Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

[sunray]

Its only tuesday and already i am think about coping mechanisms for the forthcoming weekend- i know i should be think odat- but its making me nervous.
I am on day 9 now and I thought if anyone has any ideas on rewarding ourselves for our alcohol free days- i would love to hear them.
My mindset is usually - reward- have glasses of wine after hard day- hard week etc etc
even good day- good week- the sun is shining- whatever it is that we think we deserve alcohol as some kind of prize....
Well, i thought maybe tomorrow- go to bookshop and buy a good interesting book for weekend as my reward-prize??
any ideas??
xx

[betty boop]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

A massage .............. its really relaxing and cheaper than a weeks worth of booze ....... xx

[K9Lover]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

Hi Sunray!
Congratulations on thinking ahead to the weekend. I like your idea of a book, although I must say, reading at night is my daily treat to myself....it's rather hard to do while you're drinking (although I really tried!). I found that rewarding myself at the beginning really helped, it could be something small like new earrings or a new color of nailpolish. I also used the money not spent on alcohol to splurge on new facial products. Oh and by the way, I am assuming you are a woman, if not, ignore all of my tips (or not, up to you!) LOL
K9

[sunray]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

ye like the sound of that- actually never had a massage before x

[sunray]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

ye k9 am female all the way!!
great advise- am going to be sooooo relaxed after my massage while shopping for some nice nail polish- lol

[Sunnyvalenting]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

Great thread! Congrats on your 9 days and a plan for more.
I suggest you take 15 minutes and daydream a list of 10-20 wonderful things you can do in Ireland this weekend now that you are abstinent. Then take some of your newfound time and money and do at least one of them. Celebrate life free of this addiction. You are worth every penny and minute you spend on yourself right now. Just steer clear of your old drinking haunts and drinking buddies for awhile, I'd say.
Are there people you haven't seen lately? Is there a lovely spot you would like to visit?
I find every day sober now is a reward for myself. It is so fun to be able to "count" on myself.
Let us know what you choose and how it works out
Cheers
Sunny

[sunray]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

Thats a lovely post Sunny and thank you also Zen, ye i will put my thinking cap on- Will let you know
Today is the begining of day 10, feeling well although still having my "wine thought moments", anyway keep going- have a lovely sober happy day xx

[spuddleduck]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

[neart]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

Hi Sunray! Good thinking, getting ready mentally for the weekend. I have treated myself to waaaaay too much chocolate over the past few weeks as a reward, which I think will not pay off if i continue! So I am also looking for nice alternatives I'm in Ireland too, and am still trying to get familiar to alternatives to the pub/drinking on the weekend, so if you come up with any nice ideas, please let me know! I'm thinking of horse riding some time, although I'm really short of money. funny how i can justify it for AL but not other things... a big walk on the beach in the mornings, hangover-free is good and cheap - and something I couldn't even contemplate with a hangover!

[savon19]

Any ideas on rewards and treating ourselves

neart;943726 wrote: funny how i can justify it for AL but not other things...

That is SO true! I check prices carefully when shopping... but if I want a bottle, well, suddenly it doesn't matter so much.

I'm not doing great as far as AF, but I've quit smoking as of 12/25/09. I often go to this site, quitnet.com, and they have this cool "gadget" that keeps track of money saved!! According to that, I've saved well over $1500!!!

It would be easy enough to make one for booze on an excel sheet.

There's something about seeing it in black & white that feels good. Plus, then you know exactly how much you can spend on REWARD!!