How to save money when going out

How to save
money when
going out
without making your
friends hate you
ThriftyTricks.com
Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
Going out with friends oftentimes if not always means
spending enormous amounts of money. For most of us,
going to bars, restaurants, clubs, and coffeeshops is
the most obvious form of socializing we engage in, and
being frugal can sometimes get in the way. Explaining
to friends why you won’t be joining them for beers or
lunch yet again is annoying and can badly inuence your
close relationships.
But this ebook is not about how to make up excuses.
It’s about how to avoid spending tons of money without
being perceived as a penny pincher and a deadbeat.
Being frugal shouldn’t be about not being able to do
anything fun and just saving every cent for a brighter
future or some other abstract nonsense. It’s about
getting the most out of your every dollar (or euro).
Instead of suggesting stuff like ‘just have fun at home’
and ‘have somebody buy you a drink’ I tried to list a
few ideas on how to have fun, but still retain the frugal
mindset.
You are welcome to share this ebook and to visit the
blog at thriftytricks.com. And now, let’s get right to it:
1. First rule is that it’s much easier to save when
you hang out with a group of frugal people. They
will understand why you’d rather just get a sandwich

instead of a full meal out and will more likely agree with
your plans. This, of course, can hardly be a good reason
for changing your friends, unless they really turn out to
be super-hateful towards your lifestyle. If they simply
don’t accept it and complain about you ordering just a
salad, it might not be a bad idea to think about whether
they truly are your friends.
2. Either way, it’s the best to share your nancial
situation or preferences with your closest friends. You
won’t be able to hide it from them if you ever go out
together, so why even bother? They should understand.
3. If you happen to be the most frugal person in
the group, it’s a good idea to start organizing all
the events so you can propose cheaper places and
activities. Most people, including your friends, don’t
really have ideas on where to go eat and will likely just
submit to any acceptable suggestions. Be sure to always
have one or three that t your wallet.
ThriftyTricks.com
Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
General
4. When going out, take only cash with you so you
don’t spend more than you anticipated. Especially when
going out to drink, it’s likely that your perception will
change and you’ll become more wasteful – so make sure
you limit yourself with the amount of cash you have on
you.
5. Similarly, don’t carry big bills but rather smaller
change, so you don’t end up paying for more people just
because they “haven’t got any change on them”.

Pay your part in the exact amount and let them deal
with the waiter. Paying with an ATM or credit card can
put you into the same position; waiter will likely ask
you to pay the full amount so others can pay you back
in cash. This has rarely a fair outcome, so stand your
ground and pay only your part.
6. You can lose a lot of money when splitting the costs.
Insist on paying for your own part, and not by equal
split – it seems that Americans are more used to this
technique, whereas in Europe it’s perfectly normal for
each to pay their own bill.
7. Some places will bring you separate bills, others
won’t. But all will, if you specically ask for it (and you
should). Another way of keeping track of who has paid
what is by using the Deadbeat app.
8. Research shows that we tend to eat and drink at
the same pace as people around us. This way, it’s
healthier to eat next to people who eat more slowly,
and more expensive to eat besides those who gobble
their food up, because we will try to keep up. This way,
your brains will not comprehend that you’re not hungry
anymore and you’ll order more, and same goes for
drinks. Now that you know this, try to be mindful of
your eating and drinking speed; enjoy your meal and
decide for yourself when it’s really time for another
glass.
9. Become a regular at a certain bar or restaurant and
make friends with waiters and bouncers by making
small talk and leaving tips. It’s likely you’ll soon start to
enjoy benets such as stronger drinks, free entrance

to parties, freebies, etc.
ThriftyTricks.com
Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
Restaurants
10. If you’re with a group, it’s less controversial to bring
your own food to a restaurant. The place doesn’t have
any work with you, you’re just taking up a chair that
would likely be empty if you weren’t there. If there’s the
mandatory tipping involved, though, you should chip-in
for it as you’re subjecting everyone else at the table to
covering a part of your tip.
This tip is especially applicable to the fast-food or
self-service type of restaurants; if you’re with a group,
nobody will bother you about bringing your own stuff.
Think about it this way; if somebody wasn’t able to eat
at that place due to, for example, food allergies, it would
be perfectly acceptable for them to bring their own
meal.
12. Being the organizer, suggest going to a brunch
instead of lunch and going to lunch instead of a
dinner. These are essentially the same amount and type
of food, but more expensive because less people go out
to dinners than to lunches.
13. Dig out coupons for massive discounts at the group
coupon sites. It will help you motivate your friends to
go to a certain place, and you will be able to even pay
for all the food. That means that at another time, your
friends will pay for you (even if it’s another coupon
place).
14. To save money at a restaurant, especially if you plan

on having a smaller fancy meal like sushi, try ‘spoiling
your appetite’ by eating something beforehand either
at home or even at a fast-food place. It might even be
a good idea to have a packet of crackers with you at all
times to avoid sudden hunger-induced food purchases.
15. If you have eaten before, you can just order an
appetizer or a dessert and ask for it to be brought
with the main course that your friends ordered. If you
haven’t eaten before, you can order just the main
course and you’ll be ne.
16. Ask your friends if they’re ok with you eating their
leftovers. In our group, it’s not uncommon to do this –
the food would likely be thrown away otherwise.
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Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
17. Me and my wife normally split the main course- try
doing that with your friend. You can order some soup to
complement the dish and you’ve still saved a couple of
bucks.
18. If you ordered a full course, you really don’t have
to eat all of it – take your leftovers with you for the
dinner or the next-day meal.
19. This is an obvious one, but when you order a meal,
just order some tap water in addition to that. Drinks
can easily add a lot to the bill.
Partying & drinks
20. Volunteer to be a designated driver for your
group of friends and tell them you’ll drive to and from
the event if they cover for gas, tolls, and parking. You
can even suggest them paying for a single beer that you

can drink at the beginning of the party.
21. Very obvious tip, but I feel it needs to be mentioned
here anyway – drink before you leave home so you
spend less money at the bar.
22. Bring a small amount of hard liquor (gin, vodka,
grain alcohol) in a shot ask and add to any drink that
you’ve ordered – whether it be a soft drink or a cocktail
or even a beer. You’ll get drunk much faster and you’ll
spend less money.
23. Denitely drink water in-between drinks. Reason
number one is of course that you’ll be busy with
drinking this water and you’ll order less expensive
booze. Reason number two is even better – you’ll
avoid hangover. Seriously, hangover is an issue of
dehydration.
ThriftyTricks.com
Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
24. Some places in Australia and New Zealand offer a
BYOB option allowing you to bring your own drinks.
I know right, Aussies have everything. These places
charge ‘corkage fee’, but it can still be cheaper in overall,
especially when you’re in a group.
25. People can’t tell cheap alcohol from an expensive
one when they’re sober, let alone drunk. Don’t fall for
the story of worse hangover when drinking ‘bad’ liquor
– just drink a lot of water and you’ll be ne drinking
non-premium booze.
26. Buy pitchers instead of shots, and order tap beer
instead of bottled one. Beer is good, and it’s normally
the cheapest option. Go beer.

27. You have two options: you can either eat before
going out to drink or don’t. The latter will help you
get drunk faster, but you’ll likely pass out and get tired.
The former will prevent you from buying unhealthy and
expensive fast-food when drunk. It’s a blue or red pill
situation. I guess you should decide according to the
occasion.
28. Figure out if and when the place you’re going to
visit offers happy-hours. And similarly, if the bar that
you’re going to go to has a cover (which, well, sucks), try
getting in for free by sending an email or a facebook
message to an employee or a promoter working
there. Tell them that you’ll come only if you can get free
entrance for yourself and your friends.
29. When buying drinks, order two and only pay one
tip. You’ll save your waiter some work and yourself
some money.
30. Arrive to the party late. This way, you’ll avoid
becoming tired soon, save some money, and still see the
best of the event.
31. Instead of ordering a mixed drink, consider ordering
liquor and soft drinks separately. For example, instead
of ordering 3x Red bull vodka for yourself and your
friends, ask for a Red bull can and 3x vodka.
32. Learn a conversation starter that is not “Can I get
you a drink?” and start using it (hint: “Can you get me a
drink?” probably won’t work).
ThriftyTricks.com
Tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students.
33. Learn a few bar bets for getting free drinks.

People love to be entertained, and that is essentially
what you do with bar bets.
34. To get in, you can always try to haggle a bit.
If there’s a group of you and you don’t seem like
troublemakers, try to persuade the doorman into
letting at least a couple of you in for free while others
pay. Make sure you tip him as well.
35. Important: before you leave home, gure out how
you will get back. If you intend to drink, don’t leave
by car, or you’ll be paying high parking fees. Consider
taking a bus, having a designated driver, or walking.
That’s it!
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at ThriftyTricks.com. Similar to this ebook, posts are
formed in lists of non-obvious tips about saving money
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