How much do you really drink?

[GJD23000]

It’s an interesting topic, and I think lots of people wonder how their drinking compares to others. For us, my husband tends to have a beer or two most evenings, maybe a couple more on weekends if we’re relaxing or watching something together. I rarely drink during the week but will usually have 2-3 glasses of wine spread over Friday and Saturday evenings.

If we’re out with friends or at a party (which is rare now we’re parents), we can definitely drink more, maybe a bottle of wine each or cocktails, depending on the occasion. But that only happens if we’ve got a babysitter and plenty of time to recover the next day!

I’m genuinely curious to hear about others drinking habits and whether this is typical or not. No judgement at all—just keen to know! For context we have one child and are late 30s.

My OH will have 1-2 cider cans a night to wind down after work and maybe 3-4 on a Friday or Saturday night, however he's broken his collarbone ATM and for some reason hasn't wanted a drink at all! (The broken collarbone wasn't a drunken accident, was playing football lol) Which proves it's definitely a work related relief.
For me I'll have one or two glasses of wine every month or so, so I'm pretty much a non drinker, I have 3 young children and I get such bad hangovers I hate it lol.
If we go out for dinner I'll have one small glass with my dinner and let OH drink so I'm always the designated driver. However, we have a 40th birthday party soon and we intend to have plenty to drink (dreading the hangover already lol). Me and OH are both mid thirties.

Interestingly though, my parents were heavy drinkers but not 'alcoholics' as they never drank in the day but I'd say they were more functional alcoholics meaning they have never gone a day without at least one drink in the evening. My dad died 4 years ago (unrelated to alcohol) but I know not to call my mum after 6pm for a lift/ babysitting as she'll be on her wine by then!

Honestly? Too much recently, so I'm doing my annual January cutting down after a very boozy Christmas. I have a faulty off-switch when it comes to wine, so I know I have to watch myself.

Aged 60, grown up DC, DH a moderate drinker.

I don't really drink, maybe a couple glasses of wine a year but that is it.

I always drink under 14 units a week because I'm on medication which can harm the liver if I drink more than the govt guideline amount. Usually a bottle of 10% wine on a Saturday and a couple of beers on a Friday (all checked out with my consultant and monthly liver function tests are always excellent).

However a few times a year I have a break from my meds because the side effects are pretty awful - I don't want to feel ill over my birthday, while on holiday or at Christmas, for example. Then I have a bit more, if I fancy it.

Can't remember the last time I was drunk or had a hangover, though. I never drink enough for either.

Not much compared to many.

I have one pint after my weekly walk with a friend, then if we go out on a weekend I might have 3-4 G&Ts. I tend to feel sick once I've had a few so I know my limits.

DH drinks a lot more than me - he will drink 3 days out of 7 and would have on average 6 pints (way too much imo but he reckons it's way less than his friends so that makes him virtually teetotal)

I dont drink much at home and can go weeks with nothing and then might have 2 glasses of wine on a weekend night or if we go out for a meal. I throw away so many half drunk bottles.

I do drink much more if I'm out with friends and definitely when I'm with my sisters and lose all sense of sensible drinking once I've had a third glass, however my hangovers really put me off drinking regularly.

We only really drink when we have been invited to an event like a celebration of some sort now. I worked out we'd drank on ten occasions last year.

We have done dry January/February for years but have decided to extend it to end of March this year when my DH turns 40. We are both starting to feel like we'd happily completely stop drinking altogether.

We used to drink every Saturday and would binge drink. Then in Summer 23, we just decided we didn't want to drink as much anymore and just stopped the weekly Saturday drinking. I do prefer not being hungover as often now and when we do drink now, we don't binge and are more productive the next day rather than wasting it hungover, which I definitely don't miss .

Yeah it's really calorific, and expensive too.

I think the turning point for me was realising what a unit of alcohol actually looks like - smaller than most people realise. So a couple of glasses of wine can vary a lot, anything from 4 to 6+ units, especially if you're pouring your own at home.

The recommendation is no more than 14 units a week, which when you're drinking at home is easy to exceed if you're thinking in terms of drinks rather than units.

I don’t drink often, only socially and nowadays I’m more likely to meet friends for coffee or lunch/ dinner and not to centre meet ups around alcohol. I suppose I probably drink 5-10 times a year, a few work dos and a few celebrations with friends usually. I do tend to binge drink when I’m out though, I find it hard to stop after a few and not to just keep drinking until I’m wasted. Only time I can stop at one is if I’m driving and know I have no choice.

Probably a handful of glasses a year. I don't really like the taste unless it's heavily masked with some kind of sugar or soft drink and I'm a lightweight. I particularly dislike alcohol with a strong taste, like wine or whiskey, and things that are bitter like beer.

I'm 50 and probably drink between 15 and 35 units a week depending on social life. Being honest I have never grown out of binge drinking.

I have 3 or 4 alcohol free days a week and do have periods when I don't drink so much if things are quiet socially.

I ashamed to say that I can easily drink the equivalent of a bottle of prosecco plus a few cocktails or shots if I'm with friends on a weekend evening.

A lot less than I used to. I'm 52 and it became a normal habit - hard day - have a drink, wine'oclock and all that. Covid seemed to make it worse. Drinking at the weekend nudged into the week. I would also drink to self medicate from my anxiety and thoughts.

Husband's health issues made me re-evaluate my drinking and I was feeling awful health wise. I stopped drinking in the house and I just have a beer when I'm out now.

Fibroscans were being offered in our local city centre and I went and had one on Tuesday. It scared me that I could damage myself. It was all clear and results fine but just the thought that I could inflict damage through being careless and as a release from my anxiety. I have found better ways to cope I think.

This week has been typical, last night we shared a bottle of wine, I had around 1/3 which would be 3 units approximately. Tonight we are going to the pub, I'll have a couple of beers (5-6 units approximately depending on what's on) and maybe a gin or 2. If we are out on a Sunday for a walk we might pop in for just one but it's not every week, I don't drink during the week typically. So I'm usually comfortably within the government 14 units max but not evenly spread, dh is within the old 21 units for men but not the new 14 units!

Last year I realised in April Ib hadn’t drink since New Year, i probably have about 20 pints a year and go to half a dozen events I’ll drink wine/champagne at. Sometimes drink when entertaining, but almost never when it’s just us.

I’ve been teetotal since 18 , my husband effectively became teetotal because I am . Neither of our adult children drink either .

If it wasn’t for my weight and my health, two large glasses every evening. However, two medium red on a Friday night and a couple of glasses if out socially, probably once a week.

38, three teens here.

I have to be careful due to medication I'm on, but was not a big drinker anyway. I'd say across a fortnight I might have one drink (a G&T or an M&S cocktail in a can).

Once every few months I'll be out and have up to four drinks, but no more.

The empty calories annoy me too.

We don't generally drink at home or during the week. We usually go to the pub for a couple after work on a Friday. Literally just a couple.

If we go out for a meal, I'll have a couple of G&Ts unless we're with friends and then it might be a bit more.

If it's a party or an event, all bets are off.

(No DC.)

Had a few glasses of wine over Christmas , NYE 4/5 glasses of champagne and some limoncello that the host produced, haven't had a drink since, going to a birthday party tonight will probably stick to vodka soda, fresh lime 4ish over the evening (7-12), got things to do tomorrow. Then probably won't drink again until there's another event. I realised at DHs birthday in November I hadn't had a drink for about 3 months. I don't drink at home, unless we have people over for dinner which isn't often and then it's a glass of wine or two with dinner

ETA it hasn't always been this way, I was out a LOT in my teens and twenties and more than used up my allocated units, pregnancy and then BF was a period of enforced abstinence and I just never went back to it

Barely anything these days because I get the hangovers from hell and I cba anymore losing a day over a weekend to being in bed feeling dreadful.
I’m 40 with a 20, 19 and 13yo dc. I’m up early to swim on a Saturday and Sunday morning which is my absolute saviour and I look forward to them (even in the bitter January icy weather 😂), it’s more appealing to me than being in bed hungover!
I’m definitely not tee total, I still enjoy a drink every now and then but even now i’ll
drive to most occasions and be a taxi for others.
dh will have a few drinks after work on a Thursday and the same Friday and Saturday nights.
Dh and I are going away for a couple of nights this week and I’m looking forward to some cocktails and vodkas, and I have something at the end of February I’m looking forward to and will probably have a few drinks at.
So I’m really a sporadic drinker now, dh is far more consistent 😂

Pretty much everyone I know in real life drinks more than you're supposed to and on a regular basis.

In an average week, 2 bottles of wine, spread over 4 evenings. I'd like to cut it down to 2 small glasses every one of those evenings though. Sometimes one of those evenings will be replaced by 2-3 pints if I go to the pub. I'm doing dry January at the moment because it all started creeping up a bit.

Ffs, so I'm the only one in there 'ere parts who necks a bottle of wine every night then 😆

I don't really drink anything else though. And yes I have a problem blah blah. But I'm okay with it at the moment.

Yep, me too. As did I, before I started the medication I'm on. The tiny amounts people say they drink here doesn't chime at all with the 'real' world.