Is There a Frugal Way to Gamble?

I think that’s a pretty interesting question: “Is there a frugal way to gamble?”  That’s the kind of question you want to hear from your children when you explain the frugal lifestyle to them and then the conversation shifts to gambling.  Okay, that happened to me.  And I could never be more proud of my kids than when they put me on the spot with tough questions.

Fortunately I can answer with a full-hearted “yes”.  You see, just because you are living the frugal lifestyle does not mean you cannot enjoy some forms of entertainment.  We always want to keep our feet on the ground and save money, but life should not be completely devoid of reasonable entertainment.

What makes entertainment reasonable?  First, it has to be entertaining.  Imagine going to a movie and finding out you are bored to death by it?  That happens from time to time so I am not reaching too far with that illustrative point.  Second, you want your entertainment to be worthwhile.  It may be fun but it may be too time-consuming and/or to expensive.  Now when it comes to gambling a lot of people would agree that you can lose track of both the hours and your money, especially if you walk into a casino with a friend or family and everyone is excited.

When I visit a casino I enforce a few rules for myself.  For example, I don’t take any debit or credit cards with me.  I just take the cash I need to have a good time.  This can be hard if you lose all your money quickly but we have learned to be frugal with our bets and we can stay inside a casino for hours without losing all our money.

I also force myself to take a break every hour.  And if I am planning to spend an entire day in a casino I schedule times for meals.  I set alarms on my smart phone so that I know to stop.  Now, if you’re playing a game and winning you may fudge on the time a little bit but as soon as my luck turns around I stop playing and go eat.

Another way you can be frugal when gambling is to pick your games carefully.  For example, you have better odds when you play Blackjack than when you play Keno.  You might not know a lot about Blackjack but there are websites that teach you the basics and even share the odds on how the cards work out.

And yet another way to be frugal when you are gambling is to take into consideration all the common mistakes that people make.  Learning how to avoid gambling mistakes is as important as learning how to play the various games and to manage your entertainment budget.  And remember that whatever money you gamble with is indeed part of your “entertainment budget”.  You should never gamble with money you need.

That goes back to what I wrote in my last post: never invest money you will need for your expenses.  The same rule applies to gambling and other forms of entertainment.  The point of the frugal lifestyle is to avoid landing yourself in a situation where you are short of the money you actually need to take care of your bills, food, and medicine.  Frugality is never about digging your way out of a hole; it is always about improving the way you manage money.

Now, let me close with a comment on a book by Jean Scott.  She advises people to assume they will always lose money when gambling and therefore to look for compensation from the casinos (like free meals, free rooms, etc.).  That is a form of frugality but many people react negatively to her ideas because they require so much effort to implement.

My take is that you want to enjoy your entertainment without feeling like you receive less value than you are willing to pay for.  You should only use as much money for entertainment as you don’t need to manage your frugal lifestyle.  Whether you dine out, go to the movies, bet on the horses, go skydiving, etc. the bottom line is always that you are not impoverishing yourself with unnecessary debt and overspending.