I quit my out-of-control booze habit and saved £10,000 in just 18 months
LAURIE McAllister, 27, from Norfolk, thought nothing of drinking five £20 bottles of wine a week in her early 20s.
But, after giving up booze, she realised she'd saved £10,000 in just 18 months... now she tells her remarkable story.
I first started drinking aged 15.
But it was at uni that my heavy drinking really started.
I studied English at Queen Mary’s University in London and my mates and I would pre-drink because it was cheaper.
Then, we’d drink loads when we were out.
Aged 21, I left uni and got my first job in marketing.
But, my social life didn’t change… in fact, my social circle got bigger.
I had loads of new friends from work. I was 22 and going out around five times a week.
My salary was £22,000 a year and we go out all the time.
I would go to PR events where there were loads of free drinks.
Then, aged 23, I, moved to another PR agency – and there was a free bar on site.
Between 5.30pm to 8.30pm every Thursday and Friday there was free Prosecco for hours and I would get really drunk.
I didn’t have to drink much to not remember what would happen.
I’m quite slim, and I wouldn’t have to drink a lot to have a blackout.
I would get blackouts on even half a bottle of wine. I’d drink three glasses of wine and not remember how I’d get home.
Just how much was Laurie spending on alcohol?
Laurie would have either a bottle of wine a night or four cocktails.
She drank this everyday.
A bottle of wine cost £20 and cocktails £10-a-pop - so £40-all-in.
If she drank four bottles of wine a week, and four cocktails, she was spending £120 on alcohol a week.
That's £6,240 a year...
But it doesn't count all the extra costs, such as snacks, Ubers home and pricey Prets the next day when she was hungover.
I’d have to ask people, in a jokey way, ‘What happened last night?’
Drinking a lot became really, really normal. I didn’t think anything of it. I thought it was something we were all doing.
I’d drink around five nights a week.
And, even if I wasn’t going out-out, I would meet a friend for dinner and we would drink a bottle of wine.
I was just drinking a lot, a lot of the time.
But, in 2015, I started to struggle with my mental health. I was 24, suffering anxiety.
I wasn’t dealing with stress at work well and I was suffering low moods.
I put two and two together and realised it was my drinking.
I couldn’t afford to go to a yoga class, as I had no money, but I was spending loads on booze.
I also realised, at my peak, I was spending £300 on booze a week – so more than a grand a month.
I was going out five times a week, and the average night I would drink four £10 cocktails or a bottle of £20 wine.
On a big week I could drink a bottle of wine five times a week, so that's £100 a week.
We could spend £50 on dinner as well. As well as that, I would £15 on Pret the next day.
I’d get an Uber home as I didn’t want to get the night bus as I was drunk, so I would be spending £60-plus five times a week.
I had £3,000 of credit card debt, which I have now paid off.
I’d get really overdrawn, and then have a month where I would be like “S*** I need to reign it in.”
I would cycle to work, so I didn’t have to spend money on my travel… it just seemed normal
At the end of 2015 I looked at my credit card statement and realised I was in a hole… I had no spare money.
I hated being out-of-control, and realised I wasn’t the sort of person who could have ‘just a few’
I had £3,000 on my credit card. I couldn’t save anything and I knew I couldn’t pay it off the way I was living. So, I decided to try to stop…
In 2015 I did Dry January 2015 and saved £500, but it took me another two years to properly quit.
Since December 2017 I haven’t drunk anything.
I feel much more in control of my mental health, and a lot more capable.
I don’t miss drinking.
Now I get more from going home and watching Netflix than going out…it might look good on Instagram, but you are not very fulfilled, really.
In August 2017 I moved back to Norfolk, and I knew I could afford to leave my London salary.
But, as it happens, I’ve matched my salary…
I’m now a yoga teacher, single and healthy.
I’ve saved £10,000 and don’t regret a day of giving up drinking.
Read Laurie's blog .
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