13 Ways To Enjoy Living In London Without Going Broke

The other day I ordered a glass of wine and it was £12.50. Yes, it was absolutely delicious wine. And yes, it was the first of two glasses of ludicrously priced wine I ordered in that bar that evening (more fool me) but seriously, £12.50 for 175ml of liquid? Absolutely ridiculous.

Granted, £12.50 is not the norm for a glass of wine in London. There are plenty of places you can go in the capital to drink and eat for much cheaper. But in a city where a single journey on the Tube can be as much as £4.90, where the top tickets for over half of the West End theatre shows exceed £100, and where rent for a one-bedroom flat can quite happily (for landlords) cost £1,250, it'd be easy to let your finances spiral spectacularly if you took your eye off the purse strings for even a minute.

So how do people manage to live in London and you know, actually live? It's a question many people ask themselves. Perhaps you've just moved down for university and have spent the past week wandering around in shock at the cost of all those great art exhibitions you were going to visit. Or perhaps you've been here your whole life and still can't get over how that one cinema ticket and a bucket of popcorn in Leicester Square set you back £35.

Luckily, the ever-wise London dwellers from our Money Diaries Facebook Group have been sharing their tips on how to have fun in the capital without spending all your cash. Click through to find out how to eat, travel, drink and experience culture for a fraction of the cost.