There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there are cheap and/or free things for you to do every single day in Wellington. Because Wellingtonista not only loves Wellington, but also YOU, we’ve compiled a bit of a list for what you can do every day.

Monday:
If you go to Chow, you can get two-for-one on many of their dishes. As an example of the savings this means, last night three of us dined on a cocktail each, a bottle of wine, two appetisers and four main plates for $36 each. That’s a good time.

Tuesday:
Tuesday means ladies get in free to Mermaids. Wahoo!

Tuesday is also cheap movie night at most of the movie theatres in town.

If you’re after free booze, now is the night to plan ahead, and check out a quiz night somewhere, be really brainy and win a bartab for next week. You’ll find the cheapest jugs (heh heh jugs) and cheapest girls are up on the hill in Eastside at Victoria University.

Wednesday:
The best booze is free booze, and if you get to pretend that you’re classy while you’re guzzling it, then all the better! This is why the free wine tastings at Concrete are recommended.

If you’re happy to pay, head back to Chow for two-for-one cocktails.

Otherwise, for ridiculously good value any time from Sunday til Wednesday, head downstairs to Good Luck for two bottles of bubbly for $28. It’s not the greatest bubbly in the world, but it looks vaguely French. Plus, the atmosphere at Good Luck, with the excellent table service makes it worthwhile, especially since you’ll be drinking bubbly and therefore not blowing your rent money on their delectable cocktails.

Thursday:
Concrete Bar does $8 cocktails. That’s pretty damn sweet. If you can’t stretch that extra three dollars out of your wallet, the Sports Cafe on Courtenay Place is advertising $5 cocktails too, but this member of the Wellingtonista would rather gouge out her own eyes than set foot in there, so there are no guarantees about quality.

Blend on Wakefield St is advertising free bubbles for ladies between 5 and 7pm on Thursday nights. Sure, it’s St. Aubyn’s, and there’s only 100 bottles of it and they usually go pretty fast, but the economical drinker will get there early and get a couple of glasses in before the masses show up. And gentlemen, if you’re feeling discriminated against, just think of it as drinks you didn’t have to pay for…

Friday:
If you were that way inclined, the best way to get free drinks on a Friday for girls would be to head down to Dockside – or as many call it “the dry cleaners – where you go to pick up suits”. Otherwise you’re probably on your own.

Saturday and Sunday:
Hide your hangover under a pile of coriander with Yum Chow, or perhaps a Sunday Roast at The Realm in Hataitai, where you get your choice of meat & three vege for $12, $15 with a pint or $18 with a pint and dessert.

Every day:
The Tasting Room at the end of Courteny Place has weekday lunches for $15 including a pint of Montieths or a coffe. Their steak sandwiches are huge, and are served on garlic bread, so make sure you take a mint afterwards.

Also worth checking out any time of the week between before 7.30pm are Logan Brown’s bistro menus. For $35 (the average cost of a main) you get three courses including bread and coffee (and all the handtowels you can stuff in your handbag!). The portions are small but the food is amazing. And should you overspend, well there’s always the fire exit conveniently located next to the bathrooms…

Wellingtonista would like to suggest that the bistro menu at Logan Brown followed by a couple of bottles of bubbly would be an ideal midweek date – you’d have to eat early which would leave plenty of time to get drunk in the dark and sexy confines of Goodluck. If you need someone to go with, you know where to find us…