Going out on a budget can be difficult. In one night, you could end up spending more money than you had planned. More money than you would spend on groceries for a week. A few places in the Sacramento-area are working hard to help students go out and have fun without breaking the bank.

The Stoney Inn – 1320 Del Paso Blvd.

If you are planning to go to The Stoney Inn on a Friday night make sure you bring your cowboy boots and hat!

The Stoney Inn has two bars, a pool table, dance floor, outside patio and karaoke. The inn offers karaoke seven nights a week, the karaoke machine is located in the front of the bar.

Kevin Lutz is the owner and operator of The Stoney Inn and most nights you will find him in the bar shaking hands with people and even on the dance floor. “There aren’t many places where you go in and meet the owner. I dance, I sing and I have fun, I buy food and drinks for people,” Lutz said.

The Stoney Inn has a very busy social schedule. Starting May 5, The Stoney Inn will host a “West Coast Swing” a line dancing competition. The May 5 kickoff party will have a $1,000 grand prize for the best dancer.

“Free West Coast swing beginner lessons will be given out to people at 7 p.m. And we will do dollar fish shrimp and chicken tacos and free chips and salsa,” Lutz said.

Every Thursday is 70s and 80s rock night with a live cover band. This night has no cover and $1.50 drinks for domestic and wells and $3.50 for top-shelf drinks. Drink specials go from 8-10 p.m.

Friday night is country night. The night begins with $5 prime rib from 5-8 p.m. The inn offers 50 cent 14-ounce domestic drafts and $3 jack and cokes.

From 8-10p.m. on Saturdays. the Inn offers $2 Long Island Iced Teas and $3 32-ounce domestic drafts.

Sunday night is college night for the 18 and over crowd. All girls and college students get in free. The $1.50 drink special goes on that night from 8-11 p.m. with a live band.

Keeping prices low has been the owner’s philosophy since he opened his doors, “I starting doing the real cheap stuff when we opened just to bring people here,” Lutz said.

Hangar 17 – 1630 S St.

Undea Painter is one of the day bartenders at Hangar 17: “Every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. we have $5 free-flowing mimosas with a purchase of any breakfast entree,” Painter said.

Hangar 17 has a happy hour that is more in the prime time of partying. Its happy hour is from 10-11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday; Hangar 17 offers two for one drink specials on any drink.

On Thursday nights Hanger 17 offers $4 drink specials starting at 6 p.m. “Thirsty Thursdays,” as they are called, include all custom cocktail drinks and are currently hosted every Thursday.

Hanger 17 will also be having drink specials on Cinco de Mayo all day and all night, which includes $15 buckets of Corona, $2.50 Tecante draft beers, $3 shots of Jose Cuervo and $4 margaritas.

Social Nightclub – 1000 K St.

Social Nightclub is a relatively new nightclub, open for about six months, that sits on the second floor of the Cosmopolitan Venue downtown. It is different from most nightclubs in town. The space is quite large, and contains an outdoor patio which overlooks the city.

Trevor Shults is the VIP manager of Social and is especially excited for the warm summer months because of how Social is set up. “We are one of only two nightclubs in town that has an upstairs outdoor patio, especially with the summer it is going to be great,” Shultz said.

There is a cover charge at Social; however Shults suggests going to MySpace to avoid this. “Sac State students are always welcome to go on our MySpace page and apply for free guest list any night of the week,” Shults said. Social does $3 glasses of champagne on Thursday nights as well.

Fanny Anne’s Saloon – 1023 2nd St.

This restaurant and bar has a laid back saloon style and has been in the heart of Old Sacramento since 1973. This two level saloon is full of knickknack decorations, which add to the feel of the restaurant/bar.

On Friday and Saturday nights every hour they spin a wheel that has different drink specials on it; whatever drink it lands on becomes the special for that hour.

Mac McCulloch is the general manager of Fanny Anne’s Saloon. “Depending on what it lands on, I mean it could be dollar shots or $5 pitchers of beer,” McCulloch said.

Like The Stoney Inn, Fanny Anne’s has always tried to keep prices low. “We are the lower price and if you take the medium of what something costs, I would say we are the lower medium and we are quality stuff, the cheapest thing we got is Budweiser,” McCulloch said.

Fanny Anne’s also offers what they call a Pub Grub of Fridays for $1.99. The appetizers offered at that time vary depending on what is available: “Potato skins are not on our menu, but on Friday we will sell them for $1.99, the same with chicken sliders and nachos,” McCulloch said.

Fanny Anne’s also offers a burger and fries for less than $5 after 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Momo Lounge – 2708 J St.

Momo Lounge is located upstairs above Harlows, which is another club downtown. Dress to impress for this medium-size club with VIP booths surrounding and overlooking the dance floor.

Matt Peterson is the marketing manager for Momo Lounge: “Tons of our customers are actually students,” Peterson said. Because of this, Momo offers no cover charge to students with a Sac State ID before 11 every night.

Momo offers all-you-can-drink champagne on Fridays for girls for $5.

Momo Lounge realized that with the economy in the shape it is in, it has to work extra hard to get people to come to the club when they do come out. “We just try to get a little more creative than other clubs, we will have themed parties or beach parties,” Peterson said. “Our drinks are super stronger than everybody else’s and everybody seems to have a great time.”

Whether you are going out to clubs on the weekends or are just looking to get a cheap beer, there are plenty of options in the area that will not drain your wallet.

Cozette Roberts can be reached at [email protected]