MoneySaver

A Cheap Night on the Town
(1)

26 June 2009

Rather than become hermits this winter – huddled indoors away from the cold, fearful of the onset of financial doom – let’s celebrate the cold nights in budget style! Cosy nights in with a stack of DVDs are all well and good if you’re madly in love, but if you’re single like me, or you just feel like catching up with friends and supporting your local watering holes at the same time, then you need some budget-conscious ways to have fun at night.

• There’s no need to rule out theatre and musicals as entertainment options. Full price tickets to the best-known shows, such as Wicked, may be very expensive, but there are ways around paying full price. Many musicals have a box office ticket sales outlet, where you can line up on the day of the performance to buy discounted tickets.

• The current economic climate is a good opportunity to find underground plays, musicals and comedy, performed on lower budgets and with lower ticket prices; and you’ll also be supporting local arts talent. Comedy, in particular, comes cheap or even free if the comedian is a local who no one has ever heard of.

• When you go out, take a certain amount of cash to spend on drinks and don’t allow yourself to lean on the ATM for ‘moral’ support. Buy a cheap non-alcoholic drink in between every alcoholic one to make the cash last longer. Or take your car – you’re guaranteed not to spend money if you know you have to drive home and can’t drink.

• When you go out for dinner, find a restaurant that accepts BYO. It’s far cheaper than buying wine in the restaurant.

• If you go out to a bar, beware the cheese platter. This is my personal downfall in winter. The cheese platter tempts me with its gooey deliciousness. Eat before you go out!

• It’s time to research new music. Find music that you love but that no one’s ever heard of, and note when it is coming to your town. Buy your tickets in advance for double happiness: you’ve discovered new, cheap, live music and all your peers think you’re extremely cool for knowing about it before them.

Post your own tips for cheap nights out in the comments section.