Smoking & Drinking add up to big bucks

[boosami]

To put things into perspective with the drinking:

2 cases of beer (standard size) =~ 48 drinks
2 bottles of Jack (750 ml bottle) =~ 34 drinks

That's a minimum of 82 drinks a week, or about 11 drinks a day. Even split between two (or three or even four) people they definitely have a problem with alcohol. And here I though I did a lot of drinking with maybe 15 drinks a week (not per day).

As for the money, I think I have a solution: It'd be cheaper to buy a pony key each week than the individual cases and bottles.

[wincrasher]

Wow. That seems like alot of drinking for 2 people. Could it be there are a few bar tabs in that $700? It goes quickly in the local tavern.

[GREENBACK]

Wow. That seems like alot of drinking for 2 people. Could it be there are a few bar tabs in that $700? It goes quickly in the local tavern.

I'd say that has to be bar drinking. If it's drinking at home, debt won't matter for too much longer.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Wowee-zowee, Boosami's count of the number of drinks is eye-opening. This is an old thread, so I wonder if the couple is even still among the living.

Preschoolers in a household with that much alcohol being consumed! I wonder if any of them even got to have an alcohol-free gestation.

[disneysteve]

To put things into perspective with the drinking:

2 cases of beer (standard size) =~ 48 drinks
2 bottles of Jack (750 ml bottle) =~ 34 drinks

That's a minimum of 82 drinks a week, or about 11 drinks a day.

I have many alcoholic patients who drink a 12-pack/day or more. I know of one patient who drinks a 30-pack/day. 11/day is nothing.

[GREENBACK]

I have many alcoholic patients who drink a 12-pack/day or more. I know of one patient who drinks a 30-pack/day. 11/day is nothing.

I, too, have known many that could do this and most ended up face down in the gutter somewhere....literally!

It's a shame that a lot of the poor don't realize there's a way out of thier situation. Substance addiction can take some of the sting out of poverty. It also creates the illusion of "this is the life I was meant to live". We as a society suffer in so many ways for this behavior.

Hopefully this couple turns it around but I wouldn't hold my breath on it based on the situation described, which I've seen many times. Worse than their situation is what will happen to those children. Children are highly influenced from a early age by what parents are doing or not doing!

[Troglodyte]

Are we talking about 11 units for both or each?

Because, indeed this is nothing . I've known people who routinely drink a 6-pack every night, if the partner does too it might get to 4-5 units more a day. They're high-functioning - meaning their kids aren't even aware they drink (waiting until kids are in bed, disposing of bottles, etc).
They never miss a day's work. Granted that money should be put elsewhere, but I see it as some kind of adult daycare costs (flame me, i don't care.)

Bottom line is: your cable is another man's beer.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Eleven drinks a day certainly is something when you have a job to go to, cars to be driven, family to relate to, and three toddlers to take care of.

Personally, I did not think it a good idea to drink at all when my child was young. I felt I needed to be able to have quick reflexes, to respond alertly, to think clearly, and to drive at a moments notice when his life was in my hands. The risks were small that he might need me in the middle of the night, but it was a risk I would not take. So that meant no drinking even after he went to bed. The only time I might have a drink is if my husband was there and he would not be having a drink. Perhaps that was overly scrupulous, but I sure don't think a six pack a night is a good idea for a parent, even after the kids are in bed. And cable TV does not interfere with one's ability to take care of children the way alcohol does.

But besides that, it is too much of the income to spend. $6136 a year on alcohol out of $24,000 income? (No one spends that much on cable, either.) In the situation of this family, I would be a teetotaller.

[disneysteve]

Eleven drinks a day certainly is something when you have a job to go to, cars to be driven, family to relate to, and three toddlers to take care of.

I just wanted to be clear. I didn't mean someone having 11 drinks/day was nothing. I was just playing "I can top that" by pointing out that I know lots of alcoholics who drink way more than that per day. 11 drinks/day, or even a 6 pack/day, is a serious alcohol addiction. I know many, many functional alcoholics, people in all walks of life with good jobs, families, kids, etc. It can be a very silent killer and hidden addiction to those outside the home.

[mom-from-missouri]

An update on the family. The smoking is done with--both have quit, they say they have quit and I believe them based on how they now smell and look.

The drinking is way down. They now have a "Nascar account", which is what they call their savings. 1/2 of their cig money is going into that account, the other 1/2 is going into their household budget. They are doing the same with their alcohol money.

For the last 3 years, the center has bought their propane. This year they bought it--they took the money out of the Nascsar account. They are also burning wood to supplement-cutting their own off the farm. It is the first time we have seen them actually plan ahead (less alcohol means clearer thinking??). We did have to help them with some winter coats-but for the first time they also bought in the ones their kids had outgrown and donated those back to the center--all washed, and in good repair. She also donated a few other items that did not sell at a garage sale they had.

[jasonnoguchi]

QUIT.

Not drinking or smoking don't kill you. I have never smoked in my 33 years even though I occasionally drink for the occasion.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

That's great, mom-from-missouri!

[LuxLiving]

Glad to hear this update mom-from-missouri!

You'd think with all the zero cost things they were getting that they could've made it by. Awfully tight but doable, lots of people have done it on less.

Good on you for helping them turn it around.

[Snodog]

This is why I never started drinking or smoking. I could never afford it and you never know if you would become an addict. Addictions are tough, I feel bad for these people.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Wow good job! Congrats on helping a family turn around!