What's out: Bar hopping. What's in: Pre-gaming.

Even though alcohol is often considered recession proof, the current economic situation has led to a change in how many people including myself consume it. The change is actually a regression to an earlier stage of life; one where money was tighter and friends pooled their resources to achieve a common goal of inebriation. While the cost of booze at my local joints may be a bargain compared to those in bigger cities,I still find it disturbing that I can only get two beers for the cost of a six-pack; and don't even get me started on the hard stuff!

It's for these very reasons that pre-gaming is poised to make a comeback amongst the very crowd who had recently left the practice in their dorm rooms next to tattered Maxim magazines and their crumpled Animal House poster. Pre-gaming, for the un-initiated, is the practice of beginning your drinking in the comfort and the cost effectiveness of your own home. Once you've worked up a good buzz then you can head out for a night on the town and sustain your inebriation for a fraction of the cost. While many associate it with underage consumption many pre-gamers are simply trying to avoid the high cost of drinking in public.