ballons.jpgJune is here, which means barbecues, summer festivals, concerts, baseball games, picnics and pride. Yes, some pride parades have started to feel like a gay trot through your local yellow pages, but it’s a tradition so you go anyway. And you have fun. And you drink a lot. So many of the best things about about summer involve drinking. Friends meet for drinks, backyard parties are thrown, you lounge at the beach, and even brunch feels shabby without a bloody mary or mimosa. So it goes without saying that many people drink a lot of their summer cash away. So what’s the solution?

Many people associate watching their money with restricting themselves. They think watching money involves saying ‘No’ a lot, but it doesn’t have to. Here are my strategies.

For neighborhood festivals and parades and general in-public merriment:
I evaluate if I really want to drink first. If I arrive in the middle of the afternoon I know that starting strong and early will mean heading home around ten at night, which is no fun. So if I want a beer to start the day I have one, not three and wait a few hours before my second one. And if I decide it’s worth the expensive blended conconctions on the corner, I don’t start until after dinner.

Shop around. Yes, they’re gouging the prices everywhere but you might find one stall with something a little cheaper. You’re there just to walk around anyway, so keep your eyes open for the best alcohol deals for your first hour or so.

Is it realistic to bring your own? Not likely for a festival, but it could work for a parade where you’re stationary much of the time. People bring coolers or thermoses full of their favorite summer beverage.

If you’re feeling saucy (but maybe not sauced), turn on the charm and ask someone to buy you a drink.

For Picnics and Barbecues:
If your friends are providing everything (which doesn’t happen with the crowd I run with) then money isn’t your issue, but your dignity might be, but that’s a topic for a different kind of blog. If it’s bring your own, then think about what you’re bringing. Get the beer that’s on sale. If you’ll drink it, buy in larger quantities. You could get the on-sale twelve pack of decent beer instead of two six-packs of fancy impress-your-friends brew. Buy cheaper liquor and make your own fruity concocitions instead of buying the syrupy mixes. You can blend up strawberries for your daiquiri or frozen strawberry margarita. Buy frozen concentrate instead of large bottles of juice for your tecquilla sunrises or other juicy drinks, buy generic soda in two-liters to mix with your rum or gin.

If you’re throwing the barbecue, ask people to bring their own. Unless, of course the tradition in your group of friends is to provide. You can’t exactly attend parties all year and drink for free on your hosts and then expect them to ante up for your party, too.

What you shouldn’t do is show up empty handed and then say, “Oh, can I have one of those?” over and over again all night. That isn’t thrift, it’s cheap.

Summer concerts and Baseball games:
Drinks are SO expensive at concerts and games. Many concert venues don’t let you bring your own, although a few of them do. If they let you, bring it. It’s that simple. If you’re really sneaky, share your tips below – I’m no good at that and would rather not risk getting kicked out for breaking the rules. If they don’t let you bring your own, you have decisions to make. I’m not a huge sports enthusiast, but the few games I’ve been to allow me to say that paying five dollars for a plastic cup of beer that normally costs about five dollars for a six pack hurts.

Ask yourself some questions before you go. Do you really want to drink? Can you set a cap for yourself? If you eat before the game, that will bring the price down – assuming you can avoid the hot dogs and nachos. You can leave the debit card at home, or in the car or just do your best not to use it. Will you be angry if you wake up in the morning to realize you dropped seventy dollars on drinks and food? If that’s your usual m.o, how about bringing a set amount of cash to help cap your spending? If you don’t want to spend more that ten dollars or thirty dollars, bring that much and then restrain yourself. You’ll still have fun. The money cap works well for concerts, too where food is less of an issue. Besides, you don’t want to wake up in the morning ill and only half remembering the band you’ve spent months looking forward to seeing live.

Whatever you decide, plan ahead. You know it’s coming up; you’ve got your tickets, your invitations, the date marked on the calendar so there’s not a very good excuse to use a credit card that day. Avoid a few lattes earlier in the month, or cut out some other minor expense so you’ve got the cash and you can spend it guilt-free. In my opinion paying interest on something you’ve already drank hurts much worse than avoiding that fourth drink.