AIBU to think student DS spending £50 on his nights out is ridiculous?

[OwlBabiesAreCute]

Maybe my age but I used to go out with £5 - into a club for free, couple of halves of lager, 10 fags. Admittedly a good few years ago!

DS (2nd year of uni SE England) says he cannot go out with less than £50 for drinks in the pub, then admission and drinks in a club. And possibly an Uber home after.

He does have a job but is saving that money for when he goes back to uni.

AIBU to think this is not a typical amount that uni students / teens spend on a night out?

YABU - £50 is a normal amount and you have no idea of the true cost of a night out

YANBU - he's a student with limited income and should therefore limit nights out / spending

Also when we were students we didn't drink pints, we drank whatever cheap drinks were on offer that night. I've looked at one of the students clubs I used to visit in the SE and 'cocktails' are £3 each.

Fez is a student night club in Putney London, entry is £5 and drinks from £3. Student nights out can still be cheap!

I'd say that's the cheap end of a mainstream (non student) night out. The difference 'these days' seems to be that students go on mainstream nights out rather than student ones. Many moons ago when I was a student our nights out were Tuesday and Thursday because those were the cheapy student nights. We'd never have paid weekend prices, so would go home then for food and washing. We'd drink in the student union bar or in our rooms before going out, walked everywhere, and didn't feel the need to get dressed up, so no spending on new outfits required. Students now seem to have the same sort of social life and costs as their working peers.

You're definitely showing your age OP. £50 is a cheap night out now.

£50 sounds like a cheap night out to me!!

They don't even sell fags in 10s anymore. Only 20s. Stopped doing them in 10s about 5 years ago.

But hardly any young people smoke fags any more. They vape, which is much cheaper.

The thing is, this is exactly what a night out costs in 2023, probably more but definitely a minimum of £50. A pint is around £5 these days so if his Uber is £5, entry to a club £5 then he should be able to afford 8 drinks OR 6 drinks and a cheap packet of cigarettes (cheapest around £10…you can’t actually buy them in 10’s anymore but he could always save 10 for his next night out so he’ll be able to drink more). He shouldn’t look to you to fund his nights out though, a part time job should see him getting out twice a month, he may even have enough to be able to treat himself to a kebab while he waits for his Uber.

Yes to a student that is a lot of money, for drinking somewhere like Edinburgh that would not go very far.

Gross! Did we learn nothing about germs with the whole covid thing? You're suggesting a grown adult swipe unfinished strangers drinks off tables just because he happens to be a student because his mum wants him to save money?! Simply ludacris

You really read my previous post and thought it was sincere advice? 😂

Had to have a smile to myself over this. In the 1980's my FIL thought it terrible that my 9 year old had 50p pocket money per week. He converted it back to the pre decimal money and said that's 10s, a couple of bob (2s or 10p) would be enough. I couldn't get him to understand that in real terms he was getting the same as I had (1s or 5p) With that I could buy a comic and a bag of chips. My son also could buy a bag of chips and a comic It is hard to realise that things have increased so much

My ds has just finished his second year at uni ( se England). He has a small job and is also part of the OTC which also pays him a small amount. He us very good at budgeting but aside from drinking the subsidised alcohol at the OTC hq once a week he limits major nights out, knows how to make a drink last and as he doesn't live too far from the centre walks home. He probably spends about £30 on a night out.

When I started work in 1986, during university vacations, I used to get about £80 for a full week's work in a factory, nowadays and due to circumstances I'm back working in a factory and a full week's pay is £440 (paid lunch break).

I was born in '78, I would imagine we're a similar age and I don't think £5 would have got me very far back then. More like £20.
However, definitely some other factors at play - happy hours with ridiculously cheap drinks that aren't allowed now, pints were £1.80 when I was bar staff in '99, women often get free drinks and free entry.
However, he should obviously learn to stay within budget and not get into debt, but £50 on a night out sounds reasonable.

that's a really cheap night out. That would be 4 pints and a cab home for me and I would spend much more than that on a "night out" which would be a few hours out.