Thinking about taking a break from drinking this month? You aren’t alone.
Celebrities including Joe Rogan comedian Bert Kreischer, and actor Ron Funches have publicly pledged to go 30 days sober this month. “Sober October” consists of forgoing all alcohol and drugs for 30 days — and it can have huge financial benefits.
Amanda, a 28-year-old in New York City gave up drinking a month earlier. The executive assistant, who asked her last name not be used for work-related privacy, said she saved $190 in direct spending on alcohol in September and even more on surrounding costs, cutting out habits like late night pizza orders, cabs home, or a hangover breakfast in the morning.
The money you save on alcohol is enough pay off the average cable bill, month of cell phone service, or a big chunk off your next vacation.
“This month was terrific, I still went to all my events where I normally would have been drinking and had water, or seltzer instead,” she said. “I didn’t feel any pressure from friends or family to drink and overall it was easier than I expected. I don’t believe I’ll transition to a totally sober life, but I do think it’s completely acceptable to have a sober night even when you’re out with friends, or at an event with free booze.”
The U.S. alcohol market is worth around $58 billion a year, according to industry analysis firm IBISWorld. Women should have no more than 3 drinks on a single day and no more than 7 drinks per week, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
At that rate, a woman who drinks three nights a week and has an average of two $5 beers on those nights would spend $130 per month, or $1,560 per year on beer, according to a calculator from the National Institute of Health. If she had a more expensive drink, say, a $10 cocktail, on those occasions, the cost could increase to $260 per month or $3,120.00 per year on drinking.
The average drinker can save $130 to $260 per month. For people who drink more heavily or live in expensive cities, those savings can be even higher.
It is suggested men have no more than four drinks on a single day and no more than 14 drinks per week. A man who drinks four beers three nights per week would spend an average of $260 per month or $3,120 per year on beer, the NIH calculator showed. If he instead had four $10 cocktails on three nights per week would spend an average of $520 per month or $6,240 per year. That is enough money to pay off the average cable bill, month of cell phone service, or a big chunk off your next vacation.
In other words, the average drinker participating in Sober October can expect to save anywhere from $130 to $260 per month. For people who drink more heavily or live in expensive cities, those savings can be even higher. One New York City man said he saved more than $1,000 a month by cutting out coffee and alcohol. Meanwhile, the average marijuana user spends $647 on purchases of cannabis products per year.
The chart where Billings tracked her drinking costs for 100 days.
Lydia Billings, a photographer based in New York City, said she meticulously tracked her spending for 100 days, including a 30-day sobriety period, and found she saved $175. In the long-run the trial period made her more appreciative of a single good cocktail on a night out, and less likely to order cheaper drinks like beer in a higher volume.
“Seeing the actual numbers doesn’t always sway me toward not buying that item,” she said. “It just informs my choices in a more complete way.”
Lydia Billings, a photographer based in New York City, tracked her spending for 100 days, including a 30-day sobriety period, and found she saved $175.
Millennials are cutting back on alcohol, an annual national survey of 50,000 adolescents and young adults in America from the Monitoring the Future Study, found. The share of college students who drink alcohol daily fell from 4.3% in 2016 to 2.2% in 2017, a more than 4 percentage-point drop from the 6.5% of college students who used alcohol daily in 1980.
It’s easy and healthy, which could save you more money on health costs if you made it a long-term commitment. This comes as academic studies cast doubt on the safety of any amount of alcohol. Between 5% and 6% of new cancers and cancer deaths globally are directly linked to alcohol, a January 2018 study from the Journal of Clinical Oncology found.
Another study from The Lancet found that any amount of alcohol is dangerous to consume, even the occasional glass of wine. The Distilled Spirits Council, a trade association representing producers of distilled spirits said the study went too far, advocating total abstinence from alcohol.
But the report showed that may be the healthiest option, said Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou, director of education at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and the senior author of the study. “The myth that one or two drinks a day are good for you is just that — a myth,” Gakidou said. “This study shatters that myth.”
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