Money no bar when it comes to weekend spend

After working and studying the whole week, what does a youngster want? To relax and spend quality time with friends over drinks and lavish food. Weekends are the time when they like to chill and (hold your breath!) spend a few thousand on a day out with friends.

Students and youngsters say that they don’t mind spending so much as the whole week they work hard and weekends are the time to relax. They say that they love partying and drinking at least once a week in a pub or at a friend’s house.

With the concept of spe­nding weekends with friends becoming a fad, alcohol consumption has also gone up. It’s a lifestyle pattern.

Alec Chatterjee, in his early 20s’ lives a lavish lifestyle and loves to spend on weekends. “It’s work during the week and for me it’s party time on weekends. I make sure that I go out with friends to dine at a very fine restaurant.

“As for the money that gets spent it is always more than Rs 1500 while it also crosses Rs 2000 at times if we enjoy a good amount of booze.”

We boast of being a nation of savers but that was earlier when jobs were tough to get and keep and the choices rather limited.

The young India does not see its future with this pessimism. They have confidence in their ability to earn, to find another job, to change vocations and pursue dreams.

Vijay Kumar, a manageme­nt student gets a good amount of pocket money so he doesn’t mind going out with friends on every weekend. “I never have the issue of money and like to spend on good food. It’s like a mandatory thing for our group to party with friends on every Saturday night. It also helps us to relax after a whole week of studies.”

Spending and not saving seems to be the norm these days. Youngsters are thinking only about their present and not future. Jibok Barua, a third year BA student from Delhi University (DU) believes in living life to the fullest. “One doesn’t know what is in store in future. I spend lavishly on every weekend and enjoy with my mates.”

Jibok’s expenditure on each weekend goes up to nearly Rs 2000. If given a choice between good future and money, youngsters prefer money and a good lifestyle while the future can take a backseat.

“Times have changed and even parents understand that we have our own lifestyle. I party with my friends very often and end up spending a reasonably high amount. It has become a norm now for all of us,” says, Preeti Chauhan, a IIIrd year student of Botany Deportment, University of Delhi.