How to Save Money When Going Out
You’re broke. I get it.
That doesn’t mean you should be sitting at home on your ass. It just means you need to get smarter when it comes to spending those limited funds. With nearly a lifetime of experience in being broke, I’ve learned a thing or two about stretching a dollar. Here I’ll try to translate that into more drunken nights on less money.
1. Find a bar and become a regular.
It is a known fact that a regular’s dollar goes further than your dollar. This doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with the bouncer or bartender. Just make sure they recognize your face—and for the right reasons. Tip well, be patient and don’t be fancy with your ordering. If you’re patient, you’ll eventually be rewarded with free and/or stronger drinks. But don’t expect this treatment every time, and don’t forget to tip even when the drinks are free.
2. Tip as you go.
I know a lot of people say to leave a big tip on your first drink so as to ensure proper treatment throughout the night, but this is a gamble. At busier bars, sometimes the bartenders switch off and you’ll be stuck with someone who has no clue you left a $50 early on in the night. So tip as you go to avoid losing out big in the beginning.
3. Buy two drinks at a time and tip as if you only ordered one.
You should always tip—but if you’re trying to save cash, sometimes combining the order can save you a couple bucks. Sure, you probably look cheap as hell, but at least you’re playing by the rules.
4. Don’t buy from shot girls (or anyone attractive for that matter).
No matter how broke you are, you’ll end up tipping more than you should because you are weak. A little flirting is fun, just not when it results in you spending more than you should—just because they had a nice smile. Trust me.
5. Don’t buy people shots, buy pitchers of beer.
Not only is it cheaper up front, but you still end up with a bunch of people feeling like they owe you something. In the best case scenario, offer to buy the first pitcher without making a big deal about it—and make sure you pour everyone a beer. As long as you plan on hanging out with those same people (and they aren’t assholes), you’ll be drinking free the rest of the night.
6. Drink the good stuff first and then switch to the cheap stuff.
Obviously as you get more drunk, you’ll quickly realize you can’t taste the difference between Patron and that curious clear liquid on the bathroom floor. At that point, it’s not worth wasting money on something you’ll never remember anyway. Spend accordingly.
7. Beware “specials.”
Just because Patron is two for one shots tonight, does not mean you should order it. It’s still likely more expensive than anything you would normally order, and well…that’s just ridiculous.
8. Set your budget before you leave your place.
If you put $40 in your wallet you’re going to spend $40. If you put $70 in there, you’re going to spend $70. Get the picture?
9. This should go without saying, but pregame if at all possible.
Not only is the beer cheaper, but maintaining your buzz will be infinitely more manageable once you’re at the bar or club. Instead of dropping all your money to get your buzz going, you can order a drink to sip on and spend your time socializing instead of standing around waiting at the bar.
10. Buy what’s on draft.
It’s almost always cheaper than buying by the bottle. I usually order draft until I’m ready to start moving around a bit and then I’ll get a bottle to carry around with me.
11. If you’re going to be a baller and tip ridiculous, leave $20s not $50s.
They carry the same general effect and you can do it more often. Plus you’re less likely to wake up the next day wondering how you’re going to pay rent.
12. Bring a close female friend, and make sure it’s ladies night.
You’ll be drinking free all night long. Just make sure it’s not a female friend you’re interested in romantically as you’re probably going to lose all your dignity.
13. It sounds dumb, but get to know your cheap beers.
Often times bars will jack up the price a bit on Budlight bottles or Miller Lite because they know that’s what most people default to. If you know a few alternative cheap beers, and your goal is to get drunk fast, you’ll be in a better position to stretch that dollar.
14. If you plan on going to a bar that has a cover, try to get a on list.
This will keep you from waiting in line and sometimes avoid paying a cover. Just scan Facebook for someone working for a promoting company and message them. They need you just as badly as you need them.
15. Figure out the food situation before you start drinking.
The drunchies will take over at some point, and if you’re not careful you’ll wake up the next morning wondering how in the hell you spent $60 at Waffle house. Make sure your designated driver knows where the nearest Taco Bell is and orders for you.
Thanks for the info. I was always a pregame fan, the most important thing is to drink before you go out. Wine and mixers were my best. Thanks again
Okay so I don’t make the income to do this but is this horrible? Sometimes when I get drunk I like buying around of shots, usually to my friends friends (so people I don’t know very well) it could end up being $50-$100 and I sometimes won’t get a drink bought for me after (since sometimes it’s people im with and don’t know well) at the time I think “I’m having so much fun I want to buy all these ppl a shot” and then when I look at my credit card bill I cry inside. Should I just do beer like was said in the article? Or nothing at all? Like I said, I don’t make the income to buy others drinks but I like giving other people a good time
Oh snap, thank you very much for posting this! It is going to help when I walk to the casino next time! Cool!
These are all great ideas especially the obvious choice to pregame before going out. It is always a good idea to play some drinking games while pregame and then hit the bar already pretty boozed up.
Most of these are good except for #4, which is quite sexist in my opinion. by “tipping with your penis” you are objectifying the bartender based on her gender and looks. and not only is it an insult to women, but it insults men as well. youre saying that men simply cannot control themselves when it comes to their labido. and what does that mean about male bartenders? do they get less of a tip than a woman would simply because they are men? shouldnt the tip be based on service not looks? i bet that if a guy really tried, he could overcome his urges and tip fairly, even when drunk.
Good tips!
Great post Nathan! I wish I knew a couple of these along time ago since I fall into the habit of buying shots, but buying pitchers IS cheaper and, in some cases, preferred.
It sucks when you’re broke because you don’t want to miss a good time with your friends and don’t want to appear cheap.
Also your post on buying two drinks and tipping for one does kind of make sense. The general rule is $1 a drink or 15% of the bill. If you go to a bar that has $5.00 pints on special (combining another rule. Lol.) If you do one a time that is a dollar a drink. If you do two at a time you can technically do $1.50 (15%). No bartender worth his salt would complain about this. It isn’t a huge savings but it adds up. It could make the difference of being able to tip for another drink or not because if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to drink. Lol.
Great rules to drink while light on the wallet and not look cheap.
Often I get caught up in the excitement of a game which often prevents me from winning.
If only I could translate this to taking my business clients out.
You should come up with an article to save money when out on business meetings without looking cheap!
haha thanks!
Just saw you on twitter, I must say this is a great site. Was going to do something similar to this, but you knocked it out of the park. GJ
HUGE.
8. Set your budget before you leave your place.
If you put $40 in your wallet you’re going to spend $40. If you put $70 in there, you’re going to spend $70. Get the picture?
I liked that one.
Another huge idea is
Put only the CASH you plan to spend in wallet and then leave ATM,credit cards, AT HOME. This way there’s zero possibility of going over budget. I planned to spent $20 one night but had roughly $70 in wallet. What was in there was basically spent. It just happens. I’m decent with budgeting too. When your’e drinking your mind enters a different psychology. Budget goes out the window and conversation, people, babes, and (as it should be) good times moves in. I like the “no plastic, only spending money in wallet” method because it allows you to be financially safe and still have a good time.
Or, as most of these are about tipping, you could just go and live in the UK where tipping is for quality of service and not just a means of buisness topping up a crappy wage by social manipulation.
Seriously though, when are Americans going to learn that a minimum living wage is a good idea; that way you don’t have to factor in a tip at every purchase and everything costs EXACTLY THE SAME in the long run. The only difference being that some people aren’t looked down on for being ‘cheap’.
“No matter how broke you are you’ll end up tipping more than you should because you are weak.” – haha, so true.
Good tips, I always used to tip but stopped when one night I said.. can we stay for an hour or so after you tell everybody else to drink up. I slipped the barman £200.. About 20 mins later the manager walked in and the barman told us to leave and I said.. hey!! i’ll have that money back now you bastard! but he just walked out the back and I didn’t see him again.
All great tips, but the best new website for saving money if you’re in Chicago is http://www.poggled.com. Sweet drink deals if you’re looking for a cheap night out! :)
I agree totally except please do order from females! I was a cocktail waitress and it was teh ultimate suck. I made a much smaller hourly wage than the bartenders (3.50 vs 8+/hour), I had to put up with a ton more shit, and I got drinks out fast, and most people still didn’t tip me. Plus, I had regular customers that I could treat to free drinks occasionally (and they definitely got faster service if they tipped semi-decently), but I remembered them a hell of a lot better than the bartenders did.
Hi – really great website you have established. I enjoyed reading this posting. I did want to write a comment to tell you that the design of this site is very aesthetically sweet. I used to be a graphic designer, now I am a copy editor for a marketing firm. I have always enjoyed working with computing machines and am attempting to learn code in my spare time (which there is never enough of lol).
I’ve been a bartender for almost ten years..I always tip 1-2 dollars per drink and the same amount on any free drinks I get from my bartenders when I’m out. I always take good care of my patrons but I must say that my regulars and good tippers will ALWAYS be served first and I will always buy a drink or two for my regulars or fun people who are tipping well. I always get free drinks or shot from the bartenders when I go out and never have to wait for my drinks because I take care of them! I also must say there is nothing wrong with pre-gaming..I don’t really care to do it, but I don’t think its a bad idea.
“14. If you plan on going to a bar that has a cover, try to get a on list.”
I need to try this. Perhaps I should make an on list, list of all the on list, lists I can get on.
Stumbled upon this post…nice work! I did a similar writeup months ago, but the idea of buying pitchers never occurred to me.
Best advice on here!
Hey man great list i’m a regular at a bar near my school and once you get to know the bartenders they will hook you up like none other.
and for the people that are ripping on this blog go fuck yourselves and maybe if you left your computers for more than ten minutes you would actually see that this stuff works
i like the get a job at a bar comment – so bleedin simple!
i actually work in a restaurant, and a couple of times a week i’ll get a couple of free pints (the good stuff too!) so i can vouch for this tip.
of course if we were all working at bars we wouldn’t be out drinking in them!
I find the whole tipping culture totally retarded. I’m lucky to live in a country where you aren’t expected to give any tip (maybe tourists?).
Beware of tipping like you only ordered a drink if you ordered two. Your next drink might have been stirred with the bartenders dick or contain an unusually high concentration of grey dishwater.
Thanks for those tips. Wish I had considered this in my 20’s, however, I’ve always gotten free drinks anyway. Still good to know on nights that I can actually get out and have only $20 in my pocket!!
I know how to strech my bill. forget about clubbing. since i’ve got 70 i will save it up and invest it when it reaches a certain amount and finally get enough cash to buy the club down.
Pete – we’re Scottish – all swearies automatically sound 10 times better coming from us!
Generally in Scotland we’re not expected to tip, and with the price of alcohol in a lot of places none of us student types can afford it! I’m actually living in Canada at the moment and I definitely think these tips are a lot more useful over here. Although even pregaming can be expensive out here…I miss Tesco Value vodka for only £7 a bottle…*sigh*
Great list, keep it up!
hahahahah. fair play narrator. i love the word fucktard. im scottish . its a great word to use in my accent. so id fuckerton. and anything with fuck in it really. cunt works well to.. :)
@Tyler D:
YOU FAIL FUCKTARD. thank you, that is all. (i’m aware fucktard is a middle-school thing to say. he doesn’t deserve anything more sophisticated.)
KEEP DRINKING.
Someone had said this was accurate internationally, but not everywhere. I’m an American living in Belgium, and not alot of this applies here, though I think it’s a great list for America. Here, tipping in general is not normal for almost anything, I can’t remember a single time I tipped or saw someone tipping. Also I’ve never seen anything like Ladies Night here, but maybe in Brussels they have something like that. But also here, being the biggest beer producing country in the world, beer runs like water. I can get drunk for 5euros(about $6.50USD) a night easy if I get the cheap stuff, a little more for the good stuff depending on where you go. Here I would think even the flask idea would be backward, as beer is cheaper than hard alcohol, though maybe if you bought the generic stuff you could shave off a few pennies.
I’ll keep this list in mind though next time I’m stateside
@Tyler D and Morgan,
You guys are idiots. I am a university student in my first year, and I know what being broke is like, with the empty fridge, and working all semester for rent, but I am going to go to bars with my friends and enjoy myself, and all the cheaper the better. If you are forty-five and live in gigantic house tyler D then why the f**k would you bother reading this list. He’s trying to help people who were in his situation. And Morgan, don’t be an retard. He is not saying sneak bartenders out of being loyal to the company with tricks, he is saying get to know people.
Sorry people actually had lives when they were younger Tyler D, go drink your patron.
Great list Nathan
what a bunch of crap, if you are broke you should not be tipping that much. Get a life, or in your case a freaking job.
Lol, great tips, though I do most of my drinking at home these days.
The tip for knowing the staff is a really good one. Back when I was going to bars, me a couple of work friends would always go to the same bar and sit at the same table. So (provided it was a night she was working) we were always served by the same waitress. We tipped well, but not outrageously. If it was slow (and it usually was in the early part of the night) she would stop and chat with us for awhile (once we became regulars).
End result was 2 or three times a night, when she brought our drinks to the table, we recieved twice as many drinks as we ordered, or there would be a complimentary shooter for each of us.
Good times!
Get a job at a bar. Easiest way. Make sure all the bars around there know you’re an employee. Free drinks everywhere. Works in Saint Louis anyway, but so does most things.
Whoa that tyler d seems like a real know-it-all TGI Fridays bartender. You could almost hear his puka shell necklace vibrating as he furiously typed that.
This is a good list and I don’t understand why idiots think that the list has to be perfect. The author is not saying that you HAVE to follow these tips. If none of these tips are useful to you move along.
However, I should take that back because it’s funny when some shithead gets all mad and everyone can attack them, like Tyler D.
@Steve – Because this is The Drunk Pirate. Not The Moderately Buzzing Pirate:)
How about just drinking less. DUH!!!
Having been a bartender for five years, I can tell you that this is good advice. I work in two bars, one is definitely a college bar but the other has a more middle aged crowd. The bartenders know what you’re up to but they really don’t mind as long as you tip and aren’t rude. Every bar bends the rules a little bit and if you can find a way to make that work to your advantage go for it.
This is a decent list of ways to save. People who think otherwise probably fall into the category of asshole or bitch and A-Don’t earn an advantages because of their attitude or B-Bartenders see through them for the liars and fakes they are.
And only a “high school” kid would say this was advice for high schoolers. High school kids wouldn’t be worrying about how to save a buck here and there…they’ll pay what they have to to get their booze
I love stupidity. Yes. All these tips will work. No, pregaming is not a high school hint, it’s actually something an intelligent drinker would do. I have done all these things before and they do all work. I have a bar I go to as a regular, and can usually get in pretty well with bartenders at bars I’ve never been to. Anyone that is going to whine about this list has probably gotten themselves into fights at bars and can’t understand why their bartenders don’t like them. And the comment “the house always wins” doesn’t even apply to this topic. Stop being so moronic. Of course the bar will come out on top with every drink you buy. It’s a friggin business. But you will always win if you treat your bartenders and other regulars with respect. I get free drinks and shots from people all the time at my hangout, especially from the bartenders.
Move to the UK your not expected to tip at all.
I remember many years back Benigans had $1. draft beers. Oh those were the good ol days. Nowadays drinking on a budget is becoming increasingly difficult however you definitely have some good tips here. Thanks.
At first I planned to fire back at the strangely harsh negative comments (well, now that I think about it, it seems about par for blog commenters) but seems like that’s been done well enough.
Something I’ve done for years now to save money (at least it *seems* to) when I’m going to stay for several drinks at one bar is to start a tab. I’m not sure if this is practiced everywhere, but here you can just leave your card with the bartender and they keep a tally of what you buy, then charge the total sum when you’re done. Then you just write in one lump tip. This way you avoid the whole “well, I ordered 3 drinks, but tipped huge on the last round…so…pi…divided by…circumference of a circle…”
I figure, bars are busy enough, and I don’t want to thumb for singles every time I’m shouldering into the crowd. Just one fat tip and done! And from my experience I always get great service and what seem like stronger drinks.
**CAVEAT! Keep your receipt and check your bank balances. I did encounter a certain bartender who went to jail for over-ringing tabs on drunks who she didn’t think would notice.
@Boozer – Thanks for the kind words, good sir. Sometimes I can’t help but get dragged into a good old fashion comment war, lol.
@Jennifer – :)
@Mick – Lol, you’re telling me! I try to offer up some half way useful advice and I get called a dickhead. Ah well, thanks for the support buddy.
@Randy – You make an excellent point—tipping anything less than a dollar is poor taste. Thanks for the comment!
Speaking as a bartender, these are all good tips. Though, if yer tipping less then $1 a drink #3 will end up getting you a LOT less once I notice you’re drunk.
@Matt
$1 a drink is the MINIMUM if you think yer gonna get my attention in the first place when I’m busy….. and if you think I’m gonna pour a full shot once you do ;)
I ‘stumbled’ across this page – the list is a pretty good read.
Reading the comments, it never ceases to amaze me how many people try to rain on someone’s parade by posting thoroughly unintelligent gibberish in an attempt to make themselves appear smart! You see it time and time again on blogs and it’s really quite pathetic.
I mean, Jesus – by all means add something worthwhile, disagree with something and suggest an alternative, but “3. You’re a dickhead” ?!? Sad to the point of being laughable.
For my own part, I happen to like the more premium lagers (that’s right – i’m a Brit!!), but don’t drink them when out on a night out for 2 very good reasons: a) They’re damned expensive, and b) Spending all night drinking the highest abv beers is a recipe for disaster! So me and my mates all drink the cheaper (but not cheapest) beers and save the really good stuff for parties or the quiet nights out. Saves a fair bit of money really.
I’m sorry …. I had to commet and chuckle at #4 …. I have to say as a former waitress…. I LOVED serving you wonderful men!! ;) Cheers!
man, ignore the haters- this post is great.
most of my friends work in food service, either as servers or bartenders. i still make sure to leave decent tips for them, but they pretty much ALWAYS hook it up with a stronger or free drink.
it is completely true that you guys arguing against the tips in this post are asshole douchebags who probably just piss people off too much to ever get hooked up.
@Morgan – Way to come to my blog, waste everyone’s time with the most worthless comment ever and call me a “dickhead.” Classy. But yeah, you’re right. Bartenders are ruthless cyborgs programmed to seek out and destroy all who even think about being cheap. I’m so stupid to have put this post together. Perhaps I should take a day or two and personally write an apology to each and every one of the 40,000 people who have already read this post. I mean I’m obviously setting them up for failure. Lol.
@Dr.BurgerSister – Wow.
@Scott – Good call. I’ll be sure to call a bunch of random people I’ve never met before to come over to my small ass apartment and try my “home brew” and get to know each other. Because I mean I don’t go out to the bar to meet people or anything, lol. Just kidding buddy. Keep fighting the good fight.
I’ve got a better idea — make your own damned beer then invite people over to your place. That way, you don’t spend any time or money transporting yourself to and from a bar. Plus, I don’t care how much you elaborate on the subtle, personal financial benefits of “being a regular” at a bar — set all that bar courtesy crap aside and make yourself a hundred dollars worth of beer with a fifth the expense. Since not many people do this, I guess the virtue of patience truly is a rare one.
@Morgan:
You put the nail on the head. Or… whatever, this is a site about drinking, right? You really nailed the head on the, um… nail. I have a friend named Morgan who is a very hot female dancer. You strike me as a dude, so I’ll talk “dude” with you. I read every single comment on here (get – A – life) and you’re the only one who’s talking sense. No – I am not stalking you. I don’t even know who the fuck you are. I don’t even know if you’re sporting danglies or a freshly mown pie. Point is, EXACTLY: bartenders – especially good ones (and by the way, in my experience, the “divier” the bar, the better the bartenders) – know EXACTLY what our dumb-ass drunk-ass conniving little selves are up to. That’s their JOB, foolz! Will bartenders who know you and have seen your generosity hook you up with little (and sometimes not so little) extras? Of course! But all you cats who are doing all this pre-bar “math” about how you’re gonna get over? I hate to rain on your parade, but it’s like the old casino algorithm of yore (you know, that one in the yore of algorithms?) – the house ALWAYS wins. The bottom line is, you may THINK you’re getting over, but you’re NEVER getting over. You might be up for this weekend and last, but over time, the house will ALWAYS be up on your sorry drunk ass. Which is not to say it’s not worth trying! Shit, we drunks gotta amuse ourselves somehow, right? And as far as I’m concerned, going out to bars is about camaraderie and friendship and having the most fun possible in the least amount of time, and being on killer terms with the folks pouring the drinks is DEFINITELY worth the extra $$$, no matter what. Especially if you’re trying to do something as radical as, say, impressing a girl! (Sorry if that scared you.)
-DBS
#5 is actually really good and something I haven’t thought of. I guess it should really work to drink free all night if you buy the first pitcher.
Because after the fourth or so everybody will most likely not keep track anymore who has bought and who hasn’t but they will probably still remember the first person who bought, because everyone was sober back then.
1. Anyone who is going out to bars is not broke. Broke is when you can’t pay your bills and your refrigerator is empty. Anyone who is really broke and is still going out to bars is an idiot.
2. People who think they are outsmarting bartenders are assholes. A good bartender will be on to all your stupid tricks, and they have plenty tricks of their own. Cheap-ass people who order multiple drinks and tip for one, people who show up drunk already, yada yada… everyone thinks they’re brilliant when they’re drinking. Bartenders laugh at your stupid asses. If you’re going to a dive bar where the bartenders ignore the law, then you’re probably getting the cheap stuff even when you’re paying for Patron. The house ALWAYS wins.
3. You’re a dickhead.
@ tyler D:
Some states have different rules and bartenders don’t always play by the rules. Some bars have larger shots.
I don’t get drunk at chillis or pizzeria uno. Those are the kinds of places that will play by the rules. Get out there and see what happens.
Wow. You know what you are talking about. I wrote a similar blog. Tell me what you think.
I live by some of these rules. The budget one. The tip as you go one. Live it up and switch to crap because you don’t care one. The draft beers. The pregame. Nice.
fair play. some of thos aee god tips. but alot of them wouldnt work over here. we have whats called “the round system”, where by say four peoplego to a pub. one person buys the first drinks, then someone else will get the next “round” in. this works well enough, but can be costly if thers lots of you and not everyone gets a round (lack of time or whatever reason). tipping isnt generally expected, and more often than not if you are a regular and get on well with your barman he wont take a tip off you. this isnt rude. its just not the done thing here. except at nightclubs, where most of the barstaff are college students and get paid crap. tipping in this instsnce is a good idea. they will give you extra booze in a drink cos they dont give a fuck what profit the company makes. so long as they get paid and not cought. :)
In NZ we don’t have to tip – it is not a requirement and is not added onto the cost of food or drink. If someone chooses to tip, it will be the remainder of the note, eg $5 out of a $20 for 3 $5 drinks, or $2 out of $20 for the two $9 cocktails.
Being friendly and talking to the bouncers can get you a long way as well – I’ve been let into many places free by showing up with people who know someone.
PS: Because tipping is not standard practice here, most bars will have a “tip jar” where you can throw a couple of coins. As long as the tills add up, no-one really worries. We don’t get paid in tips, we get paid wages or salaries – by the hour, no matter who we serve or how many. Tips just go towards the weekly budget or the milk and coffee in the cafeteria.
Good morning! Very true list. Accurate even internationally-except for some points cause of different habits. Ignore negative comments and continue spitting truths -cheers!
great tips and thank you for this….
1$ a drink tip, max
@Adam – Everyone knows the Grog House is for freshmen and ugly sorority girls:) Besides, you might catch something from the sheer grossness of that place.
Great tips. Nathan, why not just tell everyone to go to Grog for free beer?
@Jesse, Allie, Luke, Adam – Thanks for the backup my fellow drunk pirates!
When it comes down to it, I wrote all of these tips from MY experience, so it’s really just about picking out the ones that work for you.
This IS a pretty good list, at least for a large college town. Taking care of bartenders and being a regular does get you that little extra bit, which can add up throughout the night. Odds are, the people nay-saying that little fact are the asses who upset the ladies and try to pick fights when they go out.
and the specials here are always pretty sweet. i guess bars away from college towns would not have the kind of deals they have here, but i can get $1 tall boy domestics and $2 wells on any night of the week; you just have to do a little bit of planning.
@Tyler
Trust me. Bartenders like their regulars. When you’ve never been trouble, been a friendly guy, and brought friends to spend money too, they will pour a little more booze into your drink or even buy you a beer or shot out of the tip money you’ve given them. Tip money is the bartender’s once you give it to them, and they can do whatever they want with it. Even buy their friends a round.
These same principles were how I got to “hang” at bars when I wasn’t 21 yet. Starting out with soda, making small talk, being friendly with the regulars, and then ordering a drink. Making a bartender comfortable with you goes a long way.
Finally, you can always buy multiple drinks at a time. 25% is a good tip minimum, but for a $3 beer you usually leave more like the 30%-60% range. so when you buy 3 beers it’s ok to leave $3 for a tip instead of $6
@ Tyler D
I’m a waitress at a microbrewery and am a regular at a few bars and you have no idea what you’re talking about.
People give away free alcohol all the time, just as they give away free food. If there is a mispour, or if your server likes you, or if in general everyone is having a good night people will get free drinks or beers whenever possible. Also, unless you’re a fratdick at some house party, shots can be poured with more liquor in them, most bars use shot glasses that are slightly larger than the one and a half ounce ones so there is room at the top so people don’t spill all over.
Also, serving two drinks to one person at a time is not illegal everywhere, just in certain states, and if you are at a bar, it is an easy law to get around unless you have serious intelligence issues.
Don’t be a dick, these are all really great ideas.
@Tyler D, you can make a stronger drink without adding alcohol. I once had a waitress try and get me hammered so she could take me home, her trick, she had the barender double the ice, less filler means stronger drinks, of course it also means they empty faster so you spend more. As for tipping for 2 drinks as if it were 1 lets say 1 drink is 5 bucks and you give the waitress 10 and let her keep it now if you then give her 15 for 2 drinks and let her keep it your still not cheap but its the same tip. when drinking at a bar no one but really cheap people tip bellow 25% I have a friend who was told to keep the change on a hundred for a $30 order, she treated that guy like gold the next time he came in.
@Chip – I appreciate the comment! I’m in your same position, which is what inspired this list—glad to see someone else get something out of it!
@Tony – Risky, but rewarding. I like it.
@Sean – You suck.
@Ryan – That’s a great point! I’ve heard of people doing that, but have never seen or done it myself. Might look into it.
@Tyler D – The only reason you think bartenders don’t hook people up with free liquor is because you’re too big of an asshole to have it happen to you. Tipping on drinks and tipping on food are two completely different things, so your argument = FAIL. Good effort though…I guess.
@Person right above this comment – Umm, not sure if you noticed, but this is a drinking site. So yes, one can assume that if he/she is reading a post about going out on The Drunk Pirate, it will most likely involve getting drunk.
And here we assume that if one wants to go out, they must be doing so to get drunk.
1. What the f*ck? No bartender worth a damn will ever pour shots larger than normal, but i suppose if you’re going to a bar ran by a bunch of middle school kids then yes this advice will work. By the way it is also ILLEGAL to give away alcohol, and beer is the only type of alcoholic beverage that can be sold as all you can drink for one price.
3. You can’t buy two drinks at a time. that is not “playing by the rules” to only tip on one of the two things you’re buying doesn’t make any sense. By that standard if you buy two entrees then you only tip for one of those because the server only had to walk to your table, or wherever you may be sitting in a restaurant, once? So i guess if you ordered three entrees and he had to come twice then you’d tip for two of those right? Well now, I’m wondering if tipping is based on how many times your server has to come to a table then why don’t you tip for everytime your server gets you a refill or more ketchup?
And have you ever explained to your bartender or server why you only tip for one of the drinks not both? Or does it not even make a difference because either way you’re just a cheap bastard.
9. What? Seriously? Are you sure you’re not making out this list for high school kids?
This list = weak
Words to live by here – oh and personal opinion . . .
Number 4 should be number 1! Every guy tips with his johnson.
all good tips iv used a couple of them before
Don’t forget about bringing your own bottle of wine to restaurants. Most places will let you bring your own bottle for a corking fee of $10. Since they typically charge at least double the price of the wine, you can save a lot of money by bringing in your goods.
Terrible list.
Do not follow these steps. This is terrible information.
Damn that #4 is spot on… you could be Brad Pitt with the will power of a monk, but if some young thang is wearing a low v-neck, you’re droppin some extra dollar bills
Also- and this is a bit of a gamble- bring a flask. 7oz of Jack will go about as far as four or five beers, and at half the price. I usually keep mine in a jacket pocket and ONLY take a swig when I go to pee (in a stall). Then I nurse a beer so as not to be too obvious.
Nathan,
Great post. I recently crawled out of that beer filled cocoon called college and moved from a college town to a young vibrant town full of young professionals. I’ve had to step my game up, and unfortunately, step up my drinking budget as well. That being said, these tips really do help.
Chip