want to save money when going with your friends ? Here is the tutorial you are looking for
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 inuence 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 specically 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 benets 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. ThriftyTricks.com 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. Denitely 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! If you liked this ebook, be sure to check out our website at ThriftyTricks.com. Similar to this ebook, posts are formed in lists of non-obvious tips about saving money and nancial advice for young adults and college students. . How to save money when going out without making your friends hate you ThriftyTricks.com Tips about saving money and nancial advice. 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