Alcohol

[thrifty++]

Ugh so hung over. Utterly despise alcohol. Doing a two month zero alcohol detox starting today. I suspect frugal people are more likely to be teetotallers. A good way to save money on not buying alcohol and having less problems, and to make more money by having more energy and less wasted time. Interested in peoples scores from 0 to 10. 0 being complete teetotaller all year round to 10 being genuine alcoholic. I think I am probably about a 3 but I would like to be a 1 as I get so little value from alcohol in exchange of the loss. In being true to myself I only enjoy the taste, of wine and beer only, and I do not enjoy being drunk at all... but sometimes it happens because I end up in social scenes I do not want.

[unemployable]

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=9595

On your scale I'm currently around 2-3 but have been up around 8. Was kind of amazing how much I drank but didn't become an alcoholic at a couple points in life. Wait, I already said that.

[7Wannabe5]

I probably average less than 10 drinks/year. I am already too fuzz-brained on empty.

[Jean]

Alcohol is by far my favorite drug. I don't do it too much (maybe once per month, and never to black out or hangover level, maybe the equivalent of 4 beers, and maybe one glass once per week with a meal). A relationship drasticaly reduced my consumption.
I tried to meet the friend I met while drinking in other context, but I didn't manage. In the end, I just started seeing those friends less, and other friends more.

[prognastat]

I drink maybe once every 2-3 months. Mostly at parties/festivities.

[thegreatvoid]

It's weird, I have Zero Problems not drinking alcohol ( cant remember the last Time I did) , never had coffee in my life, but it's almost impossible for me to give up sodas. Totally addicted to that sugary poison . Pathetic i know, but strange how people get hooked on different things.

[slsdly]

I drink socially, never alone. This included 1-2 beer with dinner while out (say once a season), 1-3 at corporate events if it was free (say six times a year), 1-2 most evenings while on certain vacations (say 3 weeks a year), 1-2 if I had company over or they had me (say a dozen times a year).

2*4 + 3*6 + 2*3*7 + 2*12 = 92 beer/year, 7.7/month, or 1.8 beer/week, as a reasonable estimate for my upper bound.

This year I'm trying something different, and just stopping outright. It reduces my quality of sleep and can get in the way of my fitness/health goals. I can save a few hundred dollars as well. Win, win, hopefully.

I think I got into drinking because of social anxiety. It was a good way to deal with it. While I still get nervous, I'm much more comfortable around others now than at any other point in my life. It is a crutch I can discard. The hardest part will be acclimatizing my friends and family to this, as I know some will be sad ("I want someone to drink with me!") but I can be pretty stubborn, and that too shall pass.

[theanimal]

I drink only a handful of times each year. Single drinks every time. I would prefer to be completely sober but too often succumb to peer pressure in this regard. I'm working on changing that.

[C40]

I'd be about a 2 on the scale. Was higher in my younger years. Maybe a max of 5.

[stand@desk]

I work in the business and I do attend several events per year where I get to taste and sample. Eventhough I have tried may fine wines, spirits, beers, etc. my wife and I buy inexpensive wine and or beer (me) once every 1-2 weeks. I have a philosophy that if something is free and available, you are free to enjoy. But if you have to pay for it, don't have it at all, or get it at a very cheap price and quality if you want to buy it. Or buy it a bit more openly if you are gifted a gift card. I think drinking can be okay. I used to drink much more often and in higher quantities growing up. I do like to go for a long run the day after drinking which I find envigorating. Speaking of vices, I am wrestling with giving up caffienated coffee, it's a hard decision. I think I'll probably wrestle with that one for a couple more decades.

[daylen]

3

[intellectualpersuit]

I get a good buzz or drunk 3-4 times a week. I call that a 7 (low-grade alcoholic). Started out of curiosity due to openness, stayed because of boredom and no girlfriend! When I started the questions thread under the miscellaneous index I was very drunk.

[EdithKeeler]

I drank Wednesday night at a work function. I had 2 really, really good mojitos, and the server kept pouring the cabernet. (We were in a banquet room). I didn't think I'd had that much, but I was hurtin' for certain the next morning. That's the first alcohol I'd had since Thanksgiving, I think. I am seriously out of practice.... and don't care to get back into practice.

[intellectualpersuit]

Ah for me it is as good as it is bad. Net zero.

Actually that is only true at levels 5 and below. Above that it is a slight negative, though I am young and I am not considering long term effects.

[Seppia]

It has varied throughout my life.
At my worst (occurred about 12 years ago) I was probably an 8 out of 10 for a good 6 months, while at my best (occurred immediately after my worst as I was super afraid I had become a closet alcoholic) I was a 0.5 for almost a year. Literally did not drink more than maybe 1/4th of a glass of wine once per month.
My standard is usually between a 3 and a 6, which I will define as "one drink per week" (3) and "a glass of wine every other night and maybe two or three maximum once per week" (6).

Recently I have been below average for a while, as I have noticed that a low, tactical alcohol consumption helps manage jet lag better.
I almost never drink now (maybe 1 glass of wine during the weekend), so that when I board a plane heading from italy towards asia I'll have a glass and it will help me fall asleep earlier.

This doesn't help if one is more used to drinking (and hence more resistant to alcohol) as the amount needed to induce sleep is too high and will have an adverse effect on quality of sleep.

Life is much better though with low levels of alcohol consumption. Better sleep, more energy, easier to control weight, etc.
I also think low level is better than zero, as I do like the taste of a glass of wine here and there with the nice meals, and it's easier to blend in socially drinking a small amount than it is not drinking at all.

[classical_Liberal]

Used to be a 7-8, 4+ drinks multiple times a week. I've always found that absence is far easier for me than moderation. I had to do the same for cigarettes and sugary treats. So now I'm probably a 0.5, only at very special occasions, less than once per year.

[Nomad]

Hmmm, I probably am a 7-8.
It is alarming how much it costs to go out a couple of times a week, 'socialise' and get a taxi home...

[2Birds1Stone]

5-6 right now.....

I never drank much as a late teens/early 20's.

The drinking culture in the corporate world I'm in + work related stress led to periods of 7-8 on that scale for months at a time in the past 6-7 years.

I really struggle with moderation in some situations, so absence is going to be my best bet.

[Smashter]

I've been at a 2 since I started that thread unemployable linked to above.

[IlliniDave]

I'm somewhere between 0 and 1. Closer to 0 probably. I think I had about 18 beers in 2018. Years ago I was probably in the 3-4 range, until I started noticing that regular alcohol consumption contributed to overall lack of energy.