Whether you’re planning ahead for the holiday season, or you just love a glass of wine after a hard day, you may wonder if there’s anything you can do to save money on your beloved beverage of choice. Wine can be a pretty expensive drink to consume, especially if you have pricey tastes. Luckily, there are a few ways you can easily cut the costs of your wine expenditures without having to give up on your favorite drink. Between prepping for the holidays and simply kicking back and relaxing, you’ll be ready to enjoy your glass of wine even more when you realize you didn’t have to spend a small fortune on it. So, don’t let the price of wine detour your love of it, with these tips you’ll get right back on budget in no time.

1. Join a Club
When it comes to enjoying wine, a club is one of the best ways to do so. Luckily, there’s lots of different clubs that can help you save lots of money on your favorite wines. For starters, warehouse clubs are very simple, and often cost effective, to join. These clubs tend to offer extraordinary deals on a variety of wines. You’ll probably even save more when you purchase the wine in bulk through these warehouses. You can also join an actual wine club. A lot of these clubs will send you great offers on wine each month, so you won’t have to pay full price on many of the bottles that you buy. You may even get free passes to some wineries or samples sent to you in the mail. Wine clubs often hold meetings too, which could offer you a chance to network to find greater deals. Last but not least, you want to join a club that offers a subscription service. These will actually send you a bottle or more each month for a standard fee. Usually the bottles are worth more than you pay for the subscription, so you end up saving big time.

2. Consider Second Labels
Wine shopping usually begins by checking out the brands we know we love, right? Sometimes, these brands are less than favorable when it comes to the price tag though. However, what a lot of people don’t know about their favorite brands of wine is that many actually produce a second label. These are wines that are made from the leftover grapes from their more popular brand of wine. These second labels wines only cost a fraction of the price and can taste exactly the same or incredibly similar. So, next time you’re feeling a little down in the dumps because your favorite brand costs an arm and a leg, you may want to check to see if the line offers a second label. Usually, your favorite wine or spirits store should have a list on hand, but if not you may have to do a little research of your own to see if you can find something similar. You may be surprised as to what you find and how much you enjoy it.

3. Shop Locally
If there’s one good thing that came from the hipster movement, it’s definitely the shopping locally motto. This doesn’t mean you have to do this to be hip and trendy, but, rather to save yourself a bit of money. To break things down, when you shop wine that comes from other countries or areas within the country, you’re going to be paying for a little bit of the shipping and import prices, which can really add to the price of the bottle. Local wines won’t have this fee tacked on, so they should be more affordable. Of course, there’s other reasons to shop locally too. For starters, you’re going to be getting wine that was made with fresh ingredients. Plus, with all of the work that bees do for local produce, the quality of the wine will be better for your system. You should also consider how much shopping local does for your community’s economy, which actually reflects back onto savings in other shopping areas. Finally, if you shop in local wineries then there’s a high chance you’ll be able to find a great bulk deal on wine.

4. Look for Discounts
Saving money on wine, requires a lot of shopping know how. When you want to buy wine, especially if you’re looking to shop in bulk, then you’re definitely going to want to shop around to see if you can find any special sales, discounts or coupons on your favorite brands. Of course, one handy thing to know is that wine sales actually drop during the autumn months. With grape season practically over, wine should be coming into stores in abundance, so it may be time to stock up whenever you see a good price. Of course, keep in mind that the prices won’t last until the holiday season, so hurry and get what you need now. Since prices drop in the autumn, you may want to keep an eye on stores that sell your favorite wines, just in case the price dips enough to warrant a purchase. You can usually keep an eye on a variety of stores at once by using a special shopping app. Of course, you should always keep an eye on the clearance bins in your favorite stores too, to see if anything you enjoy has made it onto the shelf.

5. Buy in Bulk
If you really love wine and drink it more than on special occasions then bulk buys are about to become your best friend. Wine can always be bought cheaper in bulk purchases, which is why you should always consider buying your favorite wines this way. When you shop online, the price difference is going to be more obvious as most sites will try to get you to buy in bulk from the beginning. Thus, you may want to take to some of your favorite websites to begin with. Of course, before you buy too many bottles of the same wine, you may want to test it out to make sure it’s something you enjoy drinking, unless you plan on passing it out as a gift. Boxed wine is already, technically, a bulk purchase; however, you can easily purchase these boxes in bulk too, which will come in handy for large celebrations.

6. Go Wine Tasting
If you love wine then there’s one thing you should do to save money on your favorite bottles. That is, enjoy a wine tasting trip. There’s lots of places to enjoy wine tasting, so you probably won’t have to look far to find a place that suits your needs. In short, wine tasting allows you to experience new wines which could help you find or expand the range of wines you generally buy. This, in itself, allows you to choose wines that will suit your budget. You may even be able to find a wine that tastes better or similar to your favorite wine for a whole lot less. When you try out a larger variety of wines, you’ll also become more knowledgeable which will allow you to make wise decisions on your purchases. Also, you may able to buy your favorite wines from the tasting in the winery store. If you want to save even more money then you may want to explore Groupon, or other social media coupon pages, to help you find an extraordinary deal on your wine tasting experience.

7. Shop Around
Shopping for wine can be tough, but accepting the first price you see on your favorite wine is usually a no-no. In this day and age, there’s probably 5 different stores selling the same brand and most of them are going to be competitive to the penny. Instead of simply purchasing the first bottle you see, take to your favorite shopping app to see if you can find a better deal on the product. If the store you’re in does price matching then you’re ready to go, but if not you may want to spend your money at another location. Of course, there’s lots of options that don’t mean you have to shop locally. In fact, if you’re not in a hurry to drink the wine then you may want to take your shopping experience online. You can usually find some of the best deals here, which will save you a lot of money in the long run.

8. Keeping a List
If you’re a list maker then you should have no problem with this one. Basically, when you try a wine out you should always write down the name on a list that shows your favorite wines as well as wines you couldn’t bear to drink. In life, we try a whole lot of new things so it’s a common mistake to buy a wine we hated twice, or to forget the name of a really good wine that we’d love to have again and again. By making a list, you’ll always know what you should and shouldn’t buy. For your convenience, try adding the list to your phone, but make sure to keep a hardcopy just in case your tech fails you. Having the list on hand will also help wine sellers make recommendations to you that will suit your taste buds and your budget.

9. Know Your Wines
One of the major problems that people run into when they’re shopping for wines, or even serving them, is lacking basic knowledge of the drink. Often, people don’t like a wine because they’ve paired it with the wrong foods. By knowing exactly what you’re serving and how to accent the meal, you’ll find that your wine shopping abilities have increased immensely. This will not only help you shop more frugally for wines that don’t cost an arm and a leg, but you’ll also be able to appreciate wine a lot more and help your guests enjoy an extraordinary wine experience. Don’t worry, you don’t have to take a class to understand how to use wine. In fact, there’s lots of charts and tutorials online to assist you in your planning.

10. Make Your Own
Wine is definitely an art form and if you love to drink it you’ve probably found that each is worth the price you pay. However, if you’d like to further your wine experience while saving some money then you may want to consider making your own wine. This hobby is growing steam as more people have taken to the life of artisan crafts, so you shouldn’t have a hard time finding the supplies you need to make the wine you’ve always dreamed of. The best thing about making your own wine is you typically make it in bulk, so you shouldn’t run out of supplies any time soon. You can also use old recycled bottles to store your homemade wine, which will help save you even more money on supplies. After you try your homemade wine, you’re sure to appreciate the process a lot more and may even find that your wine tasting experience has a bit more gusto than it did before. Plus, your homemade wine makes a great gift for the holidays and will even cut down on your party budgets.

Wine is a great way to relax with friends and family, but it also has a lot of amazing health advantages. So, you should never have to worry about your wine budget sending you over the edge. With these helpful tips, you’ll be able to enjoy your glass of wine even more, which never hurts.