# How much do you spend a month on alcohol and tobacco **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314 "2004-07-28T19:51:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Powers106](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Powers106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers106)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/21 "2004-07-28T22:07:21Z")
I guess the rule includes wine at restaurants & bars, and after dinner drinks, etc. etc., but frankly I’m VERY surprised at the low totals so far, maybe no big city dopers have checked in yet. Monthly: cigarettes & cigars $100 (not a big smoker but cubans are about $10 each and cigs $6/pack) and alcohol $1,500 if you consider the wine & drinks I PAY for. God only knows what I consume, life tending toward the fast side at times. Ah, to be young and crazy in Paris… Cheers, Powers ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/22 "2004-07-28T22:16:09Z")
Alcohol $200 per month. Tobacco $40 per month. Hopefully that tobacco figure will be zero next month and the month after and the month after… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/23 "2004-07-28T22:17:33Z")
> [@«Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™](#): > > I know this is gonna scare me… > > 1 1.75l of whiskey a week - $30 x 4= $120 > 1 750ml of rum or vodka a week - $20 x 4= $80 > 18 pack beer a week - $20 x 4= $80 > > booze= $280 > > * * * > > around a carton of Camels a week - $35 x 4= $140 > > tobacco= $140 > > * * * > > monthly total= $420 > yearly total= $5040 > > **HOLY CRAP ON A STICK!!** Wow. Is that all for you? Because by my calculations that’s 12oz of hard alcohol, 2 beers, and 2 packs a day. If you can pull that off, you sir have a constitution of steel. ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/24 "2004-07-28T22:33:44Z")
Tobacco: I smoke cigarettes on occasion, usually when I go out drinking, and my husband likes the occasional cigar, so it would average out to being no more than $10 a month. Alcohol: That’s a bigger expense. Thank the gods for Two-Buck-Chuck, or I’d barely be able to afford my habit. 😉 I would guess that we spend around $100 a month on alcohol. Most of that is on wine from Trader Joe’s, since I won’t spend more than $8 a bottle for at-home drinks. Throw in the occasional top-shelf hard liquor, and it adds up. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/25 "2004-07-28T22:37:17Z")
> [@Angel of the Lord](#): > > Cigarettes: $0. > > Alcohol: $0. Once, I bought a 4 thing of Mudslides thinking, “hey, if I’m going to like ANY kind of alcohol, I’m going to like the chocolate shake alcohol.” That was about 3 dollars. I didn’t. I think I also made my fiance buy me cheap sangria once. It was about two dollars. It tasted like alcohol. Yuck. I think I’ll be sticking to mulled grape juice (which tastes to me like how wine looks) and oxygen for the rest of my life. Meh. I’m the same! I hate the taste of alcohol. Everyone says, “oh, you can’t taste the alcohol in _insert drink name here_!” I can! Blergh! Sometimes I put up with the taste anyway though. And I don’t smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/26 "2004-07-28T22:38:06Z")
Nothing. I neither smoke nor drink alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/27 "2004-07-28T23:01:44Z")
Tobacco, nothing. Alchohol, let’s see…figure averaging about $30 for fridge beer, half of a $20 bottle of hard stuff, and maybe $10 for the occasional restaurant drink. $50/month, not as bad as I was expecting. **Powers106** , $1500 a **month**? That’d pay for a 30-year, $300,000 morgage! I don’t think it’s a matter of “big city” dopers not checking in, I think it’s a matter of “people who consider $18,000/year a reasonable amount to spend on booze.” -lv ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/28 "2004-07-28T23:41:55Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > Wow. Is that all for you? Because by my calculations that’s 12oz of hard alcohol, 2 beers, and 2 packs a day. If you can pull that off, you sir have a constitution of steel. Well, ya thats about right, except my g/f helps out a little and we both smoke a little under a pack a day. Sometimes I even have to get more whiskey on saturday… Yes, I know I am killing my liver. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/29 "2004-07-28T23:49:08Z")
Nothing for the DangerFamily. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/30 "2004-07-29T00:01:50Z")
Don’t smoke so that’s zero. As far as drinks go, I probably go out twice a month and buy one beer so maybe $10. I _drink_ more than one beer when I go but usually somebody will offer to pay… ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/31 "2004-07-29T00:02:36Z")
Alcohol - roughly £500 Tobacco - £0 (yes. I have a problem) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/32 "2004-07-29T00:06:17Z")
Oh heck, I had forgotten to think of the _financial_ implications for a while (until now). Shit that’s depressing. I’m officially depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/33 "2004-07-29T00:25:44Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Oh heck, I had forgotten to think of the _financial_ implications for a while (until now). Shit that’s depressing. I’m officially depressed. Glad I could help. Why don’t you guys drink cheap alcohol instead? Here in the US in Indiana at least cheap hard liquors (vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila, etc) is $12 for a 1.75L. Beer is $10 for a 24 pack and fortified wine averages $3 for a 750ml. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/34 "2004-07-29T00:57:19Z")
99% of cheap beer tastes like crap. When I drink, I don’t just drink to get smashed, at least for the first couple of bottles I want to enjoy the taste. It’s pretty hard to drink, when you can’t stomach the beer. Blue? No. Canadian? No. Moosehead? No. Laker? Hell, no. Stella? Yes. Sleeman’s? Yes. Heineken? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/35 "2004-07-29T01:00:23Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > 99% of cheap beer tastes like crap. When I drink, I don’t just drink to get smashed, at least for the first couple of bottles I want to enjoy the taste. It’s pretty hard to drink, when you can’t stomach the beer. Blue? No. Canadian? No. Moosehead? No. Laker? Hell, no. Stella? Yes. Sleeman’s? Yes. Heineken? Yes. ugh, heineken is garbage. Pretty much all beer is garbage. For that matter most alcohol is garbage except the ones laced with sugar like mudslides or daiquiris, and you need to ingest about 2000 calories of sugar from them to get enough alcohol to get a good buzz. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/36 "2004-07-29T01:19:11Z")
Zero again here, in both categories. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/37 "2004-07-29T02:01:21Z")
Alcohol - $50 abouts Tobacco - $50 abouts ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/38 "2004-07-29T02:04:01Z")
Hmm…I order cartons online in batches of five or more to reduce the cost, and a go thru about two cartons monthly, let’s round that cost off to $50. Alcohol is tough, summers mean barbecues and picnics and softball games that I lug a cooler to, so my fizzy sweet girly beer expenses go way up. Christmas and NYE means attending and hosting a lot, so my real liquor expenses get skewed then. I don’t drink regularly, totally a social thing for me, so I’ll guesstimate a coupla six-packs and at least a fifth a month for jello shot making, another $50 maybe. Hmm, not too bad, especially when I think of how much of that’s shared with friends. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/39 "2004-07-29T02:07:43Z")
I don’t smoke anything, so tobacco: $0.00 I buy probably 2 12-packs of decent beer a month, so that’s about $25.00. About two times a month, hubby and I will go out for “drinks” (meaning hard stuff for him, but only one or two as he’s the driver, and beer for me, usually whatever they have on draft that sounds interesting). In those outings, I probably drink $6.00 worth of beer each time, so add $12.00. Then, probably once a month, we’ll make drinks with some kind of hard liquor we have at home. A bottle of vanilla vodka that costs $20.00 will last us maybe four months, so my share of that is another $2.50. Total for alcohol (estimated): about $50.00 a month. If you add hubby’s drinks when we go out and his vodka for the month, we probably spend $60.00 or $70.00 a month total. But I can remember a time when it wouldn’t have been anything to spend that much on liquor in a week! Yeah, we’re old and lame. Wanna make something of it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314/40 "2004-07-29T02:10:56Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > Zero again here, in both categories. Ditto. The last time I bought anything with alcohol in it was last year. New years eve was the last time I drank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-spend-a-month-on-alcohol-and-tobacco/257314.md?page=3)