From Milk Money to Beer Money by Adam Parente

Beer!!!

I started thinking about this topic after calculating how much money I was spending on alcohol at the local bars.  To my surprise, my spending habits on alcohol were quite substantial, even considering all the local bartenders who are close friends or family.

Just like when you were in elementary school and your parents would give you money for lunch and/or milk, you  have to decide how to budget your money.  When I was younger, my parents gave me a dollar a day for lunch, and it was my choice to do what I wanted with it.  I could either spend the 65 cents (at the time cost of public school lunch) on lunch or save it.  Of course there were always options.  I could have brought a lunch to school everyday and saved the full dollar and thus accumulate five extra dollars at the end of the week or I could have spent the entire dollar on a bag of chips that were always for sale. Decisions, decisions!!!

Now that I am 24 years of age, going out to the bars and socializing with friends is a very big part of my life.  In fact most of the people I know I have either went to school with at some time, or met at a bar.  Just like when I was in elementary school and living on a fixed income, I have to decide how much of my money I am willing to devote to my “socializing”.  Again, decisions, decisions!!!

Adam Parente