Credit Card Hangover
November 5, 2006
Alcohol + Easy Credit = Big Money
Consumer credit cards are a boon for the bar industry. This realization came to me last night at a friend’s surprise birthday party at a popular watering hole. We arrived early in the evening to gather for the surprise and people-watched as customers trickled in. The vast majority of people pulled out a Visa, American Express, or MasterCard and started a tab.
No Cash, No Pain
People are usually out to have a good time and don’t want to worry about money. Using a credit card makes this easy to do. Psychologically, it’s much less painful to order a refill or another round when a person doesn’t have to plop down the cash. Particularly so when considering that drinks at most restaurants or bars are overpriced. Keeping a tab on a credit card prevents people from realizing their favorite drink costs $6.50 a pop.
Winners and Losers
Obviously this cocktail of expensive drinks, easy credit, and impaired judgment can add up to a huge bill at the end of the night. The house definitely wins on this one. I’d be interested to see a graph that compares the average amount spent on drinks for the 10 years prior to the easy availability of consumer credit cards and the 10 years following. It’s just a guess but I’d imagine spending went up considerably.
Making Others Rich
Lets say you setup a night out with 10 of your friends and everyone spends around $50, you just made someone you don’t know $500. Why not invite your friends over to your place instead and spend $100 getting food and drinks for everyone? You just increased the net worth of your friends by $500, how’s that for an easy way to make others rich? Don’t want to spend the $100 yourself? Everyone brings their own drinks; you still saved everyone a ton of money.
[…] 4) Taking the Card out for Night on the Town Friday night was a great time in college. The weekend was full of potential as you hit the town with a date or a group of friends. Unfortunately, the money often ran out long before you were ready for the good times to end. If you had the credit card along, you could always rely on it to keep the party going. Just remember, the only thing worse than a hangover is a credit card hangover! […]
[…] 4) Taking the Card out for Night on the Town Friday night was a great time in college. The weekend was full of potential as you hit the town with a date or a group of friends. Unfortunately, the money often ran out long before you were ready for the good times to end. If you had the credit card along, you could always rely on it to keep the party going. Just remember, the only thing worse than a hangover is a credit card hangover! […]