Thousands of people are three days into a Dry January, the tedious annual ritual of skipping all alcoholic drinks for 30 days.

But what happens if you manage to nail Dry January, then decide to keep going – for another two years?

A New York designer did just that, and the results were genuinely surprising.

One of the big things that disappeared from his life? Gossip.

Tobias Van Schneider wrote, “If there is one thing I noticed quite early, then it’s the lack of social interaction my new diet brought with it.”

“When a group of people asks me to join them for drinks, I mostly default to answer with NO because I just don’t want to deal with gossip as a sober person.”

There were also some clear, big wins for both his body and his wallet: he says he saved $1,000 a month, his sleep quality improved, and he felt less stressed.

Are you drinking too much coffee

Living in New York, Tobias says it’s normal to have 1-2 drinks every day and found that by cutting out the occasional cocktail, he managed to accrue $1000 more in his bank account.

“Assume that I have 2–3 cocktails every other day (which are $10 each without tip), including some wine bottles every month for at home I can easily spend $1000,” he added.

Tobias Van Schneider gave up alcohol and coffee for 27 months

While his cash-flow increased, so did his sleep quality as Tobias afforded skipping that post-work beer for an improved night’s kip.

“Removing alcohol from my diet increased my sleep quality drastically,” he wrote.

“I sleep better, and I wake up with more energy.”

Similarly, removing coffee from his diet meant that he felt more relaxed.

Tobias admits that the drink always made him feel stressed out, increased his chance of anxiety and also caused problems with his digestion.

Originally posted on his personal blog, Tobias’ story made its way onto article-sharing site ‘Pocket’ where it quickly became one of the most read pieces.

Able to identify with his story, a huge number of Pocket users recommended Tobias’ post.

One user wrote, “I should have a print of this article in my wallet!”