To wrap up my series on ways to trim back your entertainment budget without trimming back your entertainment, I will pass along some tips to trim back your bar budget while still getting to go to the bar. I must admit, like with trimming back your movie budget, there really isn’t a huge amount that you can do. However, it is possible to save at least some money.

The first option you would have is to apply one of the techniques from trimming back your fast food budget and watch for specials. A lot of bars have different drinks on “special†on certain nights of the week or at certain hours. If you take advantage of these specials, you can often times get several drinks for the same amount of money as one drink would normally cost.

The problem with this first technique is that many times the establishments have their specials on days and at times when people generally would not be there as a way to try and increase business. If there are never any specials at the times when you want to go to the bar, there are still a few techniques that you can try.

Another way to save some money on trips to the bar is to avoid cover charges. Now, I’m not suggesting that you sneak in the back door or anything like that, but if the bar you were going to go to has a live band or other reason that they have decided to ask for a cover charge on that particular night, you should maybe consider gong to the bar across the street instead. Of course, if you wanted to see the band or whatever is going on that they are charging for, then just pay the cover and get yourself inside.

My next suggestion, has benefits beyond just saving money. It is a fairly well known fact that it is generally cheaper if you buy the ingredients and make the drinks yourself at home than it is to buy drinks at a bar. The suggestion this time is to have a couple of drinks before you leave home. By having a couple of drinks before you go, you will get there a bit later and have less time to buy drinks at the bar and also have less drinks left to get to the number of drinks you are going to have on a particular night.

The other benefit of having a couple drinks before you go to the bar is that once you’ve been drinking, you shouldn’t drive. This means that in order to get to the bar you will have to find someone to give you a ride there. If you get a ride there and then need a ride home, you can generally get there and back the same way (with the same person) and not have to worry about getting your car home or going back to get it the next day. Also, if you don’t have your vehicle there, you will not be able to drive even if you have the illusion that you can.

The final and biggest suggestion I have is to not write checks or have a “tab” at the bar. If you leave your checkbook at home and only bring cash along, you are limiting yourself to the amount that you will spend so even when your judgment begins to fade, you will not be able to spend more than you had originally intended. Not running a tab also helps because you will not lose track of how much you have spent. This is the suggestion that has the greatest potential to be of use for many people because they may go to a bar intending to have a few drinks, open a tab, and have to write a check for more than they intended by the end of the night.