No Alcohol – Become a Millionaire

Most heavy drinkers have no idea how much they spend on alcohol and consequences related to alcohol, but it adds up through the years. Even moderate drinkers who go out to a bar twice a week spend an incredible amount of money over time — however, the moderate drinker can make the case that they enjoy their nights out so it’s worth the expense. Why work if you can’t enjoy the fruits of your labor?

The alcoholic, though, begins to destroy his/her life as the drinking progresses, and the costs get higher and higher. Contrary to what many who know an alcoholic might think, the alcoholic is not having fun, just partying away with abandon! Alcoholism becomes a lonely, confusing and painful existence. On top of becoming increasingly miserable and mentally, physically and emotionally broken, the alcoholic is throwing money down a black hole.

The costs of alcoholism are not always obvious, although some costs are all too obvious. When an alcoholic goes to the emergency room to treat gastritis, that is likely a direct result of alcoholism that’s not always obvious to someone in denial. When the alcoholic runs a car into a pole and gets arrested for DUI, the car costs and the DUI costs are directly related to alcoholism – this should be obvious, but the alcoholic can always come up with an excuse of why they were drinking so much that night — a birthday party for a friend, you see. Missed days at work and low productivity might not be obvious, but they count as costs. Dying prematurely might be written up as caused by a heart attack, but what damaged the heart so early in the person’s life?

Here’s a site that adds up the costs of a “heavy” drinker and then looks at a 16 year period in which the person does something different with the money they were wasting on alcohol and the consequences of drinking alcohol. It’s eye opening.

When someone comes into our outpatient facility for an assessment to see if he/she needs treatment for alcoholism and says they can’t afford a monthly payment, we usually show them how much they’re already spending on alcohol. The person is usually amazed at what they’re wasting each month. The waste of life is more important, but the economic impact of alcoholism is just one more good reason to reach out for help.