How to have fun on the budget. Your definition.

1) Drink heavily- buy pitcher of beer supplemented by shot drinks, OR

2) Be lucky/insightful enough to get hot dancer 1st, OR

3) Befriend Shadowcat on 1 of his PP-C visits, and get in on his faves.

About the "budget." Heh ...

I tend to let the ATM determine my fate. If I have gathered somehow a bit of cash in my pocket (say, $200?) and then can find an ATM to visit that has a decent limit on the basis of its level of electronic access to my account, I can probably also the daily maximum ($400). This means I'm probably going to have a max of the sum of those two amounts (in this example, $600) to spend. I am likely to be WILLING to blow all of that, if (but only if) a hot enough dancer with a strong enough "click" with me turns up through the course of the night. I'm looking for that click and hotness -- that's the quest, the fun.

On the other hand, on the occasion when there is a club that I know I'm going to want to go to, likely with girls whom I am familiar with, or the TYPE of girls that I'm familiar with, and the type of interactions I'm interested in, I can plan further ahead. On those occasions, I'm likely to plan to go to a bank during opening hours to get a deliberate withdrawal in anticipation of the trip. This will be, probably, $1,000.oo for two days of fun (with the presumption that an ATM will be found with a $400 daily limit for any emergency). I did that on many occasions when I knew I'd be making a road trip for work to Memphis from Jackson, MS. I didn't know specific girls I was hoping to hit at Platinum Plus, but I knew that their "type" would likely produce at least one or two winners for me, with levels of interaction that would enable that pay scale.

I haven't ever spent ALL my cash, no matter how drunk I get. I have made the mistake (once or twice) of getting TOO drunk -- took a cab home, didn't know where half my money went -- and losing money that way. But mostly, I know where every dollar goes. (Mongering is a quantum bill experience. No coins are allowed.) I account for every single buck in my computer.

By the way, as far as computer accounting goes, I am not happy typing in something like, "Friday the 12th. $490 to mongering. Total costs, drinks $50, standard lappers $140, private VIP with extras services from Suzie $250 plus $50 tip." Who wants that on their hard drive? I am still looking for an efficient, effective way to produce a "fake" ledger of my Microsoft Money accounts, so that I can keep a "real" ledger as well. Is there a Money or Quicken type of procedure that allows for encrypted "secret books" or must I just micro-manage every transaction and file one by one?

I think the most I've spent in a given episode of strip-clubbing and mongering has to be one of my big blow-outs in Houston (before the crack-down) or Memphis (before the ... drat it all .. crack-down). Probably $800 or $1000? But that would include interactions with several girls, and perhaps over two or even three evenings. (Of course, if it was an out-of-town trip, then there would also be hotel, and perhaps airline and rental-car, costs to add in as well. But those serve multiple purposes so don't count exactly as mongering expenses.) In my home town, I will likely spend less. I have not lived since 1997 (probably lucky!) in a town where the offerings were as stellar as they recently were in Houston or Memphis.

I have noted on other boards, that I like a certain level of cost to be associated with my mongering. I don't want FS for less than about $150 -- less and I feel "cheapened" by the experience, and also it is unlikely to be coming from a high-quality provider. But I also don't want it for more than roughly $250, especially not if it's going to take place in a hurried manner in a lap-dance room, for example. I like $20 lappers, which are getting fewer and further between, but will suffer a $40 experience. Again, less makes it feel "cheap" but more makes it feel "too expensive." I have a "sweet spot" where pricing makes me enjoy things the right amount. And that's for all services -- lappers, tipping, drinks, "services" that go above and beyond the lap-dance norm, etc.

That's the budget conversation, to answer question one, above. I don't have an answer to your second question, of the "secret" to spending less but having good fun anyway. I think the only "secret" is to know how to recognize as many typical scams and bad attitudes as possible, and then know how to politely but effectively steer clear of them. It's just accreted experience.

I think my attitude is likely on the high-cost, high-service side, relative to most TUSCL participants. There ya go, that's just me! :)

And, here I was paying $3 for FS. :) For $150 I probably could have bought the girl. Of course, there's been inflation. Quality was excellent, imo! :) Dear Leader says he wants Americans to be able to compete with Vietnamese so he still has some work to do in collapsing the dollar. With any luck, I'll be able to get FS here for $3 Vietnamese. :) President Bush was correct. Look what happens when you cut and run . . . you end up trying to work for them for pennies a day. If only America hadn't quit on the Vietnamese people . . . I could currently be enjoying $3 FS, maybe.

What's a budget?

I keep hearing that deficit spending is good for the economy. And I'm all for a good economy...

I don't think I have ever spent more than $120 bucks in one visit to a strip club. Have often had great times for much less. It helps that I don't drink. I also limit myself spending to known dancers or dancers that fit my type.

My idea of a budget, you decide how much cash you're willing to spend. You then leave with x amount of dollars in cash in your wallet. You spend it all if you're having a great night and make sure you have the cash before buying anything. You refuse to use any ATM or credit card inside a strip club unless you accidently overspent which should never happen.

How to watch your spending? Only accept dance deals that sound pretty darn good. Hot girl plus decent price on two for one with high mileage sounds like a good deal. Avoid dancers who want lots of money to start with even if they come back with a lower price. Just say no, no, no to those dancers whenever you see them. Just imagine they are asking instead of "wanna dance?" "can I steal your money?"

LOL@minnow! I love the third one!! Actually, I agree with all of minnows points.

Don't be like me though. I'm too old and ugly to be patient (other than in a hospital)! Any dancer with talent nibbles at me, I'M HOOKED!

Other recommendation........... don't start doing road trips. The gasoline, lodging, restaurants, and hookers eat it up to quickly. :-)

Yeah road trips are brutal. But plane trips turn out even worse often ...

minnow: I try to help my fellow TUSCLers out but it does not always work. Ask trogangreg. We had the extremely cute and charming Peebles sitting between us. He asked her for a 2fer for $20. My price. She said "Sorry. Only John gets that price" and then she put her arms around me and we cuddled up. Sorry Greg.

I usually set aside $300 for a night. I only work in cash, I have a strict policy on never using a CC in the club although on very rare occasion I have gone out to find an ATM.

Lately I have been spending less as my ATF has gotten a little uncomfortable doing VIP ITC with me. I always make sure she isn't loosing money siting with me though!! OTC is free however and she is threatening to get a "real job", that would really save me some cash.

I will say that I live and usually do my mongering in a small city/tural environment, the occational trips to Manhatten don't seem to work within this budget.

I am a faithful contributor to deficit spending, which is good for the economy! Now, when does the economy start paying my charge cards off??

I did have a 'set amount' of cash set aside for the TUSCL convention, to which I didn't necessarily want to exceed. But, guess what? Didn't work! I probably "doubled" that amount. Regrets? Nope! Out of all the lap dances I acquired in three days, I only regret one from a dancer I didn't know.

I think you can have "fun" on a budget, but when you're having TOO much fun, can you actually call it quits and say to that one particular very hot dancer.... "Listen baby, I'm on a budget! You mind 'fronting' me a few more dances, til next month?"

Bones, I like your idea of "trade credit".

Imagine how much fun it would be if dancers started to have a punch cards (10th one free), do volume discount for all :) and be able to match deals offered by competitors (after over-the-phone verification). Credit card industry should catch on to this and offer frequent-flyer miles or other perks to be converted to (participating) "club-money"... OK back to reality, lol.

I don't follow a strict budget, and I try to carry more money than I'll need without any fear that I'll spend it just because I have it. I keep my spending in check by realizing that how much fun I have isn't determined by how much I spend beyond a point. For example, I rarely get more than two or three dances at a time. Most of the pleasure is in meeting the girl and the first one or two dances. After that, more dances don't add nearly as much to my fun as they do to the cost.

I usually predetermine how much money I will spend and then spend it. Of course, it depends on which club I visit. I think that is part of why my favorite club is my favorite, because its cheaper there to get a nude lapdance than at my number 2 club. And I agree with the idea that road trips can be brutal, but I also have enough of the various gas credit cards so that I can put that off for a month or so.

Professor - Just imagine. A club full of dancers, each wearing a belt with a miniture 'credit card' swipe machine attached! LOL "Debit or Credit Sir?" :-)

Bones -
- Debit or Credit Sir?
- Do I get AARP discount? Here is my card... LOL

To Shadowcat - that was me!!! And she was the only one that wasn't nice to me. I'll make it a point to pass up pebbles in the future.

To Bones - you give new meaning to the energizer bunny

I love saving money.....my method....Think Big Hunt. Unless I get clear indications of a player, I just let them move on. Talk to them, play with them...those who like to play will show their colors.

My method works great...at the end of a good visit, I've found my target and if successful, I'm looking for a bowl of frosted flakes and a bed.

But it does take a lot of perseverance...especially with the really gorgeous ones that you know are all show. But the upside is that ROBs show their colors within 5 mins.

I walk in with 300, and "try" to leave with 200. (excluding 2 drinks and cover)and with 2 dances for $20 being my start off negotiation point....I'm usually looking at 6 to 10 dances with a dancer on track with my line of thinking.

Just imagine if everybody used this method... Demand would weed out the ROBs and All show bitches.

I usually take around $200 cash and almost never spend it all. A typical visit for me is in the $50-100 range if the club has private dances, about half that if they don't. The only time I will spend more than that is if I find a girl who really turns me on and that's pretty rare. And I never use an ATM, I don't even know how.