Call the accountant! Night out-spending reaches three year high

Everyone’s been there. You finish up work on Friday, dignity and bank balance intact. Yet, after a whirlwind of tequila shots and ill-advised decisions, you wake up bleary-eyed on Monday morning with approximately £35 to last you until next payday…

Despite our ever-shrinking bank balances – squeezed by escalating rent prices and rapid increases in food costs –  we can’t seem to stop ourselves from drinking up whatever disposable income we have left. According to club and bar chain Deltic (shout out to Atik Club Oxford, where this writer once spent a grotty autumn working in the cloakroom) our appetite for the sesh is gracing new heights, with the average night-out coming with a price tag of over £70.

Despite the perennial claim that Gen Z is a “sober generation” spending on nights out is actually going up rather than down, with Deltic’s data suggesting that club-goers are looser with their cash now than they were over the past two years. Whether it’s a need for escapism from the grinding 9-to-5, anxiety at imminent climate catastrophe, or the knowledge that buying our own house is a distant dream, it’s increasingly easy to sympathise with the decision to spend your money on nights out, rather than stash it for a rainy day.

Alex Holder, author of Open Up: Why Talking About Money Will Change Your Life has argued, however, that we need to start being more honest about ourselves about how much we splurge on our Friday night. Whether it’s weekend drugs, one too many rounds or exorbitant taxi fare (because you can’t unlock your phone to order an uber) it’s important to be honest about the spending patterns you see cropping up over and over again, rather than burying your head in the sand about the true costs of weekend excess.

Follow our Weekend Guide, freshly delivered to the HUNGER TV site every Thursday, for more ideas on what to spend your money on…