This has worked for me in the past. I won't buy alcohol anywhere but at a grocery store or a liquor store. The amount of markup on alcohol in a restaurant or a bar is ridiculous (I know, I'm a bartender
), plus you are tipping on the amount it adds to your bill. If you went to Outback (where I work
) with two guests, you would spend about $40 without liquor, or $55 with liquor. So your tip (20% of course
) goes from $8 to $11. By drinking iced tea you just saved yourself $18.
I can't encourage this as a restaurant employee, because of course I want you to drink. But I feel that if you are in enough of a pinch then you shouldn't be eating out anyway. I eat out a lot, but I also drink out a lot, and I've saved myself big bucks by enforcing this limit on myself for a month at a time. I won't stop drinking completely (mainly because I work in the restaurant industry), but I will do it economically when I do.