The reasons for cutting out alcohol and drugs from one’s life are many, not the least of which can be financial. I shutter to think of all the money I have squandered away on both vices, and sadly continue even now with the nicotine crutch. Not counting the hypothetical better career I could have, had it not been for my alcoholism; my addictions have cost me, my family and past employers unknown tens of thousands of dollars.
The only financial guidlines I try to follow are paying all my bills on time, credit card balances paid in full each month, and think twice before I buy anything – no impulse buying allowed. But as I get older and closer to a day when retirement from working will be necessary, I have started thinking about the future I thought I would never reach in my days of active abuse and have started to pay attention to financial advice from people other than family members. One of my favorite blogs on the subject goes by the funny moniker of Mr. Money Mustache. It’s a very well written and designed site that has some great advice presented in a funny and straightfoward manner. Yesterdays post caught my TDA eye and I thought I would share it here. Here’s a snippet of the post entitled Understand the Marginal Utility of Booze and Drugs , I recommend reading it in it’s entirety -
For decades, Mr. Money Mustache has walked a fine line between two worlds of people. One one side is the productive and healthy and slightly nerdy land of the non-drinkers, and on the other is the reckless and fun and slightly self-destructive world of the drinkers. I meet many people who are deep in one territory or the other, but a much smaller number who are right in the middle. I know these people do exist, but there seem to be forces in human nature that push us to extremes. So people without much enthusiasm for alcoholic beverages or other recreational drugs end up quitting completely, and people who enjoy them end up taking things up quite a few notches in their youth.
But at some point around 10PM, I realize that if I have another drink, I will severely regret it in the morning. After fearfully imagining a hangover, I will invariably start running through the things I hope to accomplish in the next day as well as the various other reasons I don’t want to dump more mild toxins into my body, which hasn’t been 18 years old for about twenty years. So I’ll fill up a big glass of water and start drinking it, repeating the process until the party ends several hours later. Meanwhile, the true party people will keep pouring themselves stiff drinks or cracking more beers. We’re all having a great time, but when the night is through there will be four or five bottles in front of me while a heavy-drinking man of my size will have a dozen or so, possibly with a few wine and shot glasses on the side (and maybe an empty bag of weed depending on the crowd).
As this pattern has repeated across the many years since I was a teenager, I have seen heavy drinking pulling down quite a few of my friends and coworkers. The luckiest ones are just less wealthy than they would otherwise be. Others have gained weight and lost the ability to do active things outside, in turn leading to other health problems. The least lucky ones are now dead.
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I saved even more giving up nicotine than giving up alcohol. Cigarettes are very expensive in Britain though. It is strange how the desire for a drink strikes at 10pm in the evening! It’s 9:44 and I’m trying not to think about it! My addiction to drugs was prescription but still hell to get off them. I write, take photos, teach students, do all sorts of stuff now – still want a drink but will resist it. I feel better for it. I have more than enough money and I’m building a stock market portfolio!