'22p a can lager, get drunk for £1. MoneySaving or MoneyWasting?' blog discussion

FluffyFiFi · 14 November 2007 at 3:44PM

People will drink, they have drunk for centuries, it is part of our life style and culture. A glass or two of wine is very enjoyable, especially in good company so why shouldn't we try and save money on this. For those who have a drink problem, whilst very unfortunate, they will still have a drink problem whether they spend £1 or £100 on alcohol. Lots of things in life can be bad for us if taken to excess, however that is our personal choice not to be decided by officials who think they have a right to tell us what to do.

cjalynch · 14 November 2007 at 4:14PM

I would agree with Gabs27 above- my OH started drinking the Value lager two years ago when we were in dire financial straits and really couldn't afford anything else. Now he likes to have it around in addition to the better stuff as he can have a can in the week or outside in the garden in summer in the afternoon without feeling inebriated by it. He drives to work very early in the morning and will not risk a stronger beer at night (even one) in case it affects his judgement, so to be able to have one of these midweek is a bonus.
So for us it was a moneysaver initially and now we drink it as a refresher.
As an aside I would also think that for the younger, less responsible drinker it would be the cheap, STRONG beverages which would appeal rather than watered-down beer (I seem to remember Thunderbird wine and barley wine being very popular in my late teens).

guess_who_4 · 14 November 2007 at 4:49PM

The price only couts up to a point. If it taste rank then it aint worth it.

This year the halls at my place had this party. At first they were selling draft and cans for £1. For the first drink everyone went for the draft (pull your own pint as well). Anyway it was rank. 1/2 way into the party they decided to give it away for free. Not a single person had it! Even studensts have standers.

With booze is a 'luxury', most people will pay the extra to have a decent drink over a rank one.

Stephen_Leak · 14 November 2007 at 5:15PM

ManAtHome wrote: »

Can anyone get ratted on a quids-worth of 2 or 3% lager?

But don't forget that, to the average lager drinker, this is the equivalent of fire water.

westferret · 14 November 2007 at 5:30PM

Probably not worth it more likely to cause an addiction and get stuck on it. Rather spend £3 on a cider at a pub and be with friends than stuck at home drinking stupidly cheap lager that probably doesn't taste that nice

GooeyBlob · 14 November 2007 at 6:44PM

I've tried several of these value lagers and without exception they are awful. If you want to get drunk for next-to-nothing and avoid paying rip-off alcohol taxes (typically around £8 duty on a £10 bottle of vodka) the only way to do it is to brew it yourself. I make my own wines for around 15p-20p per bottle, and they're as good as anything you'll find in the supermarkets.

All you need to do is dissolve a 1 kilo bag of sugar in a little hot water, cover the pan and let it cool. Once cooled, pour it into a demi-john, add 1 teaspoon of yeast and a litre of value orange juice (you can add a spoon of pectolase if you want the wine to clear quickly), then top up with tapwater, stick on an airlock and leave in a warm place for 8 to 10 weeks. Bingo, 6 bottles of white wine at a total cost of £1.20.

before_hollywood · 14 November 2007 at 9:42PM

netto have been doing this for years, we have a netto near where i live and one year one of my old jobs was almost certainly going down the pan so i was absolutely brassic skint, i bought about a dozen cans of netto's lager for about 2 or 3 quid cos it was all i could afford and it lasted me all christmas and new year (i am not a heavy drinker), bought some again last summer, i drunk about 2 mouthfuls and threw the rest of the can away, my dad tried some and he threw the can away so we now still have the remaining 2 cans, nothing will make me desperate enough for a drink that i drink that rubbish again

Viking_Man · 14 November 2007 at 11:14PM

The general consensus among the medical profession and those who deal with alcoholism is that availablity of cheap alcohol is the primary reason why alcohol-related illness and addiction have risen dramatically in the UK over the last 10 years or so. It's a combination of booze being cheap, and being available to underage children, plus the culture of binge drinking. I'd agree that the best thing is to prevent kids getting hold of alcohol, but making a can of lager beer cheaper than a can of Coke or Sprite surely doesn't help matters.

bhebbes · 15 November 2007 at 12:49AM

Not so long ago the only drink clubs could serve after licencing hours had to be no more than 2% alcohol. It was usually called near-beer. Ths is exactly what the supermarkets' cheapest beers are. Continental children regularly drink watered wine and beer, and so did British children until tea became widely popular less than 200 years ago.
Given the number of people who still give credence to the media, how is it possible to tell whether anyone's drunk or just plain daft?

JDPower · 15 November 2007 at 3:23AM

cjalynch wrote: »

As an aside I would also think that for the younger, less responsible drinker it would be the cheap, STRONG beverages which would appeal rather than watered-down beer (I seem to remember Thunderbird wine and barley wine being very popular in my late teens).

Yup, it's the cheap STRONG alcohol that is the biggest problem there, white cider being one of the biggest culprits (it certainly was when I was a teen not so long ago).

There's also the role that alcopops have played, making alcohol so much easier to drink and get into drinking in the first place for youngsters.

MSE Forum

'22p a can lager, get drunk for £1. MoneySaving or MoneyWasting?' blog discussion

Replies

NHS prescription costs frozen in England

£100 John Lewis e-gift card free with big spend

Adopting kittens – need pet insurance advice