How to cut down on alcohol at home

If you drink alcohol at home, cutting down the amount you have can be a good way to stick to the low risk drinking guidelines, and improve your health and wellbeing

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?

Home drinking is now the most common way adults in the UK consume alcohol, with 73% of alcohol purchased from supermarkets and convenience stores bought for drinking at home.¹

People commonly drink at home due to affordability, convenience, and relaxation. In these settings, alcohol can become embedded within everyday routines meaning the risk of alcohol-related harm can develop gradually over time.²

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 an alcohol-free cocktail – explore some different non-alcoholic options. Once you’ve found some you like, stock up!

Measure, measure, measure

It’s easy to underestimate how much alcohol is in an individual drink if you’re pouring it at home ‘by eye’. If you choose to have a drink, measure it out with a unit measuring cup. 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 each week where you don’t drink any alcohol. Start with what you feel is realistic and gradually increase it. Along with having several drink-free days, if you choose to drink, to keep health risks low, the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs’) advise it’s safest to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, and no bingeing.³

Delay your drinking

The earlier in the day you start drinking, the more you’re likely to drink overall. 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 then, 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.⁴ Switching to a smaller glass, drinking more slowly and alternating with water could help you cut how much you drink overall. The same tactic would work if you swapped to a smaller bottle of beer too.

Stick with it! Around two thirds of our daily behaviours are determined by habits.⁵ That means building new, healthier ones is a process which may take a few months to develop.⁶ But it also means it’s something that anyone can achieve.

Make your changes stick

Change can be hard at first. But by recognising your triggers (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 can start to make a positive change and reduce your drinking.

With a bit of initial effort and focus you should find that, over time, your new habits become more ingrained and subconscious – making them second nature.⁷

Keep busy

If you’re used to sitting down with a drink in the evening, you’re less likely to miss it if you distract yourself with other activities. It can be something completely different, like joining a running or cycling club. Even just planning a phone catch-up with a friend one evening or meeting up for a coffee can work wonders to help you switch up your routine.

Get others on board

If you live with a partner or housemate, you might find it easier to cut down together. If they don’t want to make a change, it’s still worth talking to them about how to support you. You could ask them not to offer you a drink when they have one, and stress that it's important to you to cut down and you’d love their support.

Celebrate your achievements

Whether it’s going to the cinema or a shopping trip to buy something you’ve had your eye on, don’t forget to reward yourself when you achieve a goal. You could even share your successes online or look to other people on a similar journey for inspiration.

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 make a big difference to your health. It can boost your energy, help you lose weight, and save you money. In just a short amount of time, you can feel better in the mornings, be less tired and more energetic, and have improved skin.

Long-term benefits can include lower blood pressure; lower risk of stroke, hypertension, cancer, and liver disease; lower cholesterol levels; better mood, memory, and quality of sleep; and it can also help with weight management.⁸ 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