What’s the worst thing after a night out? The throbbing headache? The regretful text messages? What about the thought of looking at your bank account? Imagine all three at the same time! So, how can you still have a great night out on a budget?
Going out with your friends is always a great idea until the next morning… it’s a way to let your hair down after working hard all week. Dancing the night away. Just make sure you don’t dance right into your overdraft!
How many times did you recklessly whip out your contactless debit card? It’s just too easy to *tap tap tap* away at that card machine. Going out can be costly, however, it’s not to say that you can’t go out, have a great time and save money all at the same time!
We’ve come up with some tips on how you can still have a great night out on a budget!
Plan ahead
To make sure you don’t end up spending down to your last penny you need to take control and plan ahead! One way to do this is to limit yourself, at the beginning of the night, get yourself to the nearest cash machine and withdraw a sensible amount of cash. That cash is all you’re allowed to use that night, once the cash runs out, so do your drinks. This way you’re aware of how much will be missing and you don’t spend more than you actually need to!
Another way of doing this is looking for happy hours, 2-for-1 cocktails – you just can’t go wrong! Plan your route ahead and your bank account will be safe.
Venues
Venues tend to make majority of their money at the front entrance! £10 on the door with at most 400 people… you do the math. Once you’re in they pull you in to the temptation of their expensive drinks and before you know if you’ve spend £20 in the first 5 minutes. Researching a venue is important before visiting because an over-expensive club can ruin your night (and your bank account). Take a look on TripAdvisor or browse through social media channels to give you an idea of what’s worthy. With most clubs if you go before a certain time your entry is usually free so double check!
Pre-drinks
Everyone knows that before you get to a club you go out to the pub to have a few drinks. You might even drink at home beforehand! Though we don’t want to recommend binge-drinking, it makes more sense to start your night at home. The theory here is that you drink just enough that you get into the club but are less likely to spend money on lots of drinks.
We assume you know that it’s much cheaper to buy bottled alcohol in supermarkets and supermarket-owned products are even cheaper! Be tactical and get a round of the pre-drinks in!
‘On the stroke of two’
We know this isn’t the Cinderella story but after a certain time you need to be wary that some banks will refuse use of your card. Save yourself the embarrassment at the till by withdrawing cash beforehand. If your card is refused, but you know there’s money in your bank, this usually means your bank think you’ve spend too much in 24 hours. Be sensible and always carry backup cash with you just in case, you don’t want this to happen and then you can’t pay for a taxi!
‘Cash Only’
It’s more common than you think, many nightclubs don’t accept card, instead you have to use cash to get the drinks in. It might be a case that every time you pay on card the club charges you an extra £1.20… and come on, wouldn’t you rather pay in cash and put that saved £1.20 towards your next drink? Not to mention, even though card payments are easy, it’s harder to keep track of what you’ve spent.
We hope that this blog has helped you with some advice on what you can do on a night out to save you a bit of money! Take control of your expenses. With cash in mind, we thought you might also benefit from learning about The Value of Cash in your Life. For more useful advice on socialising and tips on budgeting consider our blog Cheap ways for you and your friends to save money whilst socialising!