I've always wondered about this too. Seems like it would be cost prohibitive if nothing else.
During one stretch of my life where I was really stressed out I was having 2-3 glasses of wine a night for about 3 straight months. Aside from that, I can't imagine having more than a glass or two of something every week or so.
You mean for cost-prohibitive homeless people? For people with decent incomes, 3-5 drinks a day is easily affordable. Beer is < $1.00/drink[0] and Trader Joe's sells bottles of wine for $2.00[1].
A single coffee costs $4 before tip most places I've visited in Austin.
A bottle of wine contains about 6 servings, so if you buy $6 wine, that's around a dollar a serving, $60/month is not cost prohibitive for many people.
My local beverage store has lots of wine choices < $5, many have pretty good reviews (4+ stars out of 5)
Though if you're looking for the best bang for the buck, they have a 1.75l vodka for $8.99 - at 40 servings per bottle, that's about 50 cents a day for 2 servings a day.
During one stretch of my life where I was really stressed out I was having 2-3 glasses of wine a night for about 3 straight months. Aside from that, I can't imagine having more than a glass or two of something every week or so.