What the numbers mean
The money is the part people underestimate, because it never arrives as one bill — it's £8 here and $40 there, spread across a year. Seeing it as a single annual figure is usually the moment it stops feeling normal. The ten-year column isn't a scare tactic either; it's just what the same habit costs if nothing changes.
The calorie line uses standard-drink averages: roughly 150 kcal for a beer, 125 for a glass of wine, 180 for a spirit-based drink. Those are alcohol calories only — they don't count the food that comes with a night out, which is usually where the real damage is. The pound conversion uses the standard 3,500 kcal ≈ 1 lb of body fat, which is a rule of thumb rather than a law.
The hours assume roughly six hours of a following day that you'd describe as "not really yours" — foggy, low, unproductive — after a drinking night. If that sounds high, it's worth reading why hangovers get worse in your thirties; if it sounds low, you already know why.
Related reading
- How much money you actually save by not drinking
- Does drinking make you gain weight?
- What to drink instead of alcohol
- What happens in your first 30 days without alcohol
Want to watch that number go the other way?
Hangover Free counts your alcohol-free days and tracks the money back automatically — free, no account, and it works in your browser.
Open the trackerThese are estimates from averages, not measurements. If you think you may be dependent on alcohol, please talk to a doctor — stopping suddenly can be dangerous.