Saying No

Try asking your friends to hang out at home or at your friends house, it does not have to be your friends choice ts yours too.
Good luck

sailor, there is nothing wrong with not feeling you get enough pleasure out of drinking to warrant the expense, and just because you don't want to go out and spend your hard earned cash on alcohol doesn't mean that you can't have fun or thatn your social life needs to suffer. I drink almost no alcohol, and get zero pleasure out of drunkenness (my own or my companions'), so I know where you're coming from.

One thing you could do, as Zen Hippie suggested, is offer for your friends to hang out at your place (or someone else's) rather than going out somewhere.

You could also go out with them and simply not drink. I guarantee you the first couple of times it will be tough, there will very likely be a bit of teasing at your expense, but your friends will get used to the idea (and you could always just play the 'designated driver' role, then everyone benefits). Chances are you will get to a point where they are hammered and enjoying things that you in your sober state can't be bothered with-that's an easy time to head home and go and enjoy your own company, having done your socializing 'duty'.

Another, tougher choice to make, is whether you have the right friends. If you feel you have to do something that you don't enjoy whenever you are with your friends, maybe it's time to find some new friends. Not all socializing needs to happen in a drunken state. You could join a book club, start ballroom dancing, any number of things. It's your relaxation time- you shouldn't have to spend it wasting your money on booze if yo don't want to!

I think the key is in your own post sailor; it's about balance. If I'm stressed at all I go into a kind of "either/or" thinking which can blind me to the fact that maybe if I find it hard to choose between two things it's because neither is really something I want. I think there are some good suggestions here already. Why not socialise sometimes at least at yours or a friend's place? or check out ways of being around others that don't always include going to a pub/bar. I no longer drink alcohol at all. I got to a stage where alcohol was costing me more than just money I guess. I no longer miss it, I can still socialise in bars if I want to, I just drink sodas or juices or whatever. When I made that decision life immediately got a whole lot bigger and roomier as well as healthier.

Anyway sometimes being a homebody is exactly the right thing for that occasion. Doing what you choose with your time/life is a whole lot more "cool" than just herding with the others!

If it is any use to you, I pretty much never drink when I go out with friends (or at home) and it saves me a lot of money! That isn't my reasoning for not drinking - I think I'm more interesting and fun when I am sober, and I have the same opinion regarding my friends, so I tend not to go to events I know people might be drinking heavily at. They've pretty much always made me lower my opinion of some of the people I know ^_~

Personally, I think your friends should be able to accept it if you decide not to drink while out - if they keep pressuring to do so, in my opinion it means they're insecure about how they are when drunk and want you to be in the same boat so that they don't have to feel there is a sober person observing their semi-sentient shennanigans ;-) Although I shouldn't attempt to tar everyone with the same brush, there can be many other reasons, I've just found that one is common.

Balance is definitely key. Invite people over to watch something, play boardgames, go for walks in interesting places, draw arrows in chalk on street corners and see who follows. There's a lot of fun, cheap things you can do with friends out and at home, and in the end it is always a case by case decision. Go out sometimes, but don't compromise on your own desires to the point where you are out and unhappy all the time.

I agree with what you guys are saying so thank you. I make it seem like I drink all the time.
Which I don't. In fact I feel the cost and enjoyment don't yield my happiness. So I can give it
up. Or perhaps I enjoy it with a close friend. Just to talk. Actually, tea or coffee are my true drinks.

Don't worry, it didn't sound like you drink all the time ;-)

Ah... tea and coffee. I think I'll have one now! (Which one? I don't know - maybe BOTH! Bwahahahah!)

Also awesome fruit smoothies are fantastic... *fills thread with juice*

Sorry, post-stress silly mood time is upon me.