Don’t Drink
Want to know the best way to save money on alcohol? Stop drinking! Drinking isn’t very good for you. If you don’t drink you will save so much money, and it’s probably better for your health. But if you are like me and enjoy the occasional libation, skip to the next item 🙂
Join a club
Have you ever considered being part of a wine club? Or something similar? Ryan and I are part of a sake club. Yes, sake! It’s amazing. We spend $9 per person, per month to get 2-3 bottles of sake every other month and we get a 25% discount when we buy more. We also are invited to fun parties with free tastings and we get to invite our friends. We invited some friends a while back and they joined the club, and I ended up getting a free bottle of sake because of it!
Make your own
In Portland, so many people make their own beer. We don’t, but I think it’s a pretty cool idea. It does have some start-up costs with the equipment, but once you get going it seems pretty cheap.
What I usually do is buy cheap vodka and make my own “infused” vodkas by adding pears, ginger and other things. It really makes a huge difference and it tastes good!
Go to Happy Hour
My favorite happy hour in Portland has $2 cocktails and $2 grilled cheese. I’ve spent $10 and had several drinks, dinner and tipped. I just love it. Sometimes it can be hard to find those extra special deals, but once you have found them, they are so worth it. I don’t enjoy spending $8-15 on a drink (I did spend $15 on a drink once in NYC), so I try to go for the deals if I am going out.
Drink at Home
If you can’t find any good happy hours, save your money and drink at home with friends. Share a bottle of two buck chuck, my all-time favorite deal. You don’t have to deal with other people, spend money on tipping, or pay for overpriced drinks.
Eat food and drink water
Seriously, save yourself from a possible hangover and eat and drink water while you are enjoying your drinks. I’ve made that frugal stupid mistake by drinking and being too cheap to eat, and I hated myself the next day. When your hungover, you make bad decisions because all you want to do is to feel better. Usually that involves food, and if you are not well you are likely to go spend “convenience” money to get better. Now I make sure to eat before, or bring along some snacks.
Buy out-of-state
When we went to San Francisco over the Thanksgiving holiday, we stopped at Liquor Expo before we crossed the California border. Why? Oregon has the 2nd highest liquor tax in the country. It’s outrageous! Alcohol in California is so much cheaper, so we decided to pick up a few items that we knew would last all year. We saved over $100 by buying alcohol in California instead of Oregon. It seems to be a pretty big money-maker for them, as there are signs everywhere before you leave the state. It’s a pretty funny place. It’s like an alcoholic Costco.
Don’t Drive
Seriously, don’t drink and drive. Know yourself and your limits. Use your judgement. I’m glad I don’t have a car and don’t have to worry about this. A DUI can cost up to $10,000 and ruin your life and the life of others. If you need a sobering reminder, read this tale about getting a DUI.
Do you drink? If so, how do you save money?
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30 comments
I love having a glass of wine after work, so finding a way to cheapen the experience has been on my mind lately. I found that warehouse stores like Sam’s Club and BJ’s sometimes offers a wine section with bottles that are cheaper than your local liquor place. Happy Hours are great for going out and make for cheap drinks every now and then.
Warehouse stores are great! Wine is so much about the label and marketing (in my opinion), and you can easily find cheaper options that don’t taste much different than the “good” stuff.
I’m not a huge drinker but I usually buy cheap wine like two buck chuck and can nurse that sucker for a week. I’m classy huh? lol! If I do have one when I go out I don’t stress about it that much because I usually only have one beer or wine. I do find if you go to art gallery openings you can usually get some free wine. 🙂
I love going to art galleries when they have free art walks. SO much free wine, it’s kind of ridiculous. I do actually like art too, though 🙂
I didn’t know there were sake clubs – how fun. 🙂 I’m not a big drinker (once a month if that, though it becomes more frequent during football season), but I agree that happy hours are the way to go. We’re also beer people, and only buy on sale. Great tips!
Beer is one of the cheaper items, so good for you. And once a month is perfect! I know you’re into fitness, so I can’t imagine you drinking much more. Getting up and running at 5am and all!
My husband & I save by drinking at home. We invite friends over with two request to bring either alcohol to share or an appetizer to share and an air mattress/sleeping bag. We don’t want anyone drinking and driving. As the host I make something filling in the slow cooker and make sure we have beer and other drinks on hand. The reason we have everyone bring a drink or a treat is to save us on hosting a party and it allows people to make a choice that best fits their budgets. When we do go out we limit the number of drinks with alcohol – for example I will drink rum & coke and I will have 1-2 just coke between rum & coke.
That’s a really great idea. Then everyone has what they want and duties are shared.
I don’t drink and wouldn’t even know the prices on things, but my husband does occasionally, and he was thrilled to grab 4 big bottles of Stoli vodka on our cruise for $30 total lol. That should last him quite a while! Just one bottle in the store is $26.99. So if you take a cruise and like to drink, stock up on your alcohol! 😉
Wow, talk about a deal. I’ve also bought alcohol at the duty free shops when traveling internationally– so much cheaper!
I don’t drink anymore, mostly because I get heartburn from alcohol which isn’t fun! When I did I realized it was a bit too expensive to make a habit of. If anything I would have one drink if I went out. Pooling drinks together with friends who don’t mind sharing was also a good way of keeping costs down. If I somehow took up drinking now, maybe wine, I’d probably only have a little at a time to make it last! Then again, I’m a lightweight.
Good for you! It’s best not to drink, but wine in moderation is good if you get back into it.
“Oregon has the 2nd highest liquor tax in the country.” Okay, good to know. Adding to my moving list: buy alcohol before the big move. 🙂
Yes, definitely! I had no idea until I looked it up and wondered why it was so much more expensive here.
Nice post. I appreciate you not being condescending about those of us that do enjoy a beverage from time to time.
My wife and I would fall into this category, but we do certainly try to be frugal about it. I like wine better than beer these days because I drink less of it 🙂 We have considered joining a wine club as well and may have to look into it this year!
How could I be? I definitely drink. The first part of the post was mostly a joke 😉 Wine is nice for sipping. You should definitely look into a wine club. Get you discounts, wine and probably a few nice parties.
We do most of our drinking by doing it at home. It’s WAY cheaper to buy liquor and take it home than it is to go out to a bar or club. Honestly, I’m not a huge crowd person anyway…I’d rather get together with a small group of friends, have a few drinks at home and play some games than go to some loud, crowded bar. We know where to get the best deal on different types of supplies – Costco has a wine for half the cost of other places…another liquor store has cheaper beer, etc.
Yeah, sometimes bars can be obnoxious. Having drinks at home with friends is the best. Low-key, cheap and safe!
I was drinking almost every day during the holidays which was a strain on the budget, even with happy hour and drinking at home. Now I’ve limited myself to Fridays and Saturdays, and I got a case of wine for Christmas, so I should be good for a while 😉
I was doing the same thing! I’m trying to cut back to weekends as well. The holiday gets you in a certain, gluttonous groove.
“Don’t drink” was my first thought when I read the title of this post 😉 I don’t really drink that much, only on special occasions and if I can afford to suffer the next day (I always suffer irrespective of how many drinks I had the night before!). That said, my favourite drink these days is champagne (go figure as I couldn’t stand it in the past) and I try to buy when it’s on offer. I rarely drink alcohol in bars/clubs as I rarely go there these days and this saves me quite a bit of money!
Haha. Glad you don’t drink a lot. I wish I could do champagne. For some reason, no matter what the amount, it gives me an insta-headache. I just can’t do it. Good for you for saving $ with not drinking a lot.
Thanks for adding Don’t Drive. Too many people are just plain idiots about it. Not only can you cost a life, but the cost of a DUI can wreck your account (and your life). Not worth it. But happy hour and a bottle of two-buck chuck at home are the way we go!
Definitely not worth it. I love 2 buck chuck!
Don’t drink? Boo! 😉 Seriously, booze is so expensive and so unnecessary. When we do go out to dinner we usually BYOB, or we go to places with happy hour prices. Our favorite local bar does half price appetizers and $4 drafts on weeknights. I try to limit myself to one beer to keep costs low.
My hubby really wants to make his own beer! As you say though, there are a few costs in setting up. I tend to not drink as much these days but when I do, I buy cheap plonk!
Great post! I save money by not drinking very much in general. I probably have one or two drinks a week, and it’s usually at home or during happy hour.
Smart, very smart!
This is a great post – drinking alcohol is SUCH a waste of money! This year I really resolved to cut back on my boozy spending 😉
My main commitment for 2014 – other reaching my debt smashing and saving goals – is to eat clean and cut of refined carbs, most prepackaged food and sugar completely. Well, except for 1 cheat meal per week!
This has been a huge help to my budget so far and only 1 month into 2014! Alcohol burns a hole in your wallet and gives you nothing but a hangover 🙂
Definitely can be a waste of money. Good for you for resolving to cut back.