Buying glassware and barware can easily break the bank if you’re not careful. Thankfully, there are several tricks to finding this stuff at low prices. If you’re hunting for good barware but don’t have a lot of cash, consider these options:

Thrift Stores
I can’t remember the last time I went out and bought new glassware; there’s no need to. With the large number of millennials and gen-xers who are quietly discarding Grandma’s crystal port glasses because they no longer spark joy, there’s never been a better time for thrifting. When I was just getting into cocktails about four years ago, my friend Beverly gave me an exquisite set of glassware she found at a nearby thrift store. Painted with the stag of Saint Hubertus (the basis for the Jagermeister logo), the set included six rocks glasses, six collins glasses, and six shot glasses— the perfect starter set for someone first learning classic cocktails. Of course, over time, Jessi’s and my cocktail needs have changed, but the thrift stores consistently have what we need. I’ve stumbled across $1 copper mugs. I’ve found coupe glasses for a tenth of what they’d cost new. On a recent thrift store expedition in preparation for a 1920s themed party, Jessi and I set a budget of $50 and easily obtained serving trays, an exquisite punchbowl, and enough fine crystal glasses for all our guests. I’ve seen people spend as much on disposable cups and dishes before, so why not spend it on stuff you can keep? Admittedly, there’s a little work involved in disinfecting all this stuff once you bring it home, but for the price, it’s worth it. Though older glassware is often more fragile and frequently needs to be hand-washed, it’s inexpensive and brings an eclectic mix of patterns and designs to any home bar.

Event Giveaways
Many events feature giveaways of glassware or bar tools as a selling point. Bars promoting a particular beer may offer free pint glasses or goblets with the company logo (which is where I procured about a third of my pint glasses), while local beer or wine festivals may include complimentary sampling glasses with the price of admission. Tourist destinations and gift shops often have inexpensive commemorative glassware, as advertisers have figured out word of mouth is their most effective promotional tool, and a commemorative glass usually sparks a conversation. If you’re like me, odds are you already have a whole shelf of commemorative glasses, but these are a great way to obtain some essential glassware while also preserving the memories of fun past experiences.

Gift Sets (Not to Be Confused with Cocktail Kits)
Most liquor stores sell promotional gift sets which feature branded bar tools or glassware packaged with a bottle of beer or spirit for only a few dollars extra. For example, my Irish Coffee mugs came boxed with a bottle of Bailey’s. My favorite bar spoon came in a Four Roses gift set which also included a pint glass and Hawthorne strainer all bearing the Four Roses logo. Many of my pint glasses, rocks glasses, and goblets all bear a logo of a brewery or distillery because they came as part of a set. Gift boxes like these are a great way to build out your glassware and bar tools without breaking the bank (especially if they’re brands you normally purchase anyway). Plus, there’s just something empowering about using these branded bar tools; whenever I break out my bar spoon, it almost feels like Four Roses is sponsoring me. Perhaps your cocktail ambitions aren’t so grandiose, but this is still a great way to pick up some solid glasses and tools at a fraction of the normal cost.

But hey, as we close out this section, and you get excited about shopping for all these items, I need to offer one last important caveat:

Stuff breaks.

As you collect the various tools and glassware and everything, don’t let yourself get too overly attached to any of it. About two years ago, my commemorative Kenyon College rocks glass shattered in a blaze of glory when a friend set it down at just the wrong angle and velocity. My Jim Beam Black whiskey tumbler broke during a move. My beloved Four Roses bar spoon has been bent all kinds of directions over the past few years. And remember the St. Hubertus glassware set I mentioned earlier? Well, a guest dropped one of the rocks glasses after only a few months, one of the shot glasses has been MIA for over a year, and two of the collins glasses cracked in an improperly arranged dishwasher. Glassware breaks, but all of this stuff is very easily replaceable. So don’t treat anything on your shelf like the Holy Grail. When a friend inevitably drops something, shrug it off, make sure no one’s injured, and hit up a thrift store. At the end of the day, while all this barware is fun stuff, it’s still just stuff.