Alcohol spending calculator
Drinks per week times price per drink times 52: that is your yearly drinking budget. Most people guess low. Set your two numbers below and see the week, month, year, and decade totals.
Counting rounds you buy, delivery fees, and the “while I’m here” snacks? It’s usually more.
That’s a used car every three years.
Orlyn tracks this number live and watches it flow the other way.
Why the number feels too big
Drinking costs hide in small transactions: a round here, a delivery fee there. The direct spend is only part of it. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimated the total cost of excessive drinking in the United States at 249 billion dollars for 2010, most of it from indirect costs like reduced workplace productivity rather than the drinks themselves. Your personal version of those indirect costs, slow mornings, skipped workouts, takeout instead of cooking, sits on top of what this calculator shows.
For the full picture of where the money goes and what people redirect it to, read what drinking really costs and the benefits of quitting alcohol.
Frequently asked questions
How is the yearly cost calculated?
Drinks per week times average price per drink times 52 weeks. The real number is usually higher: rounds, tips, delivery fees, rideshares, and next-day spending are not included.
What counts as one drink?
Use whatever you actually buy: a beer, a glass of wine, a cocktail. For the money math, the price you pay matters more than standard drink definitions.
Does quitting really save this much?
The direct spending stops immediately, which is exactly what this calculator shows. Research also counts indirect costs: a CDC-backed study estimated excessive drinking cost the US 249 billion dollars in 2010, mostly through indirect costs like reduced workplace productivity.