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Going to the cinema can be an expensive trip out, especially if it’s a family outing. In London, an adult’s ticket at my local cinema costs a mighty £13.75 and a child’s ticked is £11.25. So a night out at the cinema for a family of four will set you back £50. And what’s a trip to the cinema without the snacks?! A drink each, a tub of popcorn to share and some chocolate can add on another £15-£20. That’s a huge amount of money in my book and I’m not prepared to pay it. But, as a family, we love going to the cinema and have found some great money saving cinema hacks.

MEERKAT MOVIES:

Both Thomas and I have the Meerkat app on our phones and by using our codes we are able to get 2 for 1 cinema tickets every Tuesday or Wednesday. So instead of £50, our cinema trip will cost us £25. That’s quite a saving and means we can enjoy a guilt-free trip to the cinema.

You can get the Meerkat movie reward by being a customer of Compare the Market. Purchase your car, home, life or pet insurance through Compare the Market and you’ll be eligible for the movie reward. If you already have all of your insurance in place, simply purchase a one day travel insurance offer like I did and you’ll get a whole year of 2 for 1 movie and meals for just a few quid! Get your partner to do the same and you’ll have two codes to use each week. As an added bonus you’ll get the Meerkat 2 for 1 meal reward too, which you can use at a variety of restaurants.

MY VODAFONE APP:

If you are a Vodafone customer you can download the Vodafone app. Click on ‘Very Me’ at the bottom of the screen and you’ll see a variety of rewards available to you. One of these rewards is the ‘two Vue tickets for £7’ reward, which is great value.

GROUPON:

Groupon have a 2 for £10 or 5 for £20 deal on Odeon cinema tickets. You may prefer this deal if you’d rather go to the cinema at the weekend instead of mid-week. My local odeon usually charge over £12 for an adult ticket, so this is a very good deal. We would pay £5 per ticket instead of £12. However, if you’re lucky enough to live in an area where your odeon tickets are £4ish then this won’t be the best deal for you.

KIDS CLUB:

Many cinema chains offer tickets for around £2.50 per person for their kids’ sessions. These are valid for various U rated films and the sessions are usually run over the weekends and during school holidays. For example, the Odeon runs their ‘Odeon Kids’ sessions every Saturday and Sunday and every day during the summer holidays and The Vue run their ‘Mini Morning’ sessions at 10am every Saturday and Sunday and every day throughout the summer holidays. So a family of four can all visit the cinema for £10!

Club Lloyd’s:

If you are a Lloyd’s bank customer you can upgrade to the ‘Club Lloyd’s’ account in order to bag yourself some great freebies, including 6 free cinema tickets per month. You will need to pay £1500 into the account each month (it’s fine to pay in £500 then withdraw and repeat this two more times) or you will need to pay a £3 per month account fee. Either way, it’s a pretty good deal.

SNACKS:

Buying snacks at the cinema will cost you a small fortune. But if you’re going to the cinema with your kiddies and if your kiddies are anything like mine then they will want snacks. I never, ever buy our snacks at the cinema. For drinks we will each take a bottle of water from home. I’ll then go to Tesco and buy a big bag of popcorn to share for £1, Pringles for the kids to share if they’re on offer (I’ll never pay more than £1.25 for a tube of Pringles) or if not a cheap multi-pack of crisps. Hubby and I will sometimes grab a Starbucks coffee. I know, I know – they’re expensive. But we rarely buy them and we’re all allowed a little treat now and then.

And there you have it, enjoying the cinema doesn’t need to break the bank. There’s a way to save for everyone.