If you’re one of the growing number of people observing “Dry January” this month, you may have a new motivation for the no-alcohol challenge: Extra cash.

According to a new Morning Consult survey, 22% of drinking-age adults in the U.S. are having a Dry January this year, up from 17% who said they’d done it in the past. And participation among lower earners has grown the most, from 16% to 24%. In fact, a desire to save money was the third most-cited reason for abstaining, just after wanting to be healthier and wanting to cut down on drinking overall. (“I like to reset my drinking” and “I’ve been drinking too much lately” were far less common motivators, the survey showed.)

So how much can you actually save going dry? This handy “Alcohol Spending Calculator” (yes, this really exists) from the National Institutes of Health makes it easy to figure out. If you don’t drink that often, it might just be $30 or $50. But forgoing two $8 pints of beer three times a week would save you $208 this month. And skipping six $15 glasses of wine a week (if you go out twice a weekend, for example) would put $390 back in your pocket.

No matter how much you net, make your self-restraint count. In other words, if you don’t have to, don’t just let the savings melt back into your day-to-day budget or spend it on another vice. Earmark it to support a tangible financial goal — like seed money for an emergency fund, a vacation, or the down payment on a house.

For example, if you skipped those pints regularly — depositing $208 every month — it would add almost $7,500 to your emergency fund after three years. If you used a high-yield savings account with a 4% APY, you’d have almost $8,000. And if you invested that money in the stock market and earned a return of 7% a year (the average annual return for the S&P 500 Index over time,) you’d have over $8,300.

So what? Dropping or curtailing a vice can be a lucrative and healthy choice. Quitting a pack-a-day cigarette habit could save you $250 a month or more. (In New York, the most expensive state for cigarettes, a pack costs more than $14. That adds up to well over $400 a month.) Giving up vaping could save you over $80 a month. You get the idea: Healthier habits can lead to fatter wallets, especially when you’re strategic with your savings.

Related Reading

•   Cutting Out Alcohol for Dry January? These Apps Can Help (NPR)

•   Americans Drank Less Alcohol Even Before the Surgeon General Weighed In (The Washington Post via MSN)

•   The 9 Most Expensive Vices We’re All Spending Too Much Money On(FinanceBuzz)


photo credit: iStock/DMP

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