When I read the news from Alcohol Change UK that the average British drinker spends £62,899 on alcohol throughout their lifetime, I was staggered. Until some mental arithmetic revealed I myself had spent over £55,000 on booze in 15 years.
And yeah, while that figure was horrifying, the true cost of alcohol’s impact on my life was much greater.
Like many, my college experience revolved around alcohol. Two-for-one offers in the student union meant I could happily get sloshed for less than £20 any night of the week.
But even then, going out three or four nights a week meant I was spending more of my student loan boozing than on my food shop.
When I got a full-time job after college, I thought nothing of the £40 I’d spend at the pub, accompanied by a £15 taxi home and the cost of the inevitable hungover takeaway the next day.
But then there were other collateral costs, including £200 to replace a smashed phone, £60 for a locksmith when I lost my keys and £100 to replace the winter coat I’d left in a bar.
If the figure from Alcohol Change UK sounds a little high, consider this: if you were to buy two (decent) bottles of wine a week, that would cost around £12,000 over ten years. Five pints a week for a decade would set you back over £10,000. Trust me when I say it creeps up on you.
But my drinking had more than just financial consequences.
I almost lost my job after starting a drunken row with a company director at our Christmas party.
Then receiving a formal warning for my behaviour teamed with endless mocking from my colleagues led to me quitting a job I had previously loved within six months.
Moderation and I weren’t acquainted, and I regularly drank to the point of blackout.
My health suffered, with most nights out ending with an injury. I fell and broke my nose one Christmas and fractured my elbow on another night out. I also had terrible acid reflux and vomited almost every time I drank.
Friendships and relationships suffered, too, with petty squabbles escalating to screaming matches after one too many.
I hated the person I became when I was drunk – brash, attention-seeking and argumentative – but I didn’t know if I could stop.
Once I hit 30, hangovers brought a crushing dread that took days to shift. I lost my mum to cancer at 31, and my drinking escalated to cope with the grief.
By 35, I realised alcohol was becoming detrimental to my mental health. I made an appointment in January 2017 with my GP because I had terrible insomnia and hangxiety so severe that I sometimes struggled to leave the house.
My doctor suggested I quit alcohol for a month to see if my mental health improved. Desperate to feel better, I decided to give it a go.
I downloaded an app to track my sobriety, and as part of the setup, it asked how much I spent on alcohol. It varied, so I set it to average £70 a week and didn’t think much of it.
When I celebrated my first month without alcohol, I checked the app and realised I’d saved £310, which along with the best sleep I’d had in years and reduced anxiety, was yet another bonus of giving up booze.
Determined to keep it up, I became a hermit for the next few months, avoiding after-work drinks and declining party invitations. My self-imposed isolation did have one significant benefit; I was spending much less money.
Before I knew it, I was six months sober and starting to take stock of my life. I had no savings and a dismal credit score from spending years of paying the bare minimum and skipping payments when money was tight.
I made plans to pay off my debts, which were over £30,000. I spoke to my creditors and negotiated a hefty discount for speedy repayment, meaning that I could be completely debt free in two years if I paid out a total of £500 a month.
Sobriety gave me a lot of time to reflect, and I felt deep shame that I had spent tens of thousands of pounds on alcohol. I wished I’d been able to put that money towards a deposit on a flat or gone on the once-in-a-lifetime American road trip that’s been on my bucket list since I was 18.
As I celebrated my first year alcohol-free, my sober app told me I was £3,650 better off, but you couldn’t put a price on what I’d gained. I started therapy to deal with the grief I tried to block out with alcohol. My career flourished as I no longer lost days to hangovers, and I felt more driven and productive than when I was drinking.
In the six and a half years since I got sober, I have saved over £23,000, a life-changing sum. I have paid off my debts, improving my credit score by a whopping 500 points. I have savings for the first time in my adult life and hope to be a homeowner one day. I’m also happier, healthier and have a great social life, something I didn’t believe was possible without alcohol.
For the amount of money I have spent on booze, you would have expected to see some benefit, but all I have are some hazy memories, scars and regrets, which are certainly not worth the high price I paid for them.
Help and support:
- If you need help with a drinking problem, call the Alcoholics Anonymous national helpline for free on 0800 9177 650 or email help@aamail.org.
- For advice on how to reduce drinking, visit Drinkaware’s website or Alcohol Change UK.
- Find alcohol addiction services near you using this NHS tool.