Is it cheaper to drink at a bar or at home?

In the US, On average, how much would it cost to drink at a bar compared to buying the drinks from the store and drinking it at home? What would the price difference be for the same exact drinks ordered at a bar during happy hour or the regular hours vs drinking at home? Is it really more expensive at the cheapest bar even during Happy Hour! Whats the usual price for a pint of beer at the bar vs home or a shot of whiskey at the bar vs getting the same thing from a liquor store and drinking it at home? Which one is cheaper and why?Is it cheaper to drink at a bar or at home?
Definitely at home...

When you drink in bars, the cost of your drink includes wages for the personnel, the cost of the drink itself, the cost of renting or maintaining the premises...
A shot of any drink at the bar will cost you roughly 1/5th the cost of a whole bottle, minimum. Example: JW Black costs about $35, a glass of or drink with JW Black will cost you about 7 bucks. This includes mixed drinks, although you get a price reduction for well drinks (crap) because the bar buys big 1/2 gallons jugs so they cost less. Go upscale on the bar and the overhead goes up, so the price goes up. Wine is at least 2-3 times as much for a bottle at a restaurant. Beer is the same.



You can drink for about the same at happy hour or dollar drafts or whatever, but you're still going to end up paying more. You start drinking, happy hour ends, you buy a few more beers and you've essentially paid for a case and drank a six pack. You will never come out ahead $$$ drinking at a bar.Is it cheaper to drink at a bar or at home?
If there is a place with awesome happy hour specials, that is the only time it is cost effective. For example, there is a bar that has $3 long island iced teas at certain times. That is worth it because to make a long island iced tea you need at least 3 different liquors as well as other ingredients.

Now, if you sit there and drink 10 of them it might not be worth it anymore.

I wish I could graph this for you. Cost is on the y axis and number of long island iced teas is on the x axis. There are two lines. The "at home line" is fixed at let's say $35 because you purchased 3 bottles of liquor, some cola, sour mix, and a lemon. The "happy hour line" has a slope of $3 per drink.



Whoa sorry I just dorked out on you like that.
I don't have any statistics, but I bet my atheism that it's cheaper to drink at home. Bars not only have to buy the liquor, they also have to make a profit, so they'd charge more than the original price. Stores also have to make a profit, but since people don't go there just to drink (and probably don't get drunk while they're there) they'd more likely charge reasonable prices instead of high prices you'd only pay when you're already drunk.



Just an educated guess.Is it cheaper to drink at a bar or at home?
Home for sure

usually domestic beers even on special are around $2+ per 12 ounce serving

you can get a similar domestic 12 oz beer to bring home for about 50 cents



same with cocktails

i can get a 1.75L bottle of rum for about $20 that will give about 50 shots

i can a bunch of cola for about $10, that will let me do about 50 rum %26amp; cokes

that figures out to be 60 cents a drink... happy hour, bars will charge at least $2
always cheaper at home.

It is very similar to eating out versus eating at home.

Most mixed drinks cost $3-4 a piece but you can buy the bulk ingredients for less. AT home you are NOT paying for atmosphere, the waitress, the music(if any) etc.

Same with beer.

Buying your own alcohol also gives you the option of trying other more expensive brands, or if just getting drunk is your goal, buying the cheap rotgut booze. You can pick up a miniature of something you have always wanted to try.
Drinking at home is by far cheaper. A fifth of liquor generally makes 17 (a bit more) 1.5 ounce shots. So a $20 fifth of whatever (that would be a good quality liquor) would be about $1.18 per drink plus whatever you mixed with it. A mixed drink at a bar is anywhere from $3.50 and up (I have seen them as high as $30 a drink). So a mixed drink is less then half at a bar.



I have bought bottles of wine from the store and purchased the exact same bottle of wine at a restaurant. Generally the restaurant changes up to twice as much for it. I brew my own wine so the price per bottle is extremely low. But that is not really a fair comparison.



A 12 pack of beer costs about $10 (really it depends on beer). That would be about $0.84 per beer. At a bar a beer costs anywhere from $2 and up. If it comes out of a tap it is cheaper. A $100 keg will produce 123, $0.81 pints. A pint is about $3 (again it depends on bar). So if you had your own keg it would be vastly cheaper. I also brew my own beer for about $0.25 a pint. But again this is an unfair comparison.
Drinking at home is cheaper, although draft beer from the tap is kind of cheaper than bottle beer or cans. It depends on whether you want to buy in bulk, and have it over time, or just get wasted every once in awhile, but you should go around and comparison shop for good deals. It's worth it to go out, usually because drinking alone is not healthy and not as much fun.
cheaper at home. so much cheaper. even during a happy hour. cheapest ive seen beer during a happy hour at a bar is like 3 bux. and thats real cheap. most places dont go that low. but lets say you drink 6 beers. thats 18 dollars at the bar, during happy hour. but if you buy from a store you can get a 6pack for 6-12 dollars. depending on the beer. so drinking at home would save you 6-18 dollars (including tip) you almost have to tip your bartender. i always do.

and if you are drinking liquor then its def cheaper at home. you buy a bottle for 25 bux and have atleast 25 shots in there. so a dollar a shot. shots are atleast 3 bux at most places. and happy hour usually doesnt have deals on good liquor
It is definately cheaper to drink at home. Lets say a case of beer is roughly $20 so you're looking at about $0.83 a beer go to a bar and you'll pay anywhere from $2-$3 per beer during happy hour.



If I knew I was going out I would always drink at home before hand then when I went out I didn't spend as much b/c i drank more at home before hand
the MAIN reason why it cheaper at home rather than at a bar. Is because you have to tip,
home, for sure. safer too