I like to be a little stingy with my cash during the week. This serves two purposes: 1) It makes me feel not as guilty about my inevitable weekend splurges and 2) Limiting my spending also tends to limit my drinking, which tends to limit my weekday hangovers, which tends to limit my chances of unemployment. Follow?
However, reason number two may not apply much longer as I have recently discovered the joy of what I've been calling "Recession Happy Hour". This involves me stopping by Fresh & Easy on the way home from work, picking two bottles of their $2.99 wine, and hitting up the end of aisle 3 for some 50% off, expires-tomorrow-so-eat-it-tonight appys! It's always a surprise what's there, but who doesn't like surprises? I've managed to pick up bargain hummus, sushi, shrimp ceviche, and ahi tuna salad from that section, all for 50% off of the already cheap prices. Oh, and did I mention the wine is less than $3? I can usually get out of here without spending more than $10 and my happy hours end up just as happy. Granted, they're spent on my patio and not at a bar.
Basically, because of Fresh & Easy, I can be frugal with my spending without compromising my drinking. If that doesn't deserve five stars, I don't know what does.