According to the study, which was conducted by money website thinkmoney, three quarters (78 per cent) of Brits plan a strict budget, but just one in five (21 per cent) can stick to it.
Preferred tactics to control spending include only bringing cash out (42 per cent), pre-organising a lift home or agreeing to share a taxi (18 per cent), limiting the number of drinks to buy (16 per cent), pre-drinking (12 per cent) and buying rounds (11 per cent).
The findings also suggest that the average Brit spends £44.88 on each night out.
Going out 48 times a year (roughly once a week) on average, this equals £2,154.24 per person each year, or more than £112billion across the nation.
Typically, men were found to spend more than women on a night out (£51.54 for men, versus £39.25 for women).
Aside from drinks, Brits were most likely to splash the cash on transport (36 per cent), new clothes (31 per cent) and tipsy takeaways (25 per cent). When looking at the gender split, women were most likely to pay out for new clothes, transport and pampering ahead of a night out, whereas men prioritised transport, a takeaway on the way home and having a couple of drinks before going out.
Other findings suggested that Edinburgh (£50.40) and Glasgow (£49.23) come third and fourth in the average expenditure on a night out stakes with only Belfast (£56.36) and London (£51.41) having bigger spenders.
While, Glaswegians spend the most money on pampering before they head out for the night, whereas Liverpudlians splurge on takeaways on the way home, and Cardiff residents are most likely to invest in a new outfit before a night on the town.
Brits are also most generous with their night out spending as Christmas approaches.
Pete Willerton, Customer Service Manager at thinkmoney, said: “Many Brits admit that they are struggling to budget in their daily lives, including during social occasions, so we decided to look at night out spending in more detail, and found some interesting results.
“More than three quarters of Brits plan a strict budget on a night out, but just one in five can stick to it, showing that sometimes we can give in to impulse or temptation to spend more when the drinks start flowing.
“Here at thinkmoney, we also offer a current account that sees customers’ money split into two pots – one for bills and one for spending – to ensure that you don’t get too carried away and spend more than you can afford.
“Interestingly, contactless payments made people worry more about their spending the next day, so perhaps opt for chip and pin, cash or use a thinkmoney card (contactless payments show up straight away) next time you go out, so you can easily keep track of what you’re spending at the time.”
