20 days sober today

[Murphy]

Good job. It isn't easy but is worth it. Stay strong.

 

[misterarman]

20 days sober today. I also quit smoking the same day and added up how much I have saved not paying for my bad habits in 20 days and it was $660.

Thats a sig 365 or a glock 19x every 20 days…a 1000rd case of 5.56 ammo or 2 car payments.

I am not tooting my own horn but to anyone who is battling addictions I hope this may be encouraging to you or give you a goal to shoot for.

Isn't it funny how when your wife or kids need something that costs $40 you act like they are asking for too much but you can always find the money for those addictions?

I can't believe how sick I was until I wasn't anymore…

Congratulations. The savings of money is only second place to what it is doing to improve your health.

 

[papakalash]

20 days sober today. I also quit smoking the same day and added up how much I have saved not paying for my bad habits in 20 days and it was $660.

Thats a sig 365 or a glock 19x every 20 days…a 1000rd case of 5.56 ammo or 2 car payments.

I am not tooting my own horn but to anyone who is battling addictions I hope this may be encouraging to you or give you a goal to shoot for.

Isn't it funny how when your wife or kids need something that costs $40 you act like they are asking for too much but you can always find the money for those addictions?

I can't believe how sick I was until I wasn't anymore…

I just got 3yrs sober last month and can say beyond doubt that its worth the effort. Being alive and useful to your fellow man is why we exist, keep coming back man!

 

[Flopsweat]

It's been over a decade since I've had a cigarette and just last night I had another craving for one. Just a random mental picture of a smoke in my head like it was about time for another one. I could almost taste it. The good news is that the last time that happened was over a year ago, so it has gotten way, way better. Plus the disappointment of knowing I'm absolutely not going to have that smoke was a lot less than at the beginning.

Stay strong and don't let that monkey win!

 

[Alexx1401]

been 4 years for me. Last drink was on the Eclipse of '17.. Funny, i just stopped wanting it and honestly i have 0 desire for a one.

When I met the Wife I was a fairly heavy drinker. Doctors had told me I was a short timer so I figured who cares. She slowed me way down and then the damn Docs invented a cure so I got stuck living a lot longer than planned. Damn them
I have a well stocked cupboard of nice Bourbon. For some reason it's just lost it's appeal to me. Not really sure why. Even beer that used to be daily. Now once in a while I will buy a 6 of something dark and tasty and it really hits the spot for one or maybe two. I often end up tossing the rest months later. Just never really think about it much. Of course the one problem with this is if some occasion comes up that sees me drink man do I feel it the next day. Last time one of the kids got hitched I did get really toasted and next day I was sure I was going to die, or at least wished to
To me for those who enjoy drink and not get in trouble? It's their money have at at. The cigarettes is the one I can not for the life of me understand any more. Almost a C note a carton here? WTF! That amazes me that so many still want to do that.

 

[Flopsweat]

When I met the Wife I was a fairly heavy drinker. Doctors had told me I was a short timer so I figured who cares. She slowed me way down and then the damn Docs invented a cure so I got stuck living a lot longer than planned. Damn them
I have a well stocked cupboard of nice Bourbon. For some reason it's just lost it's appeal to me. Not really sure why. Even beer that used to be daily. Now once in a while I will buy a 6 of something dark and tasty and it really hits the spot for one or maybe two. I often end up tossing the rest months later. Just never really think about it much. Of course the one problem with this is if some occasion comes up that sees me drink man do I feel it the next day. Last time one of the kids got hitched I did get really toasted and next day I was sure I was going to die, or at least wished to
To me for those who enjoy drink and not get in trouble? It's their money have at at. The cigarettes is the one I can not for the life of me understand any more. Almost a C note a carton here? WTF! That amazes me that so many still want to do that.

I find that more than 3 pints will leave me in pretty rough shape in the morning. I just chalked it up to getting old. Plus I rarely drink more than once a month anymore, so my tolerance is pretty low. I'm pretty dang happy by the middle of the second pint.

 

[BBQ Guy]

When I met the Wife I was a fairly heavy drinker. Doctors had told me I was a short timer so I figured who cares. She slowed me way down and then the damn Docs invented a cure so I got stuck living a lot longer than planned. Damn them
I have a well stocked cupboard of nice Bourbon. For some reason it's just lost it's appeal to me. Not really sure why. Even beer that used to be daily. Now once in a while I will buy a 6 of something dark and tasty and it really hits the spot for one or maybe two. I often end up tossing the rest months later. Just never really think about it much. Of course the one problem with this is if some occasion comes up that sees me drink man do I feel it the next day. Last time one of the kids got hitched I did get really toasted and next day I was sure I was going to die, or at least wished to
To me for those who enjoy drink and not get in trouble? It's their money have at at. The cigarettes is the one I can not for the life of me understand any more. Almost a C note a carton here? WTF! That amazes me that so many still want to do that.

I've often wished I was the type of person that could have a single beer with dinner or after mowing the lawn. I can't though. If I open one, I am drinking them all.
The last time I smoked a cigarette was after I saw my son pick up a butt at the age of 2.5 and try smoking it. I didn't smoke around the kids but we had a few friends that openly smoked around the kids on their back patio.
I decided then and there I wasn't passing on my bad habits. Life is already difficult enough.
That was a dual purpose lesson.

 

[ar addict]

Congratulations, The money saved is nice. But the quality of life is much better.
I quit almost 22 years ago. Everything is paid off, the only stress I have is what I allow. I wish you the best.

 

[Jason999]

Congrats on trying to better yourself.

 

[revjen45]

The Beloved Wife and I have often discussed the economics of smoking.
Smokers see tobacco as a daily necessity like rent and food, not an option about which there is a choice.
It is the ultimate in chutzpah for a panhandler to hit me up for $ while they are smoking or talking on their cell phone. If they can afford a cell phone and cigarettes they don't need $ from me. GET A JOB!!
I can say that quitting Skoal was extremely difficult. The first tin I bought cost $0.19. Now it goes for $3-6/can. (I looked it up - it's no longer part of my life.)
People who chew or dip ride at the back of the pack.

 

[Abigfatdynamo]

I had success in finding something constructive to do as your go to for those times where it gets hard. The times I came close to falling off the wagon were always after a bubblegumty day at work or looming financial troubles. I took to walking through neighborhoods as my thing to get back on track. 30 minutes after walking in a straight line from my house and I would forget what it was that even set me off.

 

[oremike]

I had success in finding something constructive to do as your go to for those times where it gets hard. The times I came close to falling off the wagon were always after a bubblegumty day at work or looming financial troubles. I took to walking through neighborhoods as my thing to get back on track. 30 minutes after walking in a straight line from my house and I would forget what it was that even set me off.

When I quit smoking I needed something to do with my hands and to get my mind off of the cravings so I built car models for a while and that seemed to help.

 

[JackFrost]

I have a well stocked cupboard of nice Bourbon. For some reason it's just lost it's appeal to me.

If you ever want to get rid of that well stocked cabinet of bourbon please let me know! I will take good care of them and give them a warm, safe home!

 

[The B]

congrats on the decision to improve your life, OP. i'm not someone who thinks "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic," in the AA way. it's not "a disease," its a symptom of something else, in my humble opinion. but either way, excessive drinking just isnt good for anyone, unless it's keeping you from eating a bullet. and in that case, it's not a GREAT solution, but if it truly is the only thing getting you through the day, then i say drink on until you're READY to let it go. barring liver failure or a total inability to control yourself when drunk, or something.

i've currently got 49 days sober, and figure i'll quit smoking in a couple weeks, once we're done moving to our new place outta the city. i wish i could be a casual smoker - i have friends who can just smoke socially, and i envy them. i love a smoke with a cup of coffee or a beer, but of all the potentially addictive substances i've played with, nicotine is the only one i don't seem to be able to just set aside. alcohol, on the other hand, is something i actually don't even enjoy unless i'm drinking all the time... so much like nicotine, it's a binary thing for me: either i'm drinking hard, or im sober. however, it don't find it THAT difficult to give up... if i can make it to a week, i should be good.. but yea, that first week can be goddamn rough. cigarettes, on the other hand.... jesus. weeks and weeks, even months to kick that one and be comfortable again. uhg.

the thing for me is that i'm more or less "retired," at this point. i'll probably have to earn money at some point again in my life - i'm only 40, and not extremely responsible or frugal- but for the foreseeable future i just don't have much to do with myself. so i just drink, and drink, and drink.. me n Wild Turkey have a toxic relationship. and it gets in the way of more productive and enjoyable things i could be doing. it bubblegums my sleep cycle all to hell, and i often embarrass myself. i've never had a DUI or lost jobs or relationships over my drinking, in fact nobody has ever really even complained too much about it.. my current girlfriend met me when i was drinking a 5th or more a day, so anything less than that looks like "moderation," to her. but i do still get sloppy and stupid and then have to live with more and unnecessary self loathing over it, from time to time.

it's........ man it's just time to do something with myself. is all.

and the smoking... i love smoking, but i'm literally PAYING $3500-$4000 a year to poison myself.. and when i think about it like that, i feel pretty stupid.

yea.. i guess for me it's just about reducing the self-loathing. i originally drank to drown it, but now it's the thing that's causing it! funny how these things pan out

 

[Ruger Rich]

You're doing the best possible thing you can do for yourself, and after that, your family and friends.
I lost my brother to alcohol about 3 years ago and I experienced nearly every sad, revolting minute
it took for him to pass. He was a very intelligent guy but just could not bring himself to stop. I think
of him at least every day. It is/was ugly and preventable, it just didn't happen.

 

[ELRShooter]

Congratulations! My experience has been it's easier to do with support than on your own. Find a good group to join, you will be amazed at how much we all have in common and there is so much you can learn from others.

https://www.aa-oregon.org/find-meetings/ is a link to meetings locally. Make them a new habit and go even when you don't want to. I always find something valuable to take away. Keep coming back, it works if you work it.

 

[boattail]

Congrats. Never took up smoking but know how addictive it can be. My dad drank and smoked. He had some health issues that caused a lot of problems. He could not eat or drink anything for a month and was fed through a tube into his heart. The day the tube came out he got home and had a smoke and a hi ball. After thirty days that is all he wanted.

Stay strong and the payoff will be worth it.

 

[joken]

My dad died at age 50 and my Bro was 53. Both of them died from booze and Pall Malls. I was a heavy drinker and it cost me my marriage and damn near bankruptcy. I remarried and quit drinking and it was very difficult. I had to say busy to help fight the craving. My wife saved my life and we have done well together.

 

[revjen45]

I never understood the lure of cigarettes. After one is hooked I understand why they would continue, but why anybody smokes in the 1st place is a mystery. I understand why people smoke giggle bush - it makes them feel good, but cigarettes don't, so why bother?

 

[The B]

I never understood the lure of cigarettes. After one is hooked I understand why they would continue, but why anybody smokes in the 1st place is a mystery. I understand why people smoke giggle bush - it makes them feel good, but cigarettes don't, so why bother?

it's pleasurable, and offers the promise of more pleasure.

it's not, however, so pleasurable that it's worth the cost to health and wallet thickness, so it is a bit of a mystery.

i started smoking when i was a kid, 15 years old, maybe 14? at that time, in the early 90s, i feel like smoking was still pretty common. i don't know facts, but it feels like half or more of people smoked. most of my friends smoked, all of my family smoked, movie stars still smoked rampantly in movies, airplanes still had ashtrays in them (even if you weren't allowed to smoke in most Western airplanes [you can in fact still smoke in foreign domestic flights, all over this globe tho]), and while not exactly "allowed," my high school still had an unofficially designated smoking area out behind the school and it was fairly common for teachers and students to smoke together between classes.

the first cigarette i smoked was a djarum "clove" cigarette, and i very much enjoyed the buzz it gave me. i was also excited for this rite-of-passage, as i perceived it. i smoked off and on for the next 3 or 4 years until i got married and the wife put an end to it. i think when i quit, cigarettes were $3-4 a pack - spendy, but not a big deal.

fast forward the better part of two decades to my eventual (but inevitable) divorce, and i started smoking again because i could. c it was an act of rebellion against my puritanical ex-wife, an acknowledgement of the fact that i'd only quit because she "made me," and i wanted to be the only guy who looked cool in group pics. i also loved that i was the only athlete i knew that smoked, and was still winning races. there's little that brings me more pleasure than competing with a handicap and winning anyway!

cigarettes were now $6-7 a pack for GOOD smokes (am spirit), but still not financially ruinous or anything. we certainly already knew it wasn't healthy, but i think i just figured i'd quit once before, i can do it again when i want to. which is true... but easier said than done. i just really, really enjoyed it, and everything about it - i loved how much everyone else hated it, i loved that it made me look like i didn't "give a bubblegum," because i really didn't give a bubblegum about anything except how i looked - and i thought smoking a cigarette made me look pretty cool. but i also, of course, loved the little buzz, and loved how it was a mini therapy for emotional distress - life is hard, go take a cigarette break and resent and come back when you've calmed down! i loved the taste, i loved the feeling, i loved the image.

a cigarette and a cup of coffee in the morning (as i am doing right now)? aaahhhh... heaven. so good. a cigarette and a glass of whiskey in the evening? jesus christ heself offers no better salvation to ones soul, my friend.

there does absolutely come a point when it goes from something that offers moments of relaxation and pleasure in ones life, to a thing that actually CAUSES the emotional crises that it alleviates, once addiction is so set in that cravings drive one mad until satisfaction is had through smoking one. at this point, smoking goes from something voluntarily pleasurable to something more obligatory, and thus less of a "cure" and more of a problem in need of a cure. for me, that happens within a year or so of starting smoking regularly... but it can still be very pleasurable, nonetheless. that morning coffee and that glass of whiskey will ALWAYS be better with a cigarette, regardless of how addicted one is.

but then comes the point when you crave a cigarette, so you go smoke one, and it doesn't even taste good. it may even taste gross to you, but you do HAVE to smoke it, lest ye dive into a mood.... and at this point:

it's time to quit.

add to these facts that it's now $9-10/pack... jesus F chriky

but there are people who can smoke "socially" only. i have a couple friends who dont smoke regularly, but bum smokes off me when we're hanging out. they get to enjoy its pleasure without suffering its pain. i envy those guys.

anywho, there's my answer to this question. im sure others' would be somewhat different, but share many themes.