Bottoms Up: How Your Hangover is Costing You $1.90 Per Drink

A hangover may cost you more than the next day's dread of wondering just what exactly you said to your neighbor's husband's boss about his fling with his wife's Pilates instructor. It'll cost you more than a morning lying in bed clutching your head, trying not to move lest you lose the dry crackers and water you just choked down. Your night of overindulging on adult beverages may even cost more than just you.

According to the CDC, hangovers cost the US over $220 billion, which boils down to $1.90 per drink consumed. That's $746 per person. So you may want to think about how budget savvy you're really being by opting to only go to the bar on penny draft night.

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So where's all that money going? Certainly not in the bartender's pocket. Most of it comes in the form of lost productivity at work, either due to a failure to show up or simply poor performance due to your pounding head. Yup, your weeknight binge is affecting your professional life, even if you try to deny it. The cost of drinking can also be attributed in smaller amounts to hospital bills, law enforcement and crime, and car wrecks.

However, some may argue that binge drinking isn't costing us, but instead is fueling the economy. Driving money into the hands of alcoholic beverage conglomerates, bar owners, cab drivers, and pain killer companies certainly seems to have a benefit.

On the subject of hangovers, there really isn't a lot of research available as to what causes hangovers, how to prevent them, and ways to cure them. Hopefully science will catch up before we dig our nation into an even bigger debt. Aren't you just jumping out of your seat to sign up for that research study?

- By Heather Neal
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