It never seems to add up, but it does in the end.
No one recalls spending that much on booze, because most of it goes to buying drinks for other people, getting to parties, paying for taxis home, vomit cleaning bills, increased toilet water bills, waste management bills (if your area has that), fixing the car after you drunkenly scrape it, being late for work from hangovers, even a higher electric bill from having to chill large quantities of liquid in the fridge (which adjust automatically), and generally anything involved in the lifestyle.

Yeah, I'm making it sound dramatic, but these have all been a part of my friends' lives. It's always the little things that get you.
( Digeridude Lord Wellington's Beef Trapeze, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 21:09, 5 replies)

Ah
So there are lots of benefits that come with drinking moderately at home, I see. I can tell you exactly how much I spent on drinks this month -- USD$20 -- and what it bought. Two six-packs of beer and two bottles of wine, one red and one white, shared between my husband and me, consumed at home with no binge drinking, no parties, no vom, no taxis and no clean-up, and as we rarely have more than a few drinks a week between the two of us, plenty left over for next month. Good heavens, being a degenerate lout is such a strain on the budget, isn't it?
(louveciennes , Volvospotter, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 21:28, closed)

It is for me
A cheap bottle of wine comes in at £15. I blame my parents for cultivating in me a taste for the finer things.
( flake has nothing against your right leg, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 22:16, closed)

Jesus christ
You sound like a right smug prick and no mistake.
(Bazongaloid, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 22:59, closed)

^ Agreed
.
( DumbMonkey The penis mightier than the sword, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 23:39, closed)

Disagreed
No smugness there. And going out really does cost, even if you're not drinking let alone if you are.

I was on hols last week and managed to get through 600 euros on just food+drink, even though a full evening meal (less booze) was always under 15 euros. How does that work?
( Fronds are waving gently on, Thu 30 Oct 2008, 11:36, closed)

A little preachy, aren't we?
- Buying drinks for other people: yes, but the theory - at least in a British pub - is that your friends will buy you one back
- Vomit cleaning bills: Clean up your own vomit
- Increased toilet water bills: Got a garden? Your plants will benefit from a spray of nitrogenated water
- Waste management: WTF? Does drinking make you shit everywhere or something?
- Fixing the car: You're told not to drink and drive for a reason
- Hangovers: Learn your limits, don't drink so much the next time and stop moaning about it
- Higher electric bill: If you drank real beer, you wouldn't need to chill it.

I'm sorry to be very sarcastic, but referring to having a drink as "the lifestyle" just makes you sound really sanctimonious.
(LongJohnBaldry, Mon 27 Oct 2008, 23:16, closed)

Hang on a second:
If you were capable of knowing your drinking limits, then you would not have to clean up vomit, and you would not have hangovers.

With the "buying drinks for other people" and "paying for taxis home": why not have a party at your place? People tend to bring a bottle each, all you have to do is have some nibbles. That's assuming that people will want to go over to the house of some tightwad, sanctimonious teetotaller.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 10:28, closed)

Aside from the fact that most of those things
don't actually happen to anyone over 20 who isn't an alchoholic, you mentioned travel costs - so I assume you never go out then?

I think there are many valid alternatives to drinking, but staying home on your own every night is really not one of them.
( chenobble rocking his explorer beard on, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 11:35, closed)