I haven’t been in a bar in years. When it comes to watching new films, I have become endeared to watching them on-demand at home.
It’s convenient, but it is also easier not to be tempted to buy popcorn or soda at concession stands.
When I do go to a restaurant, I always try to stick to water instead of buying beer, alcohol, or soft drinks.
I may be becoming a lot more curmudgeonly in my older age, perhaps even a smidgen more antisocial, but it is not for these reasons.
It’s easy to be oblivious to exactly how much such things are marked up for resale relative to their wholesale prices.
Bar cocktails and beers, and drinks in a restaurant, can be marked up by as much as 500% to over 1,000%.
A small popcorn or a soda can be marked by over 1,000% and sometimes as high as 1,200%.
That means that a small bag of popcorn that sells for 43 cents wholesale is being sold for $6 or more in a movie theater.
I don’t buy vitamin supplements, unless prescribed, because there is absolutely no scientific proof that they work.
It’s hard to say these things to friends and relatives because people naturally assume one is being cheap, rude, or antisocial.
I just tire of wasting money.
Age Never Means Apologizing for Not Wanting to Waste Money
As one ages, it’s so much easier to see with the clarity of experience how much money is wasted in youth.
Or, how older, supposedly mature adults become so set in their ways, and unwilling to admit wrongdoing, that they endeavor to waste money on unnecessary items.
Or, just to be social and look cool.
Even when they know better.
Is this a rant? I feel like I am ranting.
But I am not.
This mindset is the equivalent of putting a quarter in a swear jar.
Except now, it’s like committing to saving money whenever possible instead of wasting it mindlessly.
Frugal Isn’t Being Cheap
I have friends who think I am cheap and rude for not wanting to join them for socializing in local bar.
Bars watering down their drinks to optimize profits is not an urban legend.
They’re crowded, it’s hard to get a bartender’s attention when a bar is packed, and I just decided long ago that its against my religion to pay $10+ for mixed drinks or beers.
I’ve begun learning mixology in earnest as a hobby in recent years.
It’s so much cheaper to buy my own alcohol, download mixology recipes online, and make my own drinks at home.
But if you prefer to pay some bar $15 for a drink you can make for a fraction of the price at home, that’s fine too.
I drink water at restaurants and never buy concessions when I go to the movies.
It’s only been in recent years that I have developed a new mindset to be more personally responsible with my finances.
I have some big business dreams and I am not getting younger.
There is no more time to waste money unnecessarily.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.
