Moving to NYC has made me super budget conscious. Fortunately, I work a lot and don’t have many friends in the city. Being on my own most of the time makes it easy to stick to my budget, and hanging out with my hometown friends on the weekends in NJ is so much cheaper than in the City that I don’t worry about it much.

However, NYC is a pretty big draw and lots of times I get phone calls from old friends who say they’re coming to town and ask if I want to meet up for a drink. Heck yeah! I love catching up with old friends over a pint or two or umm… a few more than that.

This leads us to my latest #NYCFail, the cost of a night out. It took me a few times to realize it doesn’t have to be like this, but without some preparation on my part, it will be. See, tourists are drawn to certain parts of the city and bar owners know this. The same pint that’s $4 up where I live will be $9 in Times Square.

I know this because, against all reason, I always meet up with my friends in Times Square, which is clearly the 6^th circle of hell.

I know this and yet that’s still where I tell them to go, because A.) every time I meet up with a friend, I’ve been coming from work, which is on 56^th Street, right under Times Square, B.) they are almost always coming from a Broadway show and C.) they can actually find it. I tell them to go stand under the Bubba Gump Shrimp until I can get to them.

I just comes out of my mouth now and I forget about it. Until I go to leave work that evening and think “what have you done??” That thought is amplified each step closer to Times Square and continues to scream as we find a bar where the average mixed drink price is $15.

Not gonna lie, I did go with a friend to bar in that area once that had this amazing champagne, vodka and berry liquor drink for $12 each. Unfortunately we were there for hours and that bill is one I still don’t like to think about.

Unlike my other #NYCFail’s though, this one will not be repeated, because step 1 to fixing this problem is:

HAVE A PLAN

The Internet, as we all know, is pretty much amazing. And instead of haphazardly heading out in search of alcohol, just do a little research and decide in advance where you’re going.

 GET OVER THE IDEA OF MAKING THEM SPEND MONEY

Maybe it’s just me, but I also used to feel guilty making a friend buy a Metrocard, but in all honesty, if it takes us to somewhere that serves $4 drinks instead of $9, their Metrocard has now paid for itself in one drink.

HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN THEM

Most of the friends I seem to meet up with are old ship friends. When we’re reminiscing it’s about the time we got so lost we nearly missed the boat is Spain, the time we ran down an Alaskan mountain because we startled a moose and it scared us more than him, or that time in Turkey when bargained with the dude at the bazaar well enough to knock the price of his magic carpet in half even though he didn’t speak any English.

I mean, for Pete’s sake, I should probably trust that my fellow world travelers can handle being told which subway to get on. Furthermore, almost everyone has a Smartphone. Google maps will get you anywhere.

CHEAP PLACES TO DRINK IN NYC

1.)   Bravest – $2.50 beers – 700 2^nd Ave.

2.)   Welcome to the Johnsons – $2 beers – 123 Rivington Street

3.)   The Blarney Stone – $7 pitchers, $4 BIG GUYS (24 oz.) – 710 3^rd Ave.

4.)   123 Burger Shot Beer – $1 Burgers, $2 Shots, $3 Beers – 738 10^th Ave.

5.)   Continental – 5 shots for $10 – 25 3^rd Ave.

 

And if you must stay near Times Square:

1.)   Jimmy’s Corner – $3 Beers, $4 Shots – 140 W. 44^th Street

2.)   Mother Burger – Warm Weather Only – 329 W. 49^th Street

3.)   Rudy’s Bar and Grill – $7 Pitchers – 627 9^th Ave.

 

Finally, never forget that people are always really curious about NYC apartments, so why not invite your friends back to yours. Instead of buying 2 drinks, you could buy 2 six packs and prove to them that cockroaches do not roam free in your home. Most of the time.

Any readers have any other great, inexpensive hang outs in the City?