Nonetheless, I’ve learned to actually save money in recent years. I’ve learned that there are things I do WANT (that cater to my hedonism) that require saved money. So, I’ve cut back on some things that used to completely drain my wallet and saved more than you can imagine. Here are 5 tips if you’d like to do the same:

REPLACE YOUR ENERGY DRINKS WITH COFFEE. FROM HOME.

I have a serious caffeine addiction. It’s not cute; it’s tormenting. The worst part is that I truly do prefer a sugar free Red Bull to a cup of coffee. But I’ve learned to cut back. At $2-$3 a can, my energy drinks can be shelved for the most *crucial* of days…which is not, contrary to my previous beliefs, every single day of the week. Now I brew my own iced coffee every morning and use a box of splenda to get over my sugar fears. It absolutely does the trick and I’ve saved at least $45 a month doing this.

DRINK FOR FREE. (or cheaply)

Okay. You can’t drink for free in every city, but you can plan ahead. Using websites like myopenbar.com will get you drinking for free in cities like New York and Los Angeles. For everyone else out there, take note of the happy hours near you. Plan your drinking around these sort of things! Don’t fool yourself into believing that $8 for a glass of wine is ok. Screw that. Get a bottle and drink it with your friends before you head out to the concert…or lecture. And remember that flask you got as a joke for your birthday that one year? Yeah. Use it. Learning to combat my drinking spending has saved me an incredible amount of money. I’d say that it saves me about $200 a month these days.

YOUR FOOD SPLURGES… LETS TALK.

You don’t have to always meet your friends for dinner. That kinda stuff adds up! There’s nothing wrong at all with meeting for coffee, or dessert, or coffee AND dessert. If you’re trying to save money, tell your friends you’ll be late to dinner but you can join them for dessert. This way, you’ll be spending $5-$10 instead of $15-$40. Learning to choose my dinner outings carefully has started to save me at least $100 a month.

WATCH YOUR TRANSPORTATION.

If you’re in a big city, you’re a little better off than everyone else these days. At least you can use the subways and buses..which are…respectively, much cheaper than gas. But watch out for those compulsive trips in a taxi. They add up. As for everyone else, there are ways to combat gas prices. First of all, buy a bike if you don’t have one. They’re a small investment, but they’ll save you tons of money in the end. Be careful about riding home drunk though, cause, um, you can (cough cough) get a DUI for this. On top of the bike, carpool with your friends…or WALK. Do whatever you can not to use your car. It’s better for your wallet and the environment, too. I’ve saved around $40 a month from thinking carefully about my transportation spending, but I don’t drive. I’m sure that throwing the price of gas into the equation could lead to savings in the hundreds per month.

OH BEAUTY, IT’S A B*TCH.

Far too many girls I know spend far too much money on looking ‘beautiful’. I just don’t believe in it. I believe in cutting your hair yourself when you can. I believe in dying your hair yourself. I believe in home manicures/pedicures, self-made spa treatments, and shopping sprees at Salvation Army. If you find that you’re spending a good chunk of change on purses, shoes, massages, nails, hair…it’s time to think about your life a little more. Are you SURE there aren’t alternatives for your appearance-oriented spending? I’ve certainly found an alternative to most of the typical girl beauty spending and I bet you can, too. I’ve managed to save around $150 a month by doing things myself.

(Photo from: smallbusinessanswers.com)

I do not think I’m an alcoholic. I do, however, feel like I’ve racked myself up some pretty reliable points for drinking frequently, and usually for free, in New York City.

I’m in a band. And all of my friends are in bands. You know what that means? It means shows…which means drinks. And my friends who aren‘t musicians, who work in offices, tend to like to buy me rounds at Happy Hour time–which usually precedes one of those aforementioned shows.

These factors combined with my sometimes modeling and myopenbar.com lead to a steady intake of alcohol on my part. And REALLY, I am okay with this.

However, I woke up today feeling especially hung over. My stomach felt like I imagine it would if it were working diligently to digest batteries. My makeup was caked across my pillowcase and the volume of god knows what kind of dirt under my nails made me afraid to look in the mirror. It was just another, typical night out on the town for me last night. Wine and beer and whiskey and martinis. Lost cash. Expensive cab rides. Shameful drunk snacking back at my apartment and finally the relief of passing out, but ONLY after an embarrassing drunk dial and even more embarrassing emotional drunk IM.

I woke up this morning and I challenged myself out loud to my roommate.

“You know what, dude? I’m gonna take the next week off from drinking.”

She laughed.

“No, seriously, if I can’t f*&cking go ONE WEEK without alcohol, then I’m going to check myself into rehab.”

And suddenly, she realized that the same would be true for her too if she could not tame her recklessness for just one week.

We made a pact; a deal with the devil’s advocate if you will, and we have set out to prove that we haven’t all but dismissed the self-control we once had.

Although I didn’t physically WANT beer all day; the simple fact that I wasn’t “allowed” to have it DID, in fact, lead me to a creepy, lingering position over my refrigerator door more than once today…I hung over the door, passing glances over to the Stella on the bottom shelf while trying to convince myself that I had just opened the refrigerator for grapes. Or hummus. Or ANYthing but alcohol.

My plans tonight, which I canceled, would have been fun and I would have followed through with them had it not been for my overflow of work. However, the thought DID occur to me that it wouldn’t be as much fun to go out tonight if I couldn’t drink.

As the evening persisted, I discussed the coming weekend plans with my friends…slowly explaining to each friend that I WOULD be out this weekend; but I wouldn’t be drinking. Between chuckles and winks on AIM, all of my friends bid me farewell and decorated my confidence with their sarcastic “Good Luck!!!!“s.

It will only be a week. Seven days. 168 hours before I can drink again. This shouldn’t have to be anything tragic. But regardless, I will be detailing my detox days to you. And while I’m at it, I think I might take a close look at how much money I saved this week. And hell, maybe I’ll check out whether or not I drop a pound or two–I’m confident I consume thousands of calories in drinks normally…

Deem me an alcoholic if you wish, but for all intensive purposes, THIS week shall be the final judgment in that.