The economic impact of not drinking

Apparently I've been running a personal economic experiment for three years and didn't even know it. This past week I was explaining the Club Soda Club and the Jamo Fund to my buddy's dad, who’s a retired bank regulator — and his first reaction was: "That's the economic impact of not drinking." I smiled, nodded, pretended I knew exactly what he was talking about. Then I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole the second I got home.

Turns out, "economic impact" is the umbrella term economists use to describe the ripple effect any financial decision creates as it moves through the economy. Money doesn't just sit there. It flows. And every dollar you spend (or don't spend) sends little ripples in different directions, hitting industries, workers, taxes, and savings accounts you'd never even think about.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized — that's exactly what the Jamo Fund is. A tiny little economic impact experiment, run by me, on me, in real time. Every Friday night at the bar.

The Old Pipeline

Let's run the numbers on a single Jameson and ginger at your local spot. You drop $10 on it. That money doesn't go to one place, it gets sliced up. The distillery gets their cut. The distributor gets theirs. The bar marks it up. The bartender gets your tip (you better be tipping). The state gets the liquor tax.

Congrats. You're a one-man economy and the only one not getting paid is you.

I'm not knocking it. That's just how it works. That's the pipeline. The alcohol industry is enormous because millions of us, every night, voluntarily feed it. But once I started thinking about my drinking like a Fed economist would, the whole thing started looking different. Because the question isn't really whether the money is being spent. The money is always being spent. The question is where it ends up.

The Redirect

Here's where the Jamo Fund gets fun. You're not losing money. You're re-routing it. Every $10 that would've gone to a Jameson and ginger now goes into your "Jamo Fund" account, which then goes to your gym membership, your trainer, your AG1 subscription, your new pillows, your kid's college fund, your honeymoon, your high-yield savings, whatever.

The money still moves. It just moves through entirely different industries. Instead of feeding the distillery → distributor → bar pipeline, it now feeds the fitness industry, the wellness industry, the financial services industry, or your own future self. Same dollar. Different downstream impact.

Final Thoughts

The Jamo Fund started as a game. A way to keep myself entertained while I figured out the whole drinking-less thing. It was never supposed to be an economics lesson. But here's what I learned: cutting back isn't a sacrifice. It's a redirect. The money doesn't disappear. It just goes somewhere better. And one day you wake up and realize the future you, with better mornings, bigger savings, clearer head, was paid for by the you who started ordering club soda on the rocks.

So next time someone gives you a hard time for not drinking, just smile and tell them you're managing your personal economic impact.

Stay Sparkling,

Sorin

produced by Scott Nixon

Jacob Newton is two years in, and his journey is rooted in something deeper than most — the realization that he was performing for the outside world to feel loved and accepted. Once he started loving and accepting himself, he didn't need that anymore. He could just show up and say no thanks. The hardest part has been navigating how socially acceptable drinking is, but he's found that the more confident you are in your own identity, the easier those spaces become. His advice cuts deep: if someone has a negative reaction to you not drinking, that's a reflection of them, not you. Stay true to what you want. So much of what you want out of life comes from your willingness to say no to the alcohol.

Jacob also just released his book, The Tears of Happy Jake: an inspiring journey of discovery... and hockey — a powerful memoir about chasing his NHL dream, the trauma of abuse, and what it actually takes to come out the other side. Grab a copy here.

Know someone who's thinking about it? There's no membership requirement.

Part-time members, full-time members, "I'm just curious" members. All welcome. So whether you've got a friend who's been saying "I should probably cut back" every Sunday morning for the last six months, or a friend who's already all-in on the alcohol-free life and just hasn't found their people yet — send them your link . They subscribe to the free newsletter, you both win. No pressure, no program, no weird pamphlets.

Basically, if they've ever ordered a club soda (or anything else non-alcoholic) and felt like they had to explain themselves... they're already one of us.

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