I'm not talking about putting on a fat suit and white beard and hitting the town, nor am I advocating those sexy/slutty costumes you see out during the holidays (although the chicas with the right bods do look pretty fab in the latter).Sin #4 is acting like Santa while out with your friends -- i.e., being "that gal" buying the round(s). While it's all fine and dandy to treat, continually buying drinks for a group -- or the bar if you've had too much, is a real budget killer.
Thankfully, it's a pretty easy behavior to remedy. First, there are some questions to ask yourself to determine whether you're round-buying is a genuinely friendly and occasional offering or a budget-slashing bad HMW habit:
1. Did you plan to treat before you left the house?
2. Do you tend to hate to ask your friends for money, even if you were the one who spent the 15 minutes batting your eyelashes at the bartender to get served? Prefer saying "just buy the next round" and subsequently being disappointed because they aren't as generous as you? (You might actually need new friends if you answered yes to the latter. :(
3. When you look at your receipt the next morning, do you promise to stop being so "generous"?
If you've gotten this far and you're patting yourself on the back thinking, "Of course not!", then either wait for tomorrow's post or continue reading so that you may help a friend in need or prevent this behavior should the mood ever strike.
If on the other hand, you sheepishly nodded "yes" to your computer screen while posing the above questions, the second step to solving your "fat suit" -- i.e., over-speding problem, is a quick action plan. It's much easier to fall into Bar Santa mode when you start a tab. So the best place to nix this habit is quite ironically, at the ATM: withdraw what you're planning to spend plus your cab fare home beforehand. You'll be a lot less likely to buy a round if it means you only get one drink! Then, leave the plastic chez vous so you're not tempted after the wine starts thinking :)
1 comment:
Sounds like YOU know of what you speaka! Still very good advice. I like. Very nice.
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