Have A Night Out For Less!

Fancy an evening out but on an economy drive? Find out how to get half price pizza, free meals, bargain cinema tickets and more.

A friend of mine phoned me a couple of nights ago to complain about the lack of time she and her partner seem to get together. Since having a baby a couple of years ago they've found themselves on a tight budget, so a simple night out has become a really big deal.

What's more, she explained that after paying a babysitter, and taxis to and from where they're going they could easily have spent £40, without having done anything! Indeed, I know she's not the only one feeling like this as anyone having to live on a tight budget needs to be careful and watch where every penny goes.

But, as I explained, the canny can still have a great night out when on a tight budget. So here are a few of the suggestions I gave her to show how you can pay less for a night out.

Pizza Express

If anyone is paying full price at the moment in Pizza Express I'll be amazed. For a start The Times is currently running a promotion that gives a free main meal when two people dine there - and the most expensive meal is free (snip out the coupon in the newspaper).

The Times offer only runs from Sunday to Thursday, so if the babysitter is booked for a Friday or Saturday look to your trusty Nectar points instead - you can currently get a voucher for a free main meal (the cheaper one is free) when two dine for just 500 points and the offer can be used on any day of the week. You'll need to apply for the voucher and the offer expires at the end of November.

If Pizza isn't your thing and you have a Tesco Clubcard, check out the deals it has on offer. Convert those points to Clubcard Deals and for every £2.50 you'll get £10 to spend in Cafe Rouge, HaHa Bar & Canteen, Bella Italia, Caffe Uno, Harry Ramsden's, Ma Potter's Chargrill, Ortega Tapas bars Santa Fe, Tootsies and Dexter's, plus many more. Note that the vouchers must typically be used against food purchases only, so you'll need to pay for drinks separately.

Wagamama

And if you live near a Wagamama's, remember to register and check the site every now and again. Its promotion room has offers on for different restaurants every week, from free main meal offers when two people dine,  to free drinks and side orders. Simply print out the vouchers.

Cinema

If you fancy seeing a film for less good old Nectar comes up trumps again. For 1,000 points you can get an adult Vue cinema ticket (900 points for a child's ticket) outside London (adult tickets for London cinemas or gold tickets cost an extra 300 points).

Alternatively, check out Lastminute.com -- it has standby tickets for any of the London Vue cinemas for just £4.25 - not bad when you'd pay over £11 full price!

Better still; why not see a film for free? If you're in London, the Prince Charles Cinema is hosting a free, four week film festival with Film4. Two films are being screened every Thursday (at around 6.15pm and 8.45pm) for free -- just turn up and claim your free ticket on the night. Free films to see this Thursday are "My Beautiful Launderette" and "Last King of Scotland".

And if you're pretty flexible and like the idea of seeing films before they're released for free, why not sign up to SeeFilmFirst? The company is used by major film companies and the media to distribute tickets for film previews. By signing up you will be emailed the latest showings on offer -- but you need to be quick as it is first come, first served.

Theatre

If you're in London and fancy seeing a play or show, check out Lastminute again; it has various deals with theatre tickets from just £10. Current offers include "The Woman in Black" and "The Country Wife" for just £10.

Alternatively, you can snap up tickets to see "The 39 Steps" and dinner at Tiger Tiger, or "The lord of the Rings" and dinner at Fire and Stone for just £20. You won't get the best seats in the house for these prices, but if you're canny you can use sites such as TheatreMonkey to find out where the best seats in your section are when booking.

Hopefully these give you just a few ideas of ways we can have cheap evenings out by planning ahead. And don't forget you can currently boost your Nectar points total by 100 points by taking their survey.

My friend and her partner have now decided to book an evening out, and will be having dinner at Pizza Express, followed by a film at their local Vue cinema, all courtesy of their trusty Nectar points. What's more, as her mum has volunteered to babysit, and they're planning to take the bus to and from town they reckon they'll be able to do it all for less than £20. I'll be very interested to see how she does!