In addition to what bingo said (I wanted to make this a separate post but I'll just post it here since alcohol came up), this is me speaking from personal experience, another piece of advice is to carry with you a specific amount of cash. i.e $75.
That way once you run out, you'll know it's time to either pull or go home. Don't bring your card. This is how you end up spending $100+. It's too easy to keep getting drinks when you know have a lot of cash in your bank.
And last, go 3 hours before they close. If they close at 2, go at 11pm. The thing with the getting a water with your drink move, is that you last a lot longer being functional. Like if your just drinking but not getting water to keep you hydrated, you'll end up a drunk mess pretty early and that's no fun. But if you go let's say at 9pm in the above scenario, you will spend more money on drinks because you'll still be functional (you will end up blacking out later on because you've consumed a lot of alcohol). You will also run out of your budgeted amount of cash you brought with you before closing time when girls are trying get pulled. Which means you can't drink nothing any more, if you need one.
So with this way, you go out at a time when girls are feeling like socializing with new guys. You do not end up spending a lot of money. You end up going home, not hungover. no hungover feelings the next day. No anxieties that you did something illegial while you were blacked out because you actually remember how your night went.