My Favorite FREE Sobriety Resources

It doesn't have to cost a fortune to quit drinking.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

The Cost of Sobriety

How much does it cost to get sober?

A year before his tragic death, Matthew Perry made headlines for admitting to a reporter that he had spent about $9 million pursuing sobriety. The actor struggled with alcohol and painkiller addictions. He had been in and out of rehab for decades.

When ordinary alcoholics without millions of dollars read news like that, it can be tempting to turn it into an excuse: “If he can’t do it with $9 million, how could we possibly quit drinking with so much less money?”

How can someone who’s working for minimum wage, or even a standard salaried job, possibly afford the treatment necessary to quit drinking?

It’s a tough question. I’m not going to pretend that being rich couldn’t help someone get sober. Like so many other things in life, having a lot of money opens a lot of doors, including options for more tailored treatment, more time off work to pursue treatment, and better medical support.

However, with that said, money alone can’t get someone sober. And, looking at it in the other direction, being broke doesn’t prevent someone from getting sober.

The great news is that there are tons of completely free resources to help people quit drinking. Whether you’re rich or poor, there are tools and people available to help you overcome your addiction.

I quit drinking back in 2016, and I barely spent a dime to do so. (I actually ended up immediately saving a ton of money since I stopped buying beer every day!)

In today’s newsletter, I want to share the free resources that I think are most helpful for someone trying to get sober, starting with the one that helped me the most back when I quit drinking:

Reddit

Reddit is filled with forums for every topic on Earth, so it’s no surprise that they have several devoted to sobriety and alcoholism. My favorite, and the most popular, is called “StopDrinking.”

I have mentioned this forum quite a few times in previous newsletters, and that’s because it’s been one of the single most helpful resources that I’ve ever found for sobriety. And, even better, it’s completely free.

The forum is open to anyone who wants to quit drinking (or even just drink less). The only major limitation is that they ask you not to post while drunk—however, you’re welcome to read posts even if you’re intoxicated.

There are a lot of different types of posts there. Some celebrate big milestones, others ask for advice, and others share techniques that have helped them to stay sober.

One of the things I like best about the forum is that it isn’t based on any specific program. There are a ton of AA members who post there, but there are also posters who go to less popular programs, or who are just trying to quit on their own. As a result, you end up getting a wide variety of advice.

The other great thing about the forum is that it’s incredibly supportive. No matter what type of problem you’re having, you can find people to help.

Reddit’s StopDrinking forum got me through some of the toughest days of my sobriety, and I’d strongly recommend it to anyone, even if you’ve never used Reddit for anything else.

[I wrote way more about how helpful Reddit was in a previous newsletter. If you haven’t read it yet, check out: How Reddit Saved My Sobriety.]

SMART Recovery Toolbox

The next free resource that I love is the SMART Recovery Toolbox. If you haven’t heard of SMART, it’s an alternative to AA/12-step programs. It emphasizes evidence-based approaches to addiction treatment. You can read more details here.

I never attended SMART meetings, but they were very helpful to some of my friends. One of my exes was able to get sober using SMART as her primary resource.

The recovery toolbox is a collection of worksheets to help people think about their addictions and work through some of the toughest parts of sobriety.

For example, one worksheet—the urge log—helps you to track your cravings and identify what triggered them. Another—the cost-benefit analysis—asks you to reflect on the ways that your addiction is impacting your life.

In my opinion, these worksheets are great for the type of people who love to-do lists and spreadsheets. They help to get your thoughts on paper and think more clearly about your addiction. They also work regardless of whether you’re attending SMART meetings or going with a different program. I recommend visiting the site and exploring them for yourself.

AA (and Other Meetings)

This list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the most famous sobriety group of all time, Alcoholics Anonymous.

I’ve written about AA before, but here’s the short version: Although I no longer attend meetings, and never was a model AA member, I found my time attending it to be incredibly helpful. AA taught me a lot of techniques for staying sober, and it allowed me to meet a ton of other alcoholics and learn from their experiences.

These days, there are AA meetings all over the world, as well as a ton of other peer-recovery groups. I think that even though they may not be for everyone, they’re at least worth giving a try.

It’s impossible to overstate how powerful it can be to talk with other people going through the same problems as you. Even if your lives are otherwise completely different, you can build powerful connections with others who are trying to get sober.

These meetings are free, although they sometimes take (voluntary) collections to support renting a room or providing snacks. In my experience, even the optional collections are normally just a dollar a person.

The Exploring Sobriety Archive

The last free resource that I wanted to mention is this newsletter that you’re reading right now. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been writing this newsletter for over two years, and I’ve been blogging about addiction and sobriety since 2018.

I keep some of the writing behind a paywall, but you can find tons and tons of completely free editions of this newsletter in the archive.

Of course, if you want to support the newsletter, I always appreciate people signing up for paid memberships. I’ve set the membership price to $5 a month or $50 a year, which is as low as Substack lets you set it.

The paid memberships allow me to take time away from business writing to pursue this passion project, so thank you to everyone who has helped out.

However, if you can’t afford it, don’t worry—I’m still releasing free newsletters once every two weeks.

Thank you very much for reading, and I hope these resources help!