00:01A couple of pints to take away a cab home, what used to be a normal Saturday night, now feels like a monthly treat.
00:08It's not just drink prices, entry fees, parking, even soft drinks have crept up, and it's hitting those on tighter budgets first.
00:16Whether you're a student, a young worker, or just trying to make ends meet, more people are being priced out of the night time scene.
00:23When people stay home, the knock-on effects ripple through the whole local economy.
00:27So we've come into the heart of Birmingham to ask, how much does a typical night out in Birmingham cost you these days?
00:35If you're going out for drinks throughout the evening, you probably won't get much change out of £100, £150.
00:43I know how much it should cost, and I know it always costs about over £100 for sure.
00:47But it depends where you're going, what you're doing, whether you're going to the cheapest places and you're just drinking,
00:53or whether you're trying to make a proper night of it, go to some cocktail baths, stuff like that, that'll rocket up the price a good bit.
00:59So at least £100, probably more, if you're getting taxis home and taxis there.
01:06I would say, personally, it would cost over £100 with meal, wine, beer, whatever.
01:14And that's not just for a special occasion, that's just for meeting up on a Saturday for a night out.
01:20The cost of the night doesn't end with the last round.
01:23A taxi, late-night food and maybe a cloakroom charge.
01:26Before you know it, you've spent a small fortune.
01:29Some venues say they're struggling too.
01:31Rising energy bills, higher wages and supply costs all add pressure.
01:35And those costs are often passed on to punters.
01:38That's led some to cut back.
01:40Fewer nights out, cheaper venues or skipping it altogether.
01:43It's part of a bigger trend across UK cities.
01:46But here in Birmingham, where nightlife fuels a big part of the economy, it hits hard.
01:50So we asked, have rising costs made you change?
01:53How often you go out or where you go?
01:56Yeah, because you can't do as much as you like to do.
01:59You just have to budget everything you do.
02:03Not necessarily.
02:04I think if you want to go out, you want to go out.
02:05But I understand that it would affect a lot of people's ability to go out if they've, you know, some people might have to choose between how much they eat.
02:14And if they've got kids to feed, they might have to make that decision about not going out then.
02:18Yes, I'd say I would occasionally splurge for the more expensive places, especially me and my partner going out together.
02:27Now it's less of a consideration.
02:29Generally, when we go out, we will stay in together and we'll only go out as a group.
02:34So we kind of go out less, as it were.
02:36And when we do go out, we do tend to earn cheaper.
02:38I think it's the rising cost aspect because people's wages aren't going up because of everything that's happening in the economy.
02:46So I think people are choosing now what dates to actually go out.
02:49They're not going out every Saturday anymore.
02:51They might go out once a month and choose where they want to go that is affordable to them.
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