Bargainuary

I heard a funny segment on the radio the other day about all the different words that people are adding on to, or mashing together with, the word 'January'. There's obviously Dry January; where you don't drink alcohol for seemingly no other reason than proving that you can (unlike Sober for October, it doesn't seem to be for charity). And there's also Veganuary; where you go vegan for the month, which is also pointless to me because if you're going to go vegan then do it, and if you're not fully ready to take the plunge full-time then why not just eat less meat overall, rather than go vegan for a month? The radio presenters then had some other (made-up) ideas like Janudairy (just eat cheese and yogurt), Januhairy (no shaving), Janubary (no clothes) and Januscary (lots of scary movies and making people jump). But the one that I'm personally doing is following the naming convention of Veganuary and that's "Bargainuary" (as coined by me). Why stay in and not drink when every shop, restaurant and bar are offering January deals to desperately try and get people spending money? I've done a pretty good job of making the most of what's available so far and I figured it was my civic duty to share it with you too.

I always think that the food at Revolucion de Cuba is lovely because I love Latin American flavours and it's just as good whether you choose from the tapas menu or the main dishes. Cleverly named 'Havana good January', they're offering 2-4-1 tapas and cocktails all day Sunday-Thursday for the whole month. Something that always gets extra brownie points in my eyes too, is when the cocktails are mix and match! Me and the family went for dinner last week and all the tapas was amazing (we had SO much food), plus you can't beat a nice strong rum cocktail (or three). Although there wasn't a deal on dessert, we did order one (treat yoself) and mine was actually a vegan coconut cake with chocolate icing and raspberry and prosecco sorbet - so it's good for you Veganuary-ers as well!

The annoying thing about the Alchemist is that their drinks are AMAZING and their food is just good, but it's nicer to eat there than it is to try and find a crammed spot in the bar area. Normally going there is quite expensive because they never have deals or even a happy hour, but they sent an email saying it was 50% off food all January! So me and Paige went for some food, plenty of drinks and a catch up, while saving money at the same time. The seabass is normally £18.50, which I think is pretty expensive but at £9 it suddenly feels very good value! So that's what we both got and it was amazing. You do have to pre-book using this link in order to get the deal though so you'll have to be prepared.

As I said, my email account is being flooded with deal emails and when me and Katie were trying to think of something to do on Saturday night (that wasn't going out out), it was perfect timing to receive an email from Veeno. Throughout January, you get a free bottle of wine when you buy a mixed platter which includes bruschetta, meat, cheese, bread, oils and olives. I love picky food like that because it's great for going for a few drinks after (being super full and trying to drink is just a losers game). All the food was lovely, the wine was free (my favourite kind) and even earned us loyalty card stamps to get some more free wine at a later date. Of course, because it was me and Katie, we did end up out out after all (despite good intentions of being sophisticated and sensible). It seems we're going for a wet January, rather than a dry one, but maybe drinking dry white wine counts?