Dry January: Rules, Benefits, Tips and a Week-by-Week Plan

What is Dry January?

Dry January is a challenge to drink no alcohol for the 31 days of January. The UK charity Alcohol Change UK launched it in 2013 with about 4,000 people, inspired by one of its staff, Emily Robinson, who gave up alcohol for January 2011 while training for a half marathon. The charity reported 215,000 sign-ups in 2024 (Alcohol Change UK), and many more people take part on their own, in the US and elsewhere.

Dry January is a registered trademark of Alcohol Change UK, which runs the official campaign and the free Try Dry app. DailyHabitAI is not connected to it.

Track it as you go: the free Dry January tracker marks 31 alcohol-free days, gives a tip for each day, counts drinks skipped and money saved, and prints on one page.

What are the Dry January rules?

There is one rule: no alcohol from January 1 to January 31. The rest are choices you make before you start.

To count drinks the same way every day, use the US standard drink: about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits (NIAAA). The tracker uses it to estimate drinks skipped.

What are the benefits of Dry January?

The honest answer: promising, mostly self-reported, and not proven by controlled trials. Here is what the main studies found.

• People drink less afterwards. 857 UK adults who signed up for Dry January reported drinking less often, drinking less per occasion and being drunk less often six months later, and felt more confident turning drinks down. The changes were larger in people who completed the month, but also appeared in those who did not. There was no control group (de Visser, Robinson and Bond, 2016).
• The change was not seen in other drinkers. A later study compared 1,192 participants with 1,549 adult drinkers who did not take part. Participants started out drinking more, and the improvements in those who completed the month did not appear in the comparison group (de Visser and Piper, 2020).
• Money, sleep and energy. In a survey of more than 6,000 participants, 86% said they saved money, 70% slept better and 66% had more energy (Alcohol Change UK). These are people's own reports, from those who chose to answer.
• Blood pressure, insulin resistance and weight. In a small London study, 94 moderate-to-heavy drinkers who stopped for a month were compared with 47 who kept drinking. The abstainers' insulin resistance fell by about 26%, systolic blood pressure by about 7% and weight by about 1.5% (Mehta et al., 2018). It was observational and people chose their group.

A 2025 review of 16 Dry January studies found most had no control group, relied on self-reports, followed people for six months or less and came from the UK, and participants were more often women, younger and better off than drinkers in general (Strowger et al., 2025). So treat Dry January as a useful experiment for yourself, not a treatment, and notice what changes for you.

A week-by-week Dry January plan

Week 1: set it up. The first days are often easy, because December has left you ready for a break. Use them to prepare. Write one line on why you are doing it and put it where you usually pour a drink. Buy one alcohol-free drink you actually enjoy. Look at January and circle every date that will test you: birthdays, a work dinner, the first Friday back. Pick a short line for offers, such as "I'm doing Dry January, I'll have a soda with lime."

Week 2: get through the dip. See the next section.

Week 3: notice the changes. Compare your notes with week 1. Check the money you have not spent and decide what it pays for. If you had a drink, it is one day, not a reset.

Week 4: decide February. Before the month ends, choose your rule for February: dry weekdays, a weekly limit, alcohol only with others, or another month off. Write it down while January is fresh.

Why do days 10 to 14 feel hardest, and what helps?

For many people the second week is harder than the first. The novelty has worn off, the first full weekend of normal social life arrives, the cold and dark of January are still there, and the end still feels far away. None of that means it is not working.

What helps:

1. Fill the slot. Most drinking happens at a set time: after work, while cooking, on Friday night. Put something specific there, such as a walk, a hot shower, a phone call or a film with a special drink.
2. Re-read your reason. Keep the line from week 1 on your phone's lock screen this week.
3. Look at the numbers. Ten alcohol-free days is real progress. The tracker shows drinks skipped and money saved so far.
4. Plan the weekend on Thursday. Decide what you will drink, what you will say and when you will leave.
5. Check HALT. Cravings often show up when you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Eat, rest or text a friend first.
6. Tell one person. A friend who knows is more likely to hand you a soda than a beer.

15 Dry January tips

1. Start on the first, or on the first Monday, January 4.
2. Remove alcohol from the house, or put it out of sight.
3. Keep one alcohol-free drink you like cold in the fridge.
4. Order first at a bar, before the round is decided.
5. Hold a glass with something in it at parties; fewer people offer.
6. Eat a proper meal before evening events.
7. Arrive with a plan to leave: a time and a ride.
8. Swap the Friday drink for a Friday ritual you look forward to.
9. Move a little each day; a short walk helps with restlessness.
10. Keep sleep regular: same wake-up time every day.
11. Use the money saved for something you can see.
12. If you drink, note what led to it and plan a swap for next time.
13. Do it with a friend or partner.
14. Track every day, not only the good ones; writing progress down helps people reach goals (Harkin et al., 2016).
15. Plan February before January 31.

Mocktail ideas for Dry January

• Lime and soda with a dash of bitters (bitters contain alcohol in small amounts; skip if you need zero)
• Ginger beer with lime and mint, a virgin mule
• Sparkling water with cranberry and rosemary
• Tonic with cucumber and black pepper
• Virgin mojito: lime, mint, a little sugar and soda
• Hot apple cider with cinnamon, or chai on a cold evening
• Alcohol-free beer or wine for the taste and the ritual

The tracker page has a longer list of swaps by situation.

Is Dry January safe for everyone?

For most people who drink moderately, a month off is fine. But if you have been drinking heavily for a long time, stopping suddenly can cause withdrawal that is painful or even life-threatening, and a doctor can make stopping safer (NIAAA; NHS). Warning signs include shaking, sweating, nausea or anxiety a few hours after your last drink. Symptoms usually start within 8 hours and peak in the first three days; confusion, hallucinations or seizures are an emergency (MedlinePlus).

If that sounds like you, talk to a doctor before January 1 rather than stopping on your own. In the US, the free, confidential SAMHSA National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357, 24 hours a day. If you are pregnant, take medication that interacts with alcohol or have a health condition, the advice of your own doctor comes first.

Dry January vs Sober October vs Damp January

If you already did Sober October, you know what works for you. Use the same swaps and lines, and plan for the dark January evenings instead of Halloween.

What to do after Dry January

Decide before February 1 how you want to drink from now on, then track that one rule. Common choices are dry weekdays, a weekly limit, or no drinking at home. Keep counting on the 30-day habit tracker, or count your alcohol-free streak with the day counter.

The evening slot that a drink used to fill is the hard part long-term. Give it something: a night routine, a walk or a book. For the method behind swapping one habit for another, see how to break a bad habit. Want to reset more than drinking this month? The January reset is a 31-day plan for sleep, home, money, body, mind and phone that fits alongside Dry January.