Buy a Flask

Buy a flask

At this point in life, you should have a quality mattress, savings account and a flask. This summer I realized the importance of the flask. The older you get, more events you attend will not serve liquor and that’s alright. It should never be an expectation the host to provide you with endless amounts of liquor. In those situation it's great to bring a flask. Most flask fit in the lining of suit jackets and even the most tapered suits. No matter what the event, you always have your personal bar. BUT don't bring a flask inside the church, I'm all for a sip or two but I doubt God would categorize my bourbon with the wine used for communion.There is nothing better than sneaking liquor into a concert. Can I pay for drinks at the show?! Of course!!!  But I rather gamble and attempt to sneak my trusty plastic flask in. If they catch me with it (which never happens), then I give it up and charge it to the game.

 I pour straight liquor into my flask and place it in my pocket.  If mixed drinks are your thing order some soda to go along with the contents of your flask.This my friends is a lot cheaper than buying drinks all night for the two of you. For long flights purchase airplane size bottles prior to arriving at the airport. Airport prices for a sandwich can cost your first born child, imagine what a mixed drink would run you. Airplane size bottles fit snuggly in your carry-on and mix great with the complimentary soda provided.

 I know we’re all responsible adults here but I must say, Don’t drink and drive folks! Don’t ruin your good time with a DUI or harming yourself or others. Paying for an uber is always cheaper than a DUI! Just take a taxi after that good time. If you know me personally, call me! And I’ll pick you up no questioned asked! Just know you will be paying for waffle house on the way home!

It's time you start drinking like a man

                                        

 

   It's time you start drinking like a man

 

When I first started drinking my older cousin taught me the art of drinking for cheap (Don’t worry mom, I was of legal drinking age and it was a  "play" cousin that you've never met;) . He let me know that I should always drink straight liquor or "neat". This was not done in an effort to get more liquor but to provide a governor for you consumption. It's no secret that mixed drinks go down easier. Which is why we've all woke up to our bank accounts being minus 10 crown and cokes. Drinking your liquor neat will make you "man up"and sip rather than inhaling your savings account. Buying your drinks neat also allows you to control your intoxication level. Stronger drinks are harder to drink so in theory you drink less. 

 

Boyce Watkins on The Breakfast Club

a GREAT conversation  between Dr. Boyce Watkins and The Breakfast Club! YES the Breakfast Club does more for the community than handing out "Donkey of the Day" awards. This conversation should be played loudly  amongst your friends and family. Even if you dont agree with everything being said ,  at the very least  this will start the conversation on financial literacy .

 

Boyce Watkins on The Breakfast Club

How a CHEAP man buys a wedding gift

 

This has been the summer of weddings. It seems like every weekend this summer; I was either attending a wedding or missing one. Don't get me wrong, weddings are an amazing time! The weddings I've attended are the highlight of my summer. Seeing two people make a lasting commitment while catching up with friends and family is the best way to spend a Friday/Saturday.

While weddings are a time of celebration only one issue remains, purchasing the gift. In the past my girlfriend would be responsible for this task but I wanted to switch it up for my cousins big day and take it upon myself. The phrase “Where are you registered? ” should never be spoken between two men. Therefore, I decided I wanted to find something personal and unique. A good friend of mine Tiffany Webber immediately popped into my mind.  Tiffany recently  started a calligraphy business ( IG: @inkpursuit ) and when I needed to purchase a wedding gift, I knew exactly who to call. After speaking with her briefly regarding my cousin and his soon to be Mrs., she came up with something I'm sure they will cherish forever. The gift is a representation of their two lives becoming one. Thankfully I ended up with an amazing gift for my cousin and was able to support a friends business. That to me sounds like the good ol sayin, “ kill two birds with one stone.”  

Without saying, if you need a gift for any occasion, contact Tiffany Webber! Seriously, I described the two lovebirds and she came up with this great gift and even took care of all the shipping and handling. Fellas lets be honest, if you're a single man, you've never seen a wedding registry and don’t want to start now. Trust me, you could benefit from a business that takes care of their customers like this! Did I mention her and her husband Ryan are good friends of mine??  

#friendssupportfriends while living #thenewcheap life 

 

-@theNewCheap

It's time you end your relationship with your barber.....

 

It’s Saturday morning and you hurry off to spend a few hours talking sports with the fellas at your local barber shop. Even though you're about to spend $25 on a haircut, you enjoy the male bonding, and not to mention the time away from your respective girlfriends. Getting a $25 haircut every two weeks can put a huge dent in your budget.  Buying Andis edgers and Wahl clippers would cost you roughly $80 and the blades would last an entire year. Doing so would enable you to cut your hair whenever you felt the need to trim off unwanted hair. As with anything in life, there are some risks...... like messing up your hair line and being the butt of jokes until the hair grows back. One solution to reduce your risk would be to get online and look up the proper way to cut the hair style you desire. Then follow up by practicing the cut, knowing that it will take some time to get it right.


- @theNewCheap

Going to the Club

COLLEGE YEARS......

Back in college before we would catch the free party bus to the no cover college club, we would travel to the local ABC store to pick up the spirit for the night. We would return back to our apartment and drink while we got dressed. Playing music and snacking on  whatever left over-food that was in the fridge at the time. Before we arrived on the party bus,  we would be at a comfortable level to carry us through out the night.  Once we arrived at the club we would purchase whatever drink that was on special and sip that for the remainder of the night. All this was done because we were flat broke. The entire night cost about 15 bucks. Sidenote, burnetts liquor is sure to have taken years off my life.  Avoid at all cost.

So the question is why does this change? Why is that  just because you have a steady job, do you now feel the need to change a practice that saved you money ? Why dont we continue "Pre-Gaming" prior to our arrival at night spots?  Yes I know as young singles looking to attract  the opposite sex,  inviting a brand new love interest over prior to the club could be a little creepy.   Also I know that buying drinks is  what some use as their "in" for meeting people. Trust me.....you will go broke if you do not  follow the SOME of  practices used during your college years in your post college life.

How do you do it?? Easy.

Continue pregaming at your house prior to the club ( promise to use better liquor). Invite your crew over to your  place prior to the departure for the club. This allows you to “buy the first round”.  I drink makers marker when im celebrating at  $25 for 750 ml, if your walk into a bar and by a shot for a party of five you’ve already brought a would be bottle……  Inviting everyone over to my apartment allows for me to pay for the first couple of rounds for  far less than the price I would pay for at the bar. It also allows for the designated driver to be decided. If everyone wants to drink, then  you will save on the cab fare splitting it.  Never attempt to cut cost by driving tipsy!  Studies show that a DUI can cost  an average of  $10,000. That is not living cheap!  Also by taxing you will save on parking later in the night!

So you’ve decided to cab to the bar, finishing the bottle. You’ve brought the first couple of rounds and everyone is feeling great. You shouldn’t buy a drink the entire night!  Accept drinks, but don’t buy any drinks! Enjoy knowing the fact that you  got your drinks for the discounted price! Enjoy the music and good times with your friends.

THIS IS THE PART FOR THE FELLAS.....

Now what  about buying drinks for a beautiful woman??  Of course, because who goes to the club just to hang out with  the fellas anymore (read with sarcasm)…  first of all buying a drink is never the entry into  a conversation! One of the first times in a bar as a 21 year old, I spot this gorgeous  woman across the bar ordering a drink. I grab the bar tender mixing her drink and tell him I’m paying for her drink. I slide him my debit card and he delivers the drink to this woman. I play coy as she offers her payment and the bar tender declines pointing in my direction. This is one of the smoother things I've ever done........ I act as if I didn’t see the entire exchange and  had forgetten about the jester once she walks up. She greats me, thanking me for her drink and ask me my age….  I tell her im 21 and she comments how I'm just a baby and she walks away with my $15 investment in hand. Lesson learned the hard way......... That was 15 double cheese burgers, 15  dollar fries that she took from a college kid!  So how do you avoid a similar fate? Meet and mingle with  the ladies in the bar/club. But only buy a drink for a woman once she has brought her own drink during  your encounter or once a spark has been recognized between the two of you. Don’t be a drink sucker, you’ll go broke trust me!   There are women  who go to clubs flat broke hoping that men will buy them drinks in the club. A slight smile doesn’t mean she’s interested, she’s prob attempting to grab a drink. If there's a natural connection, be a gentleman buy the woman a drink!!!

Split the  cab fare on the way home,  and wake up  not scared to check your debit account the next morning.

Dine like a King

 

Dine like a King

 

Fellas football season is coming up, and our free weekends will suddenly be taken up with football games and managing fantasy leagues. One thing we can’t ignore is the ladies in our lives.  If you plan on making it out of the football season with a girlfriend, you better put in that time now! You have to get your date nights in while there isn’t any football. And so this requirement doesn’t tap into your craft beer and wings fund, I’m giving you one of my date secrets. Girls love themes, girls love dates and if you’re lucky………… they love being around you even though you’re weird. One of the ways to combine all of these things is, my themed date night. And I’ll be honest themed date nights have always been something I enjoy as well.  This themed night is “Dine like a King”, where the goals is to have an entire date for under $25.  A female friend of mine dated a cheap guy in college. They made it a point to have a monthly date where they could only spend $25 dollars on the entire evening. The wealthiest man I know, tells a  story of how he and his wife had to eat with whatever money they had left in their pockets for the day while building their empire. Regardless of this date being a want or a need, this should be added to your bag of dates!  Make it a challenge for your partner, to see if you can stay under the $25 limit for dinner and activity.  This practice will benefit you when your budget gets tight due to kids or saving for major purchases in the coming years.  There is a miniature golf park by my house that cost $10 with an ice cream shop next door. If this is done on a Monday, the local Italian restaurant offers two meals for only $10. There we have it folks, an entire night cost me less than $25, and we’ve had golfing, dinner and dessert. Your partner will get a kick out of it, its something different than the norm and it adds to the excitement of the date to see if you can stay under the $25.

-@theNewCheap

The Bucket List

 

 

"First world problem" alert!!!!!

I’m freakishly close to completing my bucketlist that I made at 13 years old. Seeing that I cannot go through life without chasing goals, I need to create a more modern bucket list.  Now, I must take account for this New Cheap lifestyle I’ve chosen to live.  I want to continue doing great things but I don’t want to risk the next 15 years on those plans. That’s selfish to the little people who will be popping up in my life in the next few years. At the age of thirteen it was acceptable to have selfish  and egotistical goals but now that has changed. I  will be using this second bucket list to benefit others and to help me spend time with the people in my life.

My first addition will be seeing all 128 division 1 football teams play a game. I can’t think of spending my Saturdays in any better way. The road trip playlists, the tailgates and the sports debates with random drunk fans. Don’t worry New Cheap family, I will be documenting each trip I take! Of course I plan to keep all of these trips under a budget to ensure no interference occurs with the goals I’ve set for my future family. The chase to this goal begins this upcoming fall. I currently live in the Baltimore area, so I will be setting my sights on the Big Ten & ACC conference teams first.  Don’t be afraid to hit me up when you see I’m coming into your town, or even join me for the game. As much as this goal is about seeing a sport that I love, it’s about getting to see friends and family across the country that I’ve been blessed to have in my life.

And for the record, I will be wearing different college gear from multiple teams, but don’t be confused I will always and forever be a UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Miami fan. But if it’s free, it’s for me…

 

-@theNewCheap

Dating Advice from a Cheap Guy - Gone Fishing

 

GONE FISHING

"You won’t find any sharks fishing in your local pond."

I’m not here to give you dating advice, but I will point out how your current dating practices affect your finances. So here’s the scene, it’s Friday night, you get all “jazzed up”, put on your best cologne/perfume and head out to the bar. You stand in line to pay a cover just to stand there, maybe hit a two-step here and there, until the DJ says last call and you go home. This leads to sappy posts on social media about “God is saving me for the chosen one” (vomit). While this can be true, you have to analyze your part in the situation and adjust. Maybe you’re fishing in the wrong location for what you want to catch.

 If I was on the market, I would look for a potential mate in places where I frequent myself. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t double as a dating service so you’ll have to venture outside of your house.  (Netflix dating site should def be a thing) If you enjoy art galleries attend them alone and I’m sure there will be other singles there as well. It’s a waste of money to frequent bars looking for a soul mate while losing your dignity on social media with those emo posts. Sporting events are great to socially meet like minds and what man wouldn’t love a woman who can attend a game and half way enjoy it?!  It’s ok if she doesn’t quite understand politics but she can talk for hours about football, oh that’s a winner! If you enjoy working out, then join a local gym. This is a two for one special, you’re getting in shape and still looking for potential mates. This is a better way to spend your money than pouring atrocious amounts of liquor down your throat that you are now at the gym to burn off.

 Besides all that, you’re too old to be looking for love in the club. News Flash, sane people don’t attend the club scene looking for a lifetime love. If that’s what you’re looking for, quit wasting your time looking for it in a club. Recently a good friend found her fiancée in a rest home. I’m serious, a rest home! She was a fellow youthful single leaving the club scene in hopes to find love. She began volunteering at her local rest home. Guess who has a rolodex of young single men?? The elderly who get frequent visits from their grandchildren.

The moral of the story is quit wasting money and time fishing in the wrong holes.