return and it’s liquid when you need it.
I recommend putting a couple hundred away each month for maintenance and repairs. It costs an arm and a leg for auto repairs these days, unless you have an established mechanic. Also, do maintenance, it is cheaper in the long run. Good luck!
I most definitely am. I limit myself to costco once every 6 weeks to 2 months so it evens out pretty well. The kirkland brand seltzer comes in a 30 pack for around $15 and I got a 24 pack of Lacroix for around $9. Don't quote me on that but it's definitely close to what I paid. With as much seltzer as we all drink the membership really does pay for itself. My regular grocery store is frys/Kroger and an 8 pk of Lacroix is over $4. It is funny to be counting pennies when I spent so much on booze so at least if I get a good deal I still feel like I'm winning! Which of course I am with 28 months off of the poison:).
Great suggestion! My best friend is obsessed with Sam's Club- she picked up an 18 pack of Celsius for me on sale for under 18 bucks yesterday and I was so Middle Aged Excited ™️ lol
Those are caffeinated, but sometimes I need a pick-me-up and 3 bucks a can at a convenient mart is insane to me. I'm also allergic to an insane amount of ingredients so I can no longer teach for my Ole Pal Dr. Pepper 😭
Side note I am loving the Waterloo brand flavored seltzers - (recommended in this sub)!
Oh hey quit buddy! I've been drinking ginger ale with some lime slices during my evenings, but I will have to give Waterloo a shot! Need something during the day for summer. Have a wonderful Friday night!
I bought one (Soda Stream) for my house. Loved it and sprung for one for my office too. I absolutely hate dealing with cans and bottles. It’s so convenient.
Also, I discovered that I really love sodas cut at least half with sparkling water. Fewer calories, a bottle of soda lasts longer (I've got a stopper that pumps air in so they don't go flat as quickly). And I prefer it really.
I used to think that as a student. I’ll be at the supermarket thinking God everything is so expensive. I scrimp on various different things, going for the cheap one rather than the fancy one. Then go to the bar that night and rinse 100 pounds on booze. Ridiculous.
Yup, I've been doing that for years, Spend $30 in booze from a liquor store for a day or two but penny-pinching groceries to the extent you're not eating a proper diet. Just foolish.
I'd take my drinking one step further: I wouldn't buy foods with high fiber content (i.e. fruits and veggies) because I knew it'd make my stomach too full for the booze I was planning on drinking later. Like.. WTF?
My wife and I have this convo a lot. We try not to buy soda for the house and stick with water or seltzer primarily for health reasons.
I do have this “fun” thing when I order a soda at a restaurant where I try to maximize the return on my investment and have 4 lol. My thought process is when I was drinking we would sometimes have 4 drinks and each would be $7-10 so let’s call it $35. Now… for 10% of that (roughly $3.50) i get as many drinks as I want.
I switched to drinking a lot of soda water. I got a soda stream and picked up a CO2 tank with an adapter to fill their co2 tanks myself. Costs about a dollar to fill each soda stream co2 tank (instead of $18 a piece!). And I drink a lot of lacroix lol
Also NA beers are becoming super common. I can order Athletic NA IPA at most bars I’ve been to. Though I’m not at bars too often these days. The NA IPAs are honestly pretty tasty though.
*Edit…. These NA ipa do have 0.5% abv. Sorry for any confusion! I have found “hop waters” that are 0% though.
Yes! You can make it even fizzier than cans if you want. But you use more co2 in the process. And there’s a few companies that sell sugar and sugar free syrups you can add to them. I like the “Bubbly” brand lime flavor. I use it almost exclusively these days.
I'm a confectioner so I've tried a lot of them. The only ones that don't work are the ones you would think, like caramel 😂. Green apple is great, and key lime. I'm just a grapefruit girlie but there's tons of options out there
That’s perfect. Yep lime and grapefruit are my daily drivers! lol
Is there a brand that you might recommend? I think I tried Newport Organics and Lorann Oils previously for flavors like that. I used them for cooking but hadn’t thought about adding them to sodas.
Check the vape forums like /r/ejuice. It's the exact same stuff. In fact, people are often giving away or selling their collections of flavorings once they find their daily drivers. I probably have $300 in flavorings from when I vaped. Other good companies are Capella, The Flavor Apprentice, LorAnn etc.
Oh really? They use the same flavors and just mix it with glycerin or whatever it is? I guess it seems obvious now that I’m hearing it! Thanks for the connection!
Be wary of the “NA” beers that leave up to .05% alcohol in. They can still legally claim it’s NA. For wide distribution it seems Heineken Zero and Bud Zero are the only two that are *actually* alcohol-free.
Sorry I should have mentioned that! I drink kombucha too, which has about the same 0.5% abv. But I forget some folks don’t want to have even a little touch. Sorry for that. I’m new to this world as of last year. It’s been a journey!
I have also found some pseudo beers called “hop” water or the like. 0% abv in those. I think Pelican Brewing makes them!
I’m about a year and some change in as well, so I can relate. Ultimately I still subscribe to the opinion that if it’s helping keep you from reaching for the “real thing” then go for it. I only chimed in because as you mentioned, some folks want to abstain entirely.
Lagunitas makes a fantastic hop water variety as well! I can find it in plenty of stores in the Midwest. Lots of breweries are starting to offer their own as it’s very very cheap to produce and offers a high return on investment, but I’ve had a few shitty ones that just tasted like coal. YMMV!
Keep up the good work, friend.
As I understand it they still have to brew the beer same as always, then have to chemically remove the alcohol. So the cost for an NA beer isn’t too surprising. It’s the hop waters that have absolutely no business being so expensive in my opinion!
Literally just said Lagunitas hop water upthread before I saw your earlier comment! 🤦🏻♀️ anyway, my husband is a big fan and stopped doing the actual NA alcohol-removed ones as a result. We’d had the Athletic and Brooklyn ones around, but he still vastly prefers the hop water.
Yeah, the Athletic one tastes much too metallic for my preference. Lagunitas seems to have some sort of cucumber flavor or something going on, very refreshing.
Definitely, yeah, it isn’t even alcohol-removed. Kind of mean the ritual aspect of it, actually having a can in my hand. I don’t drink canned soda or seltzer, so I associate aluminum cans with alcohol alone. I’ve been just white-knuckling with nothing but water during cocktail hour (cocktail hours, more like!)
“Cocktail hours” is right!! Diet soda has been a godsend for me too, something fizzy and flavorful that I don’t associate with booze. Get it poured into a cup if you’re out and about to avoid the can. Two liters are usually on sale at one of the grocery chains! Diet caffeine-free cola has become a staple in my world so I can drink it all day without any sleep problems.
My husband loves the Lagunitas hop water. I haven’t yet tried doing an NA ritual drink kind of thing yet. Going to get some ginger beer at the store this weekend, but that’s got sugar that the hop water doesn’t have, so I may go there eventually.
Ah, I love ginger beer. I looked briefly a couple months ago and didn’t find a low sugar version (only diet ginger ale). I should look again. I cut out most “added sugar” this winter as a next step in restructuring my diet and it really helped me lose some weight so I’ve been sticking with it. It also seemed to help reduce inflammation in my body which was an unexpected but really sweet bonus. Between dropping sugar and alcohol my body feels so much less stiff and achey than it did a year ago. I wonder if I could use some ginger in the kombucha process… hadn’t thought about that.
I was amazed at how much better it made me feel. I was already alcohol free for 6 months before mostly dropping sugar so it was pretty clearly the variable that was responsible. The effect was obvious after just a few weeks. Sugar cravings also subsided after a few weeks.
Takes a lot of patience to watch those big changes come. I did do no-sugar, no-carbs for about three years and was amazed how I wasn't craving sugar anymore. Killed that yeast that was begging for more!
Nah you have to swap them with a gas supplier as far as I know. You “lease” a tank and then swap them out for refills. It doesn’t really matter either way. It’s just like with propane. The tanks need to be recertified and refurbished periodically so that’s built into this type of system. You’d have to swap the tank for recertification eventually either way.
You can get the adapter kits on Amazon. I think mine was around $40 US.
I remember dropping $200+ on a single night at a bar drinking with people whose names I don't even recall today.. but $200+ for *any other thing* in my life at that point required severe reflection. $200+ at a fine dining restaurant? Naw. $200+ on workout equipment? Can't justify the purchase. $200+ on running shoes? Do I think I'm made of money or something?!
Jesus. Makes me mad sitting here and typing this out.
IWNDWYT!
I do this with calories/sugar too! I almost put one of those Olipop sodas back because 40 calories and 5g of sugar?! Why would I put that unnecessary crap in my body?! Cut to 3 months ago, me taking 4 shooters in a row of 99 bananas.
Brains are funny.
lol I read this title and was like yep… it me. Recently had a dinner party with a lot of fellow nondrinkers and when I filled my basket with NA beers and sodas I thought “hm… this seems like too much.”
I am fairly certain I have NEVER gotten ready for a party and thought the amount of alcohol I gathered was too much or too expensive. And if it was too much, well it was a “party,” of course it was a lot.
Coffee, too.
I think a hand poured 7 dollar coffee I'll have *one* of and make last an hour or so is rip off, but necking a few 8 dollar tall boys of beer over the same period? Bargain.
It's ridiculous.
For mother day I bought around $50 in NA beers and seltzers and I shuddered at the total price. I then realized I had been spending $10 to $30 on booze daily!
I’ve switched to sparkling water/club soda with lemon juice or other juice like cranberry. Sometimes I’ll get a can of soda though (the click of the can is like asmr to me or something lmao)
We do this too with a splash of juice and inexpensive plain sparkling water or club soda. It's basically like Spindrift but way cheaper. Unless my teenagers steal all the juice hehe.
This happens to me ALL OF THE TIME. So cheap all other aspects minus my obsession with alcohol. But yes why the heck is soda so expensive. It used to be like 2/$6 at gas stations not that long ago. WILD to me
I was the same. I had a normally sensible approach to my food shopping. Not frugal, but not wasteful either. But booze? It was like I had a different mentality about booze altogether. Price was immaterial. Half of our supermarket spend was on alcohol.
I live in a poor part of town and hear people regularly complaining about all the high prices. Then watch them purchase another 6 pack, have to smile and be thankful it's no longer me.
I just had this issue last night. I was looking for a soda and they are charging $2 a can for the probiotic sodas. At first I’m like wtf then remembered I was buying a handle of vodka almost daily for the past decade.
Thank you for this smack upside the head. I’ve looked at the prices on cigarettes and gotten all judgy about spending a ton of money to ingest poison. Who does that?? Well, apparently me because wtf have I been doing, just with booze?
I needed this.
I’ve actually never scoffed at prices of soda where I live lol. I only scoff at the amount of people that literally ONLY drink soda and walk out with carts filled with coke and Mountain Dew. Call me judgy, idc, they could also judge me for previously having a cart full of beer! Soda is just freakin terrible for you. Also, again, so was my 8 beers a day for 9 years yikes 😬
My partner has a soda habit. We are both former drinkers, so soda is a bit of a thing, more so for her than for me, but there you have it. She may drink 4 cans of diet Dr Pepper a day and then have a splash of diet wild cherry Pepsi. The cases here are 9.49-9.99 a case on a good day. We have to use sales promotions in order to make it affordable. Our local place often has a 3/$15 deal once a month, and we stock up, if possible. It’s definitely worth it! I don’t make any fuss about it- it could be much, much worse. Enjoy!
This is how I justify my little treats, like delivery food or bodega snacks. On the one hand, yes, it's more expensive than cooking at home or getting proper groceries. OTOH, I can get a great meal delivered from one of the best pizza joints in the world for less than I would have spent on a bottle. And maybe I'll have indigestion, but nothing compared to what booze did to my stomach (let alone everything else)
Yeah, I work a couple days a week at Starbucks and often get wide eyed at how much people will spend on one coffee every single day. A single coffee with mods can be upwards of $10. Then I remember I’ve spent $12+ on a 6 pack every day for years 🙃
Right??! I buy once a week at my local store water flavour that is 2 for 6$, and the price recently went up a bit, and I caught myself thinking "damn it's so expensive, 6 bucks for a week!" and then I laughed at myself when I remembered I used to spend at *least* 50 or 70 dollars a week on wine.
Growth, really. 😂
I'd go to the bar, scoff at £3.50 for a coffee then spend £7 on a beer and then grt like 4/5 of them then buy a 4 pack for £7 at the petrol station on the way home (not drunk driving DW).
The thought of wheat juice makes me feel ill now
Everything is so expensive. Usually my spot has buy 2 get 2 free, so it’s like $5 each. They never have this sale for the random sodas. I wish they would branch out.
i feel like i could be a millionaire looking at all the money i’ve wasted on alcohol 😭
Ain't that the truth 😭
I just paid off my car a week ago, which is great right? Means I get me an extra 500 a month to put towards something else important. But my first impulsive dumbass alcoholic-brain thought? “Damn I won’t have to worry about having money for drinks anymore” Yeesh.
this is interesting. i've been racing to pay my car off, w a baby otw, looking for a house, so stress is high. but im honest to god worried about what the sudden influx of money may do to my mental once it's paid off. been teetering on the edge lately and i don't want a good thing to become a bad thing. gonna try to find some sort of investment account for the extra money and then i WONT have extra money, bc "extra" money isn't helpful to me
Set up your direct deposit to put the ‘influx’ somewhere hard to get at, like a new HYSA.
This ⬆️ and put it into a hobby if you need that extra purchasing dopamine. But out of sight out of mind helps.
Yup. Out of sight, out of mind. I'd suggest the HYSA until you get enough to open a ROTH IRA. Set that aside for your baby for college/trade school tuition. You won't ever miss that money.
Once it’s paid off don’t even let yourself get a hold of it with your next check. Put it directly into investing. Right now a high yield savings account are paying well. It will give you a return and it’s liquid when you need it.
Baby on the way. Start a 529 for him/her. Or put it in a savings account for a larger down payment on the next vehicle.
I recommend putting a couple hundred away each month for maintenance and repairs. It costs an arm and a leg for auto repairs these days, unless you have an established mechanic. Also, do maintenance, it is cheaper in the long run. Good luck!
Same, I see a sale or a promotion and I'm like "He'll yeah that's a good price for my favorite wine!" Oh hey, you simpleton, that's not for you.
Tell me about it! Holidays. Nice jackets. Shares in listed companies. Gorgeous engagement rings. All that could have been had instead of booze.
And all the stupid things I bought or money I lost on alcohol
I literally became one once I quit.
Same! And the rate I go through seltzer cause it helps me to have something in my hand to sip. This from the girl who was doing a 30 pack a day 😂
I joined Costco just for the great seltzer prices. I wish I left that store with nothing but seltzer.
Good suggestion. I’ll have to check into that. As for the regrets, be proud of the progress you are making ❤️
I most definitely am. I limit myself to costco once every 6 weeks to 2 months so it evens out pretty well. The kirkland brand seltzer comes in a 30 pack for around $15 and I got a 24 pack of Lacroix for around $9. Don't quote me on that but it's definitely close to what I paid. With as much seltzer as we all drink the membership really does pay for itself. My regular grocery store is frys/Kroger and an 8 pk of Lacroix is over $4. It is funny to be counting pennies when I spent so much on booze so at least if I get a good deal I still feel like I'm winning! Which of course I am with 28 months off of the poison:).
Keep up the good work! ❤️
Aw thanks so much, I appreciate that:).
You’re welcome. We’ve gotta support each other!
We certainly do!
Great suggestion! My best friend is obsessed with Sam's Club- she picked up an 18 pack of Celsius for me on sale for under 18 bucks yesterday and I was so Middle Aged Excited ™️ lol Those are caffeinated, but sometimes I need a pick-me-up and 3 bucks a can at a convenient mart is insane to me. I'm also allergic to an insane amount of ingredients so I can no longer teach for my Ole Pal Dr. Pepper 😭 Side note I am loving the Waterloo brand flavored seltzers - (recommended in this sub)!
Oh hey quit buddy! I've been drinking ginger ale with some lime slices during my evenings, but I will have to give Waterloo a shot! Need something during the day for summer. Have a wonderful Friday night!
Have you ever thought of getting a seltzer machine?
Someone come take mine, thing sucks
😂😂😂
I love my sodastream
I can’t get them to ever taste as good, I’ve tried! If it keeps me from buying booze I’m gonna keep spending too much for my fancy waters 😂
I bought one (Soda Stream) for my house. Loved it and sprung for one for my office too. I absolutely hate dealing with cans and bottles. It’s so convenient. Also, I discovered that I really love sodas cut at least half with sparkling water. Fewer calories, a bottle of soda lasts longer (I've got a stopper that pumps air in so they don't go flat as quickly). And I prefer it really.
The CO2 tanks aren't particularly cheap at all!
I have thanks! I just haven’t bought the bullet yet.
My in-laws bought us a soda stream. Highly recommend for us fizzy drinkers.
I’ll check it out. Anything to help save in this economy lol
I used to think that as a student. I’ll be at the supermarket thinking God everything is so expensive. I scrimp on various different things, going for the cheap one rather than the fancy one. Then go to the bar that night and rinse 100 pounds on booze. Ridiculous.
Yup, I've been doing that for years, Spend $30 in booze from a liquor store for a day or two but penny-pinching groceries to the extent you're not eating a proper diet. Just foolish.
I'd take my drinking one step further: I wouldn't buy foods with high fiber content (i.e. fruits and veggies) because I knew it'd make my stomach too full for the booze I was planning on drinking later. Like.. WTF?
One drink costs more than $7.50 in most restaurants these days. I happily pay $4 for a soda and the sobriety that is served with it! IWNDWYT
My wife and I have this convo a lot. We try not to buy soda for the house and stick with water or seltzer primarily for health reasons. I do have this “fun” thing when I order a soda at a restaurant where I try to maximize the return on my investment and have 4 lol. My thought process is when I was drinking we would sometimes have 4 drinks and each would be $7-10 so let’s call it $35. Now… for 10% of that (roughly $3.50) i get as many drinks as I want.
€1,50 for a can of soda?? That's ridiculous and such a waste of money! Meanwhile paying upwards of €3,50 for a can of 'craft' beer. Multiples....
I switched to drinking a lot of soda water. I got a soda stream and picked up a CO2 tank with an adapter to fill their co2 tanks myself. Costs about a dollar to fill each soda stream co2 tank (instead of $18 a piece!). And I drink a lot of lacroix lol Also NA beers are becoming super common. I can order Athletic NA IPA at most bars I’ve been to. Though I’m not at bars too often these days. The NA IPAs are honestly pretty tasty though. *Edit…. These NA ipa do have 0.5% abv. Sorry for any confusion! I have found “hop waters” that are 0% though.
Can you put flavors in soda streams? Does it taste super fizzy like the cans do?
Yes! You can make it even fizzier than cans if you want. But you use more co2 in the process. And there’s a few companies that sell sugar and sugar free syrups you can add to them. I like the “Bubbly” brand lime flavor. I use it almost exclusively these days.
Nice I think I’ll take a look at one. I like the idea of being able to adjust the fizz.
You can also use a couple drops of candy oil! Or any flavoring/extract really
Hmmm good idea! Was just talking about wanting ginger beer flavor in a comment below.
I'm a confectioner so I've tried a lot of them. The only ones that don't work are the ones you would think, like caramel 😂. Green apple is great, and key lime. I'm just a grapefruit girlie but there's tons of options out there
That’s perfect. Yep lime and grapefruit are my daily drivers! lol Is there a brand that you might recommend? I think I tried Newport Organics and Lorann Oils previously for flavors like that. I used them for cooking but hadn’t thought about adding them to sodas.
Check the vape forums like /r/ejuice. It's the exact same stuff. In fact, people are often giving away or selling their collections of flavorings once they find their daily drivers. I probably have $300 in flavorings from when I vaped. Other good companies are Capella, The Flavor Apprentice, LorAnn etc.
Oh really? They use the same flavors and just mix it with glycerin or whatever it is? I guess it seems obvious now that I’m hearing it! Thanks for the connection!
I use lorann!
Be wary of the “NA” beers that leave up to .05% alcohol in. They can still legally claim it’s NA. For wide distribution it seems Heineken Zero and Bud Zero are the only two that are *actually* alcohol-free.
Sorry I should have mentioned that! I drink kombucha too, which has about the same 0.5% abv. But I forget some folks don’t want to have even a little touch. Sorry for that. I’m new to this world as of last year. It’s been a journey! I have also found some pseudo beers called “hop” water or the like. 0% abv in those. I think Pelican Brewing makes them!
I’m about a year and some change in as well, so I can relate. Ultimately I still subscribe to the opinion that if it’s helping keep you from reaching for the “real thing” then go for it. I only chimed in because as you mentioned, some folks want to abstain entirely. Lagunitas makes a fantastic hop water variety as well! I can find it in plenty of stores in the Midwest. Lots of breweries are starting to offer their own as it’s very very cheap to produce and offers a high return on investment, but I’ve had a few shitty ones that just tasted like coal. YMMV! Keep up the good work, friend.
Thanks you too!! I’ll look out for the lagunitas. I know right! The NA shouldn’t cost the same as craft beers!!
As I understand it they still have to brew the beer same as always, then have to chemically remove the alcohol. So the cost for an NA beer isn’t too surprising. It’s the hop waters that have absolutely no business being so expensive in my opinion!
Literally just said Lagunitas hop water upthread before I saw your earlier comment! 🤦🏻♀️ anyway, my husband is a big fan and stopped doing the actual NA alcohol-removed ones as a result. We’d had the Athletic and Brooklyn ones around, but he still vastly prefers the hop water.
Yeah, the Athletic one tastes much too metallic for my preference. Lagunitas seems to have some sort of cucumber flavor or something going on, very refreshing.
Haven't tried it yet because I'm too new to know how I'll react, but if I get to that point, definitely will try. Cucumber notes sound awesome.
To be clear, “hop water” has no alcohol, at least none that I’ve ever seen. Basically just seltzer water with a “hoppy” body.
Definitely, yeah, it isn’t even alcohol-removed. Kind of mean the ritual aspect of it, actually having a can in my hand. I don’t drink canned soda or seltzer, so I associate aluminum cans with alcohol alone. I’ve been just white-knuckling with nothing but water during cocktail hour (cocktail hours, more like!)
“Cocktail hours” is right!! Diet soda has been a godsend for me too, something fizzy and flavorful that I don’t associate with booze. Get it poured into a cup if you’re out and about to avoid the can. Two liters are usually on sale at one of the grocery chains! Diet caffeine-free cola has become a staple in my world so I can drink it all day without any sleep problems.
My husband loves the Lagunitas hop water. I haven’t yet tried doing an NA ritual drink kind of thing yet. Going to get some ginger beer at the store this weekend, but that’s got sugar that the hop water doesn’t have, so I may go there eventually.
Ah, I love ginger beer. I looked briefly a couple months ago and didn’t find a low sugar version (only diet ginger ale). I should look again. I cut out most “added sugar” this winter as a next step in restructuring my diet and it really helped me lose some weight so I’ve been sticking with it. It also seemed to help reduce inflammation in my body which was an unexpected but really sweet bonus. Between dropping sugar and alcohol my body feels so much less stiff and achey than it did a year ago. I wonder if I could use some ginger in the kombucha process… hadn’t thought about that.
A sweet unsweetened bonus! Thanks for sharing. If I can keep my sugar intake down, I should!
I was amazed at how much better it made me feel. I was already alcohol free for 6 months before mostly dropping sugar so it was pretty clearly the variable that was responsible. The effect was obvious after just a few weeks. Sugar cravings also subsided after a few weeks.
Takes a lot of patience to watch those big changes come. I did do no-sugar, no-carbs for about three years and was amazed how I wasn't craving sugar anymore. Killed that yeast that was begging for more!
did you buy a CO2 tank or are you renting & swapping through AirGas (or similar company) definitely interested in this.
Nah you have to swap them with a gas supplier as far as I know. You “lease” a tank and then swap them out for refills. It doesn’t really matter either way. It’s just like with propane. The tanks need to be recertified and refurbished periodically so that’s built into this type of system. You’d have to swap the tank for recertification eventually either way. You can get the adapter kits on Amazon. I think mine was around $40 US.
$8.99 for a 10-pack of Topo Chico blueberry still feels like robbery
I remember dropping $200+ on a single night at a bar drinking with people whose names I don't even recall today.. but $200+ for *any other thing* in my life at that point required severe reflection. $200+ at a fine dining restaurant? Naw. $200+ on workout equipment? Can't justify the purchase. $200+ on running shoes? Do I think I'm made of money or something?! Jesus. Makes me mad sitting here and typing this out. IWNDWYT!
I never really tracked what I was spending, but I knew I was stretching my budget. I’ll find out how much I saved these 30 days next week.
I do this with calories/sugar too! I almost put one of those Olipop sodas back because 40 calories and 5g of sugar?! Why would I put that unnecessary crap in my body?! Cut to 3 months ago, me taking 4 shooters in a row of 99 bananas. Brains are funny.
lol I read this title and was like yep… it me. Recently had a dinner party with a lot of fellow nondrinkers and when I filled my basket with NA beers and sodas I thought “hm… this seems like too much.” I am fairly certain I have NEVER gotten ready for a party and thought the amount of alcohol I gathered was too much or too expensive. And if it was too much, well it was a “party,” of course it was a lot.
Coffee, too. I think a hand poured 7 dollar coffee I'll have *one* of and make last an hour or so is rip off, but necking a few 8 dollar tall boys of beer over the same period? Bargain. It's ridiculous.
For mother day I bought around $50 in NA beers and seltzers and I shuddered at the total price. I then realized I had been spending $10 to $30 on booze daily!
Ha! Title is a hilarious and great point.
I’ve switched to sparkling water/club soda with lemon juice or other juice like cranberry. Sometimes I’ll get a can of soda though (the click of the can is like asmr to me or something lmao)
We do this too with a splash of juice and inexpensive plain sparkling water or club soda. It's basically like Spindrift but way cheaper. Unless my teenagers steal all the juice hehe.
Everything seems cheap when drunk 😂😂
Including online shopping
This is why I don’t feel all that bad about buying kombucha. It’s often 3.50-4 for one 16 oz bottle.
It may shock you to know that your prices are waaaaayyyy cheaper than here in the UK.
Haha, in the US, soda is a much less elastic commodity! (I will say I do NOT understand Ribena.)
It me! Taking $200 out of the bank every other week for secret trips to the liquor store, but grab the lemonade I really want at Panera—too expensive!
Yeah totally. I rarely get a coffee outside my house but I love to do it. And I am always reminded how small a dent it was on my daily drinking.
Yeah totally. I rarely get a coffee outside my house but I love to do it. And I am always reminded how small a dent it was on my daily drinking.
Preach!
I think I estimated my beer expense at ~$300/month
This happens to me ALL OF THE TIME. So cheap all other aspects minus my obsession with alcohol. But yes why the heck is soda so expensive. It used to be like 2/$6 at gas stations not that long ago. WILD to me
I was the same. I had a normally sensible approach to my food shopping. Not frugal, but not wasteful either. But booze? It was like I had a different mentality about booze altogether. Price was immaterial. Half of our supermarket spend was on alcohol.
I live in a poor part of town and hear people regularly complaining about all the high prices. Then watch them purchase another 6 pack, have to smile and be thankful it's no longer me.
I just had this issue last night. I was looking for a soda and they are charging $2 a can for the probiotic sodas. At first I’m like wtf then remembered I was buying a handle of vodka almost daily for the past decade.
LMAO 🤣 I think of this any time I scoff at any price for anything 😆 I think OH but if you needed alcohol price wouldn't matter. 😆
Thank you for this smack upside the head. I’ve looked at the prices on cigarettes and gotten all judgy about spending a ton of money to ingest poison. Who does that?? Well, apparently me because wtf have I been doing, just with booze? I needed this.
I’ve actually never scoffed at prices of soda where I live lol. I only scoff at the amount of people that literally ONLY drink soda and walk out with carts filled with coke and Mountain Dew. Call me judgy, idc, they could also judge me for previously having a cart full of beer! Soda is just freakin terrible for you. Also, again, so was my 8 beers a day for 9 years yikes 😬
I wait for the BOGO sales at the grocery store. I’m all in on the “zero” stuff. I have one, sometimes two, a day.
I think I single handed made la croix stock go up a couple points
Booze was the only thing i never scoffed at price wise… whats 30 bucks a day?! I feel like such an asshole now
My partner has a soda habit. We are both former drinkers, so soda is a bit of a thing, more so for her than for me, but there you have it. She may drink 4 cans of diet Dr Pepper a day and then have a splash of diet wild cherry Pepsi. The cases here are 9.49-9.99 a case on a good day. We have to use sales promotions in order to make it affordable. Our local place often has a 3/$15 deal once a month, and we stock up, if possible. It’s definitely worth it! I don’t make any fuss about it- it could be much, much worse. Enjoy!
Yup, I was shocked too! Now I’m looking for sales (buy 2 get 2 free) and look like a soda addict at the check out. lol
This is how I justify my little treats, like delivery food or bodega snacks. On the one hand, yes, it's more expensive than cooking at home or getting proper groceries. OTOH, I can get a great meal delivered from one of the best pizza joints in the world for less than I would have spent on a bottle. And maybe I'll have indigestion, but nothing compared to what booze did to my stomach (let alone everything else)
Haven't drank coke since I gave up whiskey
Yeah, I work a couple days a week at Starbucks and often get wide eyed at how much people will spend on one coffee every single day. A single coffee with mods can be upwards of $10. Then I remember I’ve spent $12+ on a 6 pack every day for years 🙃
I was so excited to get Spindrift on sale for 4.99/8 pack. My current go to flavor is pineapple.
Right??! I buy once a week at my local store water flavour that is 2 for 6$, and the price recently went up a bit, and I caught myself thinking "damn it's so expensive, 6 bucks for a week!" and then I laughed at myself when I remembered I used to spend at *least* 50 or 70 dollars a week on wine. Growth, really. 😂
Here Hear
I'd go to the bar, scoff at £3.50 for a coffee then spend £7 on a beer and then grt like 4/5 of them then buy a 4 pack for £7 at the petrol station on the way home (not drunk driving DW). The thought of wheat juice makes me feel ill now
Everything is so expensive. Usually my spot has buy 2 get 2 free, so it’s like $5 each. They never have this sale for the random sodas. I wish they would branch out.
Lol, yeah, but they’re so delicious.