Ideas for free/cheap nights in/out

Caseymoo

Hi Guys me and my boyfriend are only 20 and are doing are best to study and save as much as poss and we do like to go out although we don't drink and neither does anyone in our circle of friends really so im looking for cheap/free ideas


Thanks!!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Cinema on a wednesday (Orange customers get a BOGOF offer - O2 also offer this but not sure what day?)

Movie night - One friend provides the movie, another buys popcorn, another buys pop and so on

Date night - cook a romantic dinner
Theme night - Cook foods from a certain area/counry and take it in turns to go round a friends house

Board games! (You'd be amazed how competitive people get over monopoly!)

for girly nights: Ann summers / Vie / Body shop - ALL FREE (You dont NEED to buy anything)

momstheword

Our friends and I hold come dine with me evenings, we take turns each weekend to go to each others houses and cook meals. We even score each other on camera and play the camera back after we have all cooked our meals to see who got the most points and the watch comments our friends made about our cooking!

We theme them to keep it interesting, one time we had an OAP come dine with me, another was barbie and ken themed, there was a fancy dress theme and a few others! It can be a lot of fun and it doesn't cost that much, why not make it more interesting and set a budget for the evening that noone can go over or they are disqualified, you could cook a meal for 6 for £15 - £20, you will only need to pay that for your night and then all the other meals from your friends are free. It's really cheap and really fun!

4nnabella

I have a weekly film night with two friends, we've been doing it for about three years now! We take it in turns each week to host it at our house, go to the local takeaway for food and watch a film. We've each got a pretty extensive DVD collection, as do other friends, so we may borrow from another friend, plus me and one of the girls have sky/virgin media, so if we pay for a film on box office it's about £4. I always check for cheap DVDs in the supermarket when we go, to keep having new films to watch. Occasionally we wil go to the cinema instead if there's something new on (we've always held film night on a Wednesday and one of the friends is on Orange so we split the cost of two tickets between three of us).

RAS

Check out your local town.

There will be a number of celebrations in the next few months, so work out when they are an join in.

You may find Light Nights (lots of free events), Bonfire Nights (if not check out a local high spot and get a free show) and seasonal Illuminations. You may not want to join in Halloween but just watching the rest of the world go crazy could be fun for an hour or two.

Some places have free concerts as well.

You can make a night of it with a thermos of hotdogs and prepared buns, or soup, or make sticky toffee to share will you watch.

Later on, how about serious carol singing? Spend time rehearsing together and see if you can get a performance slot, for yourselves or charity?

MandM90

We've started a dinner club once a month between 4 couples, one couple hosts each time so 3/4 are free and you chose how much you pay when people come over. As others mentioned orange wednesday and o2 do discounted tickets too now.

What about start cycling together? We're trying to save money and we've decided once a week we're going to cycle to a beauty spot and have a picnic when the weather is good enough.

I'll second board games; though we don't play Scrabble anymore as we value our relationship and I'm far too competitive

Pictionary is great if there is a crowd!

We've arranged to have friends round; we'll make a pizza and supply a film (we have a VAST collection but you can borrow or rent from the library) and they'll bring some beer.

Use restaurant vouchers to get 2for1 deals. Admittedly they are usually fairly rubbish chain restaurants but I'm guessing (hoping) after a while they will become a treat if you never go out.

I don't know if you're in London but sometimes Time Out have great offers. Once we had an AMAZING comedy evening in Soho for a fiver each because they had a deal on.

Surely going out doesn't cost that much if you don't drink though!?

Heart_Shaped_Diamond

You're near the same age as me and my SO. We're 21. We go to Orange Wednesdays, Get a meal at TGI Fridays it's only 10.99 a head during the week. To be honest if we're not eating or watching some crap on the telly we just carry on with one another (by which I mean wrestling, and I kick his !!!) or we talk to one another about our days. Or tease one another (I score better points when it's a battle of the wits, be he'll tell you differently )... LOL

On a serious note...

You could always make cakes together? Go to museums and art galleries, go and see a play/check out whats on at a theatre, go to a local gig or comedy club. Go to the pub for karaoke night and sing song (you don't have to drink just because it's a pub). Go to a student night (again you don't have to drink) most places have a dancing or organised students night... you could always beat him at pool or darts. You could always ask him if you can out your make up on him, which is fun and he can do yours, which is a nightmare (just for a giggle, my man's not camp.) Give one another massages, it's free... Or if you want something really special buy some of ''those dice'' from Ann Summers haha.

Really the list is endless.

Little_Vics

Love film for us and our chums - we watch TV series so get through 2-3 episodes a night. Take it in turns to bring snacks etc.

sweetilemon

In the health sections of the supermarkets you can buy popcorn ready to cook, one bag for under £1 will last weeks for watching with a movie. Another thing you could do depending on your area is bramble/apple picking to make jam or chutney. We both like cooking so it can be fun to try out making our favorite takeaways at home like curry with nan bread, pakora with sauce, spiced onions etc. Again dependant on the area getting out to go for walks can be fun now and again.the M&S or tesco meal deals are yummy for a fri or sat night the tesco one comes with diet coke or M&S fruit juice.

Gillyx

Orange Wednesdays for us, and we normally do Pizza Express on a Wednesday as it's 2 for 1 too with your orange code. Normally £20 for both us, for cinema and pizza.

We also stock up on big bags of sweets, popcorn etc while on £1 offers at the supermarket, we have a "cinema" box in the house and we just take what we want from that when we go to the cinema to save on sweets.

With you both being students you can take great advantage of off peak offers, i.e pre theatre or have a late lunch, as most places will do lunch menus up until 4.30/5 and if you have a big meal then you will only need a light supper at most.

Cook together at home, even go for walks, we do that alot and stop off for some ice cream or chips on the way back

We go back to his folks alot too, we always get fed well there, so money saving!

sweetilemon

In the health sections of the supermarkets you can buy popcorn ready to cook, one bag for under £1 will last weeks for watching with a movie. Another thing you could do depending on your area is bramble/apple picking to make jam or chutney. We both like cooking so it can be fun to try out making our favorite takeaways at home like curry with nan bread, pakora with sauce, spiced onions etc. Again dependant on the area getting out to go for walks can be fun now and again.the M&S or tesco meal deals are yummy for a fri or sat night the tesco one comes with diet coke or M&S fruit juice.