This is the first post in which I’ll refer to my fiancé by his new name – G. He was formerly known as Lloyd but now that I’m a “public” blogger, I feel pretty silly calling him a weird name like Lloyd. So, now he’s G.
I attended a 30th birthday bash at a trendy bar on Saturday night for one of G’s good friends. When the night came to a close (around 11:30, which is way past my bedtime) a shocking $50 tab appeared before us. When did going out for drinks get so expensive? 
Here’s how the tab shook out for G and me:
- 2 Cherry Limeades for me (the spiked version). Nine bucks a pop! They were delicious though.
- 3 beers for G. I’m not 100% sure on the price.
- 1 beer for the birthday boy .
Going Out Budget Fail #1: Girly Limeade Drinks
If I’d known they were so expensive, I would’ve gotten just one and drank water the rest of the night. I should’ve known, too: Cute specialty drinks are always way over-priced. And even though they were so delicious, I swear the components were just sprite, flavored vodka, cherry flavoring, and maybe some club soda? Their profit margin had to have been like 90%.
Going Out Budget Fail #2: Too Many Drinks
This is hard to avoid when you’re out for an extended time like we were (about 4.5 hours), but if you want to avoid a $50 tab, you gotta switch to water, soda, drinks on special, or really crappy beer (which is usually conveniently absent from the menu).
Going Out Budget Fail #3: Micro Brews/ High Quality Beer
The beers that G ordered were those fancy beers like Hoegaarden or Stella Artois. While these beers are tasty and superior to light beers, they’re also $2 or $3 more expensive. Since these brews come with such a ridiculous mark-up, we usually try to buy them in 6-pack form at the liquor store.
Going Out Budget Fail #4: Tipping
I don’t know what the going tip rate for a cocktail waitress is (considering all they do is walk to and from the bar that is 5 feet away from our table), but we usually aim for that 20% range (which is low for G – he has ridiculous tipping habits). Of course, tipping is a direct result of how much you wasted on liquid entertainment, so if we’d just lightened our load on the drinks, we could have tipped much less.
Going Out Budget Fail #5: Trendy Bars
Ugh. How is one supposed to remain cool and hip when trendy bars and restaurants are so expensive? I really love this particular bar, too. Luckily, it’s a good 30 minute drive from my apartment, so I don’t make it there often. I’ve even been to their happy hour and it’s expensive! Note to trendy bar: Five dollars for a drink does not a good happy hour make! I prefer those $1.50-$2.00 happy hour prices. Long story short: being trendy isn’t frugal – whether you’re talking fashion or bar-hopping.
I’m guess I shouldn’t get too worked up over it. G and I have converted to a much more calm and conservative lifestyle over the past several years. We’re in bed way too early most weekends and consider dinner and a movie the perfect Friday night out. Still, $50 for liquid entertainment over the course of 4.5 hours is expensive. After that tab, I couldn’t be more happy that we hardly ever go out anymore, but next time we do, we’re gonna think twice before we place our order.
Do you go out a lot? Do you find it expensive? What are your tips and tricks for staying on budget when you’re out on the town?
source: Real Simple
Yeah, we’re not big drinkers which I’m grateful for. Nor do we tend to go to bars much. Mixers run around 10, cocktails 15-20. Beers I don’t think you can find for under 8 now a days in town unless you find somewhere icky with $5 jugs!
I went out for a friend’s birthday party a few weeks ago. My situation was exactly like yours…4-5 hours at the piano bar with a big, fun group of people. My tab for myself at the end of the night? $41! For 2 drinks, 1 shot and a small appetizer. Ouch! But you know what? I had a BLAST, made new friends and kept old friendships going. My friends are completely worth the occasional $$ night out! 🙂 Suze Orman says it best: People first! (Also, I love specialty cocktails!)
I pretty much refuse to do the trendy going out to bars/clubs downtown thing because of the prices. No way no how will I spend even $7 on a drink. If it’s dinner or special occasion I’ll go along with the program and usually just get one. My normal spot is this awesome middle of the road/dive bar where you don’t have to pay for parking, happy hour wine is $2.50 and they even have free veggies and cheese. I go there and walk out spending $5-$10 plus tips and had a fun night out too!!
BF and I just had a similar night to yours – we went out to see an NHL game with my cousin and her BF. Not even including the tickets to the game ($52 each for an exhibition game!!!), we spent $60 for pre-game beers & dinner, plus another $20 for snacks during the game. Not cool at all. Good thing we only go to 1 or 2 games a year!!!
I’m a huge townie: I always go to the dive bars, get my stoli & sprite/gin & tonic and happily pay theh v $20 bill. Me and my boyfriend are really bad about going out to dinner though. We do it one to two times per weekend and our bill sometimes tops $75 including tip! I should start cutting back on my girly drinks….le sigh.
Going out anywhere is expenisve and I find Las Vegas to be expensive as well. I usually drink at a Fat Tuesdays before I go into a club or piano bar so I’m already tipsy yet not tempted to spend more money on booze ( Fat Tuesday drinks are pretty reasonable.)
So true! I just came back from Vegas and was none too sad to leave behind those $13 cocktails. The first time I got the bill I was in shock, and then I decided that rather than toss $100 into the slot machines I would just throw away my money in this more tangible way.
I definately know how this can get expensive fast. Usually for me, its dinner out, then on to a bar or something where you just pay more for drinks. Luckily, no one in my state would pay $9 for a drink, so the most expensive ones we get are about $7 or so.
I dont go out near as much as I used to, but when I do, I try not to spend too much. Usually this means going to a cheap bar (you can still get beers for a dollar here) and not to over do it (most important).
Wow.. that’s cheap compared to where I live! you’d be lucky to get away with a cocktail here in London for £9, let alone 9 dollars! If I’m feeling broke I usually drink wine, as splitting a bottle with a friend works out about £15 each, which is cheaper than the amount of shorts or cocktails you’d drink in the same time period.
As much fun as it is to enjoy actual alcohol, I’ve found that if you’re just going out for drinks, you can pretend! I love vodka tonics, but I’m uber cheap these days, I just get order tonic with lime. Most of the time it’s free, and I still get to enjoy the fizzy deliciousness, but no alcohol!
I’ve found that I go out a lot more now that I’m single. I’m inclined to be a homebody, but well, I don’t meet people when I sit on my couch. (That’s what I have to tell myself…) I definitely think it’s expensive- normally, we’ll go out to dinner beforehand and then spend another 4 hours or so drinking and dancing. In Atlanta, specialty cocktails/wine are $8-$12 each- expensive for my wallet and waistline! I stay on budget by avoiding cover charges, not buying rounds for everyone for no reason, and splitting the cost of a cab.
I’m not a big drinker which is helpful. The drinks here are crazy expensive, so it’s even more reason not to drink.
When we go out. we try to hit Happy Hour! Buy One Get One… It fits in out budget. But then again. we don’t go out a whole lot.
Yeah, we hit up happy hour quite a bit after work. But happy hours are few and far between on Saturdays… 🙂
I don’t really like going out to bars. I love spending time with my friends, but I’m not a big drinker. So I usually end up just getting one beer and slowly drinking it throughout the time we spend at a bar.
Fun fact: the blue laws here in Boston prevent bars from having “Happy Hours”. Instead, the drinks remain the full price, but you can get cheap or half priced appetizers or meals.
Their profit margin had to have been like 90%.
– It is a hell of a lot higher than 90%. Club soda is NOTHING and the vodka they bought was at wholesale. The whole bottle probably cost les than the $9 bucks.
$50 bucks for 4.5 hours of entertainment with good friends isn’t that bad…but I am a boozer lol