The Giving Up/Cutting Down Alcohol Support Thread - Numero 9!

Here we are again, time for a new thread, new starts, new challenges, NEW POSTERS PLEASE (not that there's anything wrong with the old ones, so please stick around ).

Let's take a trip down memory lane and remind ourselves of In Search Of Me's (ISOM) original post in Part 1:

"There are a few of us who want to give up/cut down & I thought it would be good to widen the net to support each other along the way!
For me alch & feeling good for the time I'm drinking & then rubbish after go hand in hand. A bit like drinking & smoking & drinking & getting the munchies! Last year I gave up alch & fags for 10 months & then "slipped" towards Christmas until by Jan I was doing both with alarming regularity. I dread to think how much both cost me financially and I know physically that I've felt rubbish. My lungs hurt, have put on weight & literally none of my clothes fit so I will have to buy more - which means a dent in my budget that I can ill afford. My skin is also yukky & much nicer when I dont drink/smoke!
I had my last ciggies the night before last & last wine on Tues. I know I will feel 100% better when I crack it but also know it will be hard. One disadvantage here is that all too often DFW "parties" tend to involve alcohol so I'm also hoping that this can possibly be a safe haven for those of us who want, or need, to abstain, for now at least!
Anway - I hope that this can be a place of real support for people who are sturggling. I do wonder whether there is a link between debt & drinking as from the Jan thread it was obvious that so many struggle to give up! Plus I know for me that I feel much hapier and in control when I dont drink (or drink in moderation) - which of course begs the question "why do I do it?"! Anyway, I do but will now try not t ad hope some of you wil join in. Some days I know I wil fail, just as I do with my debt free journey and I am more than happy to be given a swift (but nice!) kicking when I do! Hugs all and dare I say...:beer: but this time with water!!

PS have amended this slightly as I have decided that I will try for the moderation way! That means for me not drinking over the recc limits (bottle & a half of wine for me!) but I know at times this will be a struggle plus I'm aware that others want to do the same."

And here's what she started!!! :

The previous thread (part 8) is HERE

Part 7 is HERE

Part 6 is HERE

Part 5 is HERE

Part 4 is HERE

Part 3 is HERE

Part 2 is HERE

and the original starting thread is HERE

Here is a post from back on thread 1 or 2 (can't remember, but a long time ago), a post which means a lot to us on here....from Springwatch Girl. Don't know where SWG is as she hasn't posted since back then, but I am hoping that the sun is still shining in her life

"Well, week 5 of no alcohol and I see a different person in the mirror. My eyes no longer look dull and vacant, they actually have a little sparkle and my skin doesn't look like uncooked pastry anymore. I feel that I have won a battle but not yet the war. Hope everyone else is at the point they want to be, I never want to be that person I was, I have been tempted but I just think back to what I had become. The sun is shining at the moment and I feel good and want to continue to have the sun in my life"

Let us, once again, begin......