Beer Budgeting

Yeah I rarely drink more than 2-3 at a bar. Of course, 5-6 for me is nap time.

 

I would mostly drink 12oz beers. It's not that hard to spend less and still enjoy good beer. You just won't get to try all the different special releases. Most good 12oz are like $2 when you mix and $9-11 for the six. If I wanted a treat, I would have a 350 or 375ml off-the-shelf gueuze or flanders for like $5-8.

 

Amen!

 

What's the point? You can get 12 bottles of Torpedo for $16 (or less in some parts). Drink less beer, drink better beer.

 

Going to Pittsburgh for christmas putting away 100 bucks a week... might be over board but property tax is rolling around so Ill either skip 3 weeks or cut into the budget. I also spend another 40 - 60 a week on beer... I have no shame.

 

12 pack of torpedo is $12.99 by me, it's lower in some parts of country. It's also more than 50% stronger than Yuengling. Torpedo is the better buy imo.

 

I have found that I can fool myself by keeping my purchases small, 2 sixpacks at a time max. That way, I don't get home and say "OMG I just spent $150 on beer." By buying a sixpack or two at a time, I can keep my fridge stocked up with plenty of variety, perhaps get a cellar addition and still think I'm not going overboard [until I look in the beer fridge and can't see the light go on]. And when I get a growler, it's usually an independent purchase, not with bottles or cans.

 

Paying a bit of a premium to get a mix a 6 can sometimes save you in the long run (at least for me). I tend to drink less when it's a different beer each time. I think it's the whole "well I've got 6 of them" mindset when I buy a six pack of one beer.

 

I only drink on weekends (Friday/Saturday) now. Used to be a beer a day..

now I have so much beer I can't keep track. I need to buy a separate fridge to store it all. -__-"

I do maybe 1-2 trades a month.

 

How much beer do you consume a week?

I limit my beer store trips to once a week and only buy limited/special release beers when I go there.

Since I like to have a few beers a night a buy a cheap beer to be my drinking beer throughout the week and drink the special beers in between those.

 

I do still drink less, thus the case of 24 lasts twice as long. It's not like I drink them all in one day just because they're cheap.

 

Only use cash. Don't bring credit/debit cardio store. Only bring a set amount of money

 

I hear ya. I recently made an agreement with myself that I would spend less money monthly on beer.

And then I placed a $300 order with Etre.

 

Most people say to avoid bars, but I disagree. It just involves planning, and paying attention to what nights have specials. Join a mug club at your favorite brewery if they have one, and just go there on mug club nights. If you are ultra thrifty and want to avoid driving like me, ride a bike. No gas money spent, and you exercise off the beer you drank. If you aren't the social type though, cutting out bars might work for you. I'm just not fond of always drinking at home.

Another way I have learned to cut back: Count calories. Yeah, I know... it isn't fun. But I use a couple different fitness apps on my phone. When I see the calories add up, I know I either A. Have to work out more to be able to drink or B. Not drink another beer. (Or I suppose C. Not eat, but I like food.) If you are skinny and beer doesn't affect your waistline, this probably won't work for you. But when I hit 30, I realized I had to start paying attention and cut back. My wallet and waistline will thank me when I reach my fitness goals.

 

People plan out their purchases before making them!? I've been doing it wrong this whole time and none of you told me! I will take my 3 cases of FBS elsewhere. Good day!

 

That's a good point. Find a budget beer in each style you ever get a craving for so when you get that craving it won't break the bank.

 

Dont drink at bars (if you do bring nips to supplement)

Only buy 6ers and 12ers. (SN, Lagunitas, Sam Adams, Smuttynose, Victory, are your best bets when in doubt).

Homebrew.

After 2/3 craft beers, if your so inclined to continue drinking switch to High Life/PBR/Genese.

Cheers,
A Frugal BA

 

Easy - Stay away from mix a sixes and bombers, and stick to 12 packs for the best value.