Here at the DUI Foundation, we’re excited to partner with Carrie Armstrong, with the How To Be A Sober Girl blog. You can check out her blog here. Over the next thirty days, she has committed to a How To Be A Sober Girl 30 Day Kickstart campaign and we’ll be sharing her stories right here.
And without any more time, here’s Day Seventeen:
One thing I hear time and time again from people who stop drinking is how much money they save. Sadly these folk invariably start drinking a lot again in a very short space of time because, quite frankly, Puritanical Sobriety is dreary as f*ck.
Sobriety is not a diet for your wallet. Spending as much as you used to whilst drinking is good-but spending a lot more than you used to is better.
People who either don’t drink or drink very little tend to earn more than those who drink heavily or abuse alcohol. Mainly because they learn to leverage their time a lot more effectively.
Staying indoors may save you money, but isolating yourself always leads to seeking solace in a bottle. Ordering a lime and soda may seem like a smart budgetary decision. But not if it leaves you feeling like a cheapskate or someone who doesn’t know how to treat themselves to a lovely drink on a night out.
Mocktails are bloody brilliant. I love them. Every good bar knows how to make them based on any regular cocktail you like. As we know I’m also partial to a cup of tea or two… I can bear testament to most good clubs in west London having beautiful tea sets on hand for when I fancy a change from a mocktail. Neither of these options are much cheaper than an alcoholic drink
Which solves the problem of buying rounds. Yes, still buy them. You’ll be having a drink that costs around the same as your drinking buddies, so no issue there.
My first job I got after getting sober paid almost x5 as much as the last one I’d had drunk. which is good because I suddenly started wanting to pay good money for clothes and shoes and bags and nice places to live etc. I raised my game considerably because for the first time I realized I was worth it.
People who don’t medicate against time with alcohol suddenly have the time for supplementary incomes, (personal trainers are usually a great example of this) or passive incomes to go alongside their regular jobs. It’s worth considering how you might be able to make extra money using your skill set now you aren’t going to need those extra few hours a day for drinking or recovering from drinking…
So: stop hiding in doors and telling yourself it’s okay to do it because you are saving money. And halt with the buying cheap drinks when you do venture out. Use it as an opportunity to challenge yourself into thinking of new ways to bring in extra income with all of this spare time you’ve been too scared of acknowledging you will have now drinking isn’t swallowing up the empty hours…it will be fun! I promise!
Carrie x
