How to Not Go Broke when Going Out to the Bar

For the bar rats among us, it's easy to forget just how much money you might spend in a single night getting slightly buzzed, buying drinks for friends, and making sure to hit up that pizza place that sounds so damn good around 12:30. You might wake up the next morning and look around, trying to remember where you were, what you did, who you might have completely embarrassed yourself with. It's the typical post drinking run down and for those that haven't experienced it, you probably don't also have the problem of trying to figure out why your math is about $65 off when you go through your wallet.

The problem is that once you pass a certain threshold you stop actually paying attention to how much things cost. Your brain instead responds with "I'm not broke yet," and that's all you need to hear. But, being in a bar doesn't have to be all about breaking down and losing your shirt (so to speak). You can come out of there with a little bit of cash left, if not your self-respect. Here are some tips for hitting up the bar and not going broke while drinking:

1. Don't keep an open tab - everyone does this. They hand a credit card to the bartender and with a flick of the wrist, "keep it open ." It's a bad idea. First off, you'll be drinking for a while and it's important that you are required to have the motor skills to at least pull your wallet and a twenty out. Being able to just be near the bar and holler, "one more!" is bad for your health as well as your wallet. Pay in cash; you can tip for every drink, and who knows, if you tip well off the bat you might find the bartender being generous with you rounds.

2. Don't buy a round for everyone every time things start to quiet down. People do this. They want more than anything for there to be excitement and laughter at all times, that's why they came out to the bar. So, what do they do? They buy drinks for people over and over, until everyone's so drunk, they have no choice but to be happy. It's nice to buy your friends drinks, but don't keep doing it until you're broke. At least wait to see if someone else is so kind as to help you out.