Have a Fun Night for Half the Price

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So, you want to go out on the town with your friends for a night, eh?

Sure it’s all fun and games with loads of memories (or lack thereof) until you start emptying your pockets out to find out that there isn’t much to remove except for some singles and a boatload of bar tabs that you don’t even remember.

We’ve all been there before and don’t try to deny it.

If you’re looking to have some fun with your friends but don’t feel like shelling out the dough, here are some easy tips to keep some money in your wallet.

Get a board game or a deck of cards

I know, I know. Board games have a negative stigma that leads down a one-way road to boredom (see what I did there?). Grabbing a board game and having a game night with your friends is an easy way to make sure you don’t spend too much money at the bar because, well, you aren’t heading out to the bar. You don’t have to wait in any lines, pay for a taxi, or be tempted to buy your friends five rounds of drinks just because.

Order some pizza, grab Cards Against Humanity, and you and your wallet can thank me later.

Watch a movie with that special someone

There’s nothing wrong with keeping it low-key for a night and watching a movie. As a matter of fact, I happen to prefer it sometimes after a long workweek. Find a nice recipe online and grab the latest flick from Red Box or Family Video.

Better yet – if you have a buddy who has a Netflix account, mooch it off of him and now you have instant access to 1,000s of movies and TV shows. I know my mom, dad, brother, and countless friends use mine – I just charge them all $0.45 a month to balance it out. Just kidding.

Drink before you go to the bar

All of you college kids out there call this “pregaming,” but I call it one of the easiest ways to make sure you don’t make it rain at the bar like Lil Wayne and wake up with a morning full of money-related regret.

For you mathematicians out there, lets do some calculations. What’s more expensive and financially savvy? Spending $5.00 a beer for three beers or spending $9.99 for six beers? I’m no genius, but it seems like the six-pack is the way to go on this one.

Plus, if all goes to plan, you won’t be so gung ho on spending money at the bar because you’ll be frugal. Yeah. Let’s call it frugal.

Forget the late-night snacks

This is probably the hardest one. The clock strikes 12:00 AM and all of the sudden you’re craving a chalupa pizza topped with General Tso’s chicken, an extra-large order of French fries and a small diet coke.

We’ve all been there.

Here’s the deal though – if you spend $20.00 ($10.00 a night) every weekend on late night snacks with your friends, you’re spending $1,040 a year IN ADDITION to what you usually spend at the bar.

Do you know what you can get with $1,040? That’s 2,080 trips to the sticky hand machine at Target!

Regardless, there are ways to have fun on the weekend on a budget – you just have to be smart about it.

What are your tips for saving money on the weekend?