How to cut down on alcohol at home

Deciding to cut down your drinking is a great way to look after your health. But do you find it hard to keep on top of how much you drink at home?

If so, you aren’t alone – a 2021 Drinkaware survey found more than four out of five people (80%) who drink alcohol in the UK say they drank at home in the last week.¹

There are some easy, practical steps you can take to achieve your goal of drinking less at home.

Getting started with drinking less at home

Remove temptation

Try to get out of the habit of automatically re-stocking alcohol you have in your home, and keep any drinks you have out of view. Just storing it in a different cupboard instead of an open shelf can help. If you usually drink chilled wine or beer, don’t keep it chilling in the fridge - put it in just before you actually want it instead.

Manage what you buy

If you choose to drink, decide in advance how much you intend to drink each week and stick to it. If you have a regular online shop, be sure to edit your order rather than just reordering the same items from previous weeks. Be wary of any special offers too – if you buy more than usual, avoid drinking it more quickly.

Experiment with alternatives

Whether it’s different teas, sparkling water, alcohol-free beers and wines, fruit cordials or a mocktail – explore some different non-alcoholic options. Once you’ve found some you like, stock up!

Measure, measure, measure

It’s so easy to underestimate how much is in an individual drink if you’re pouring it at home. If you choose to have a drink, measure it out with a unit measuring cup – you can buy one from the Drinkaware shop. Our Unit and Calorie Calculator below can also help you add up your drinks.

Keep hydrated

Make sure you drink plenty of non-alcoholic drinks throughout the day. This will stop you using alcohol as a way to quench your thirst. When you feel like having an alcoholic drink at home, start with a glass of water, soft drink or one of your alcohol-free options instead – you might find you don’t fancy an alcoholic drink after all.

Take drink-free days

Always aim to have several drink-free days every week where you don’t drink alcohol at all. Start with what you feel is realistic, and gradually increase it. And if you do drink alcohol, remember to have 14 units or less in a full week, spread your drinking over three or more days and have regular drink-free days.

Delay your drinking

The earlier in the day you start drinking, the more you’re likely to drink in total. If it’s a day that you’re planning to have a drink, set yourself a time that’s later than normal, and don’t drink until that specific event, for example with your dinner.

Change your routine

Thinking about your drinking triggers can help you plan ahead to combat them. If you normally reach for a beer while you’re watching TV, make sure you have some alcohol-free drinks and tasty snacks at the ready instead.

Switch to a smaller glass or bottle

If you pour a large glass of wine, that means you’re having 250ml. Typically, a large glass of wine will contain at least three units of alcohol in a single drink. Switching to a smaller glass, drinking more slowly and alternating with water could help you cut your overall consumption. The same tactic would work if you swapped to a smaller bottle of beer too.

Stick with it! More than 40% of our daily behaviours are determined by habits.² That means building new, healthier ones is a process – and it also means it’s something that anyone can achieve.

Make your changes stick

Change can be hard at first. But by recognising the cues you associate with drinking at home (whether it’s getting back home, putting the kids to bed, or a certain day of the week) and rewarding yourself with an alcohol-free activity you enjoy instead, you will be tapping in to the power of human psychology to make a positive change.

With a bit of initial effort and focus you should find that, over time, your new habits become more ingrained and subconscious³ - making them second nature.

Next steps

See how your drinks add up

Because alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes, units are a way to tell how strong a particular drink is, use our Unit and Calorie Calculator below to quickly calculate your units.

Explore how to stay motivated when cutting down (or stopping) drinking

Cutting back on alcohol can be a good way to save money, improve your relationships and get positive effects for the way you look and feel. Within a few days, you could have better sleep, a brighter mood, more energy, and – at the same time – reduce your longer-term risk of serious illnesses including seven types of cancer, and liver and heart disease. It’s important to stay motivated along the way – read our guide on how to achieve your goals.

How to stay motivated while cutting down on alcohol