20 Items a Person Can Purchase Instead of a Six-Pack of Beer

I quit drinking alcoholic beverages, some years ago for various reasons, but the two main reasons were I was tired of feeling hung over the next day and the cost. Today I occasionally have a pina colada (when on vacation), but I am not an alcoholic or someone who drinks very often, but my beverage of choice back then was beer and I would buy about one six-pack a week. When I stopped drinking beer, the cost of a six-pack was less than $4.00 and now it is $6.00 or higher, depending on the brand. To most people that this not a lot of money, unless you are living on a fixed income, as I was.

When I was buying a six-pack of beer, I would often wonder what else I could purchase with my $4.00 instead of alcohol. One thing that came to mind was a good book. Being an avid reader, I knew I could purchase books from the bargain tables at bookstores for less than $5.00. A beer was gone in minutes, but if the book was long, a person could get hours of enjoyment out of it. When I mentioned this to a friend, their comment was that they would buy the beer and check out a book from the library. Fair enough, but with my way, I was not destroying my liver, and I had a physical object (the book) that would not be flushed away or needed to be returned by a specific date.

After that argument with my friend, I figure there will always be someone who can figure out what they think is a better way, but here is my list of things I would and do buy instead of a six-pack of beer.

1. One and a half gallons of gas.

2. Movie ticket for the rush hour show.

3. Take my grandkids out for an ice cream cone.

4. Take my grandkids to the arcade at the mall.

5. Prayer cards for my husband.

6. Neat looking bookmark to go with my new book.

7. DVD rental or purchase a DVD in the sale bin at a department store.

8. Personal pan pizza.

9. 1 yard of cotton fabric for quilting.

10. Use the money to shop at yard sales.

11. 2-12 packs of Soda.

12. A half gallon of my favorite chocolate ice cream.

13. Scrapbook supplies.

14. A couple packs of flower seeds.

15. Make-up.

16. My favorite magazine.

17. My favorite gourmet candy bar and a tabloid paper (or rag paper as I like to refer to them).

18. A half pound of my favorite gourmet loose-leaf tea.