The best bars and clubs for a budget night out in Singapore

Known for its $5 drinking deals and free entry, Get Juiced is the place to go if you don’t want to drain your bank account significantly. It features a menu that includes the usual – house pour spirits, cocktails, shots, beers – for cheap. This cashless club also hosts two separate clubbing rooms, one blasting hip-hop favourites and the other blaring electronic party bootlegs and anthems, where you can revel in after chugging down your booze.

We all know that the fastest way to get tipsy is to do shots. So, be thankful that Singapore’s only dedicated bar for shots (there's over a hundred to try), Chupitos, provides wallet-friendly deals that can get you all tiddly quick. During happy hour (6.30pm to 9pm daily), selected shots, house pours and bottled beers including favourites go for just $6. Worry not if you’re only starting the night after as this bar has offers like the double vision pair shooters that cost $12 each set, which basically means you’re still paying the happy hour price for a shot. Favourites include Paddlepop and Milo Godzilla for a local twist.

Renowned for its six-hour long liquid buffet which provides a drink-all-you-can selection of mixers, cocktails and shooters, this casual Dhoby Ghaut bar is great for pre-drinks. This free-flow steal changes each month and prices vary each day, with charges going as low as $9.90 for ladies on Thursdays and $19.90 for gents on Sundays.

This drinking hole offers heaps of attractive promos, like its beer and wine o’clock. Starting at 2pm and 3pm respectively and going on until midnight, look forward to house pour liquors and wines and draught beers that are priced according to the hour. Expect other perks as well, like daily $7 Guinness pints and $5 house pour liquors for a whole night from Sundays to Thursdays. Amp up the fun and make use of the facilities there with a game of pool, beer pong or something on the Playstation 4.  

Catch Loof’s happy hour from 5pm to 8pm on weekdays if you’re starting the night early. Prices of spirits and wines during this godsend period increases by a dollar every hour – that's $5 a drink from 5pm to 5.59pm and so on until 7.59pm. Beers like Kronenberg and Asahi, and bubbly like Bisol Belstar prosecco are $10 a pop during happy hour as well. On top of that, this rooftop bar also treats you to amazing views of the CBD, so feel fancy while being cheap.

Feel like going out-out, but not having to get crushed with the masses? Head to Emerald Hill, where a lane of bars awaits your drinking pleasure. One of them is No. 5, a European-style pub situated in a restored 1910 Peranakan shophouse. The pub serves up a respectable range of classic cocktails, shooters and draft beers. They’ve got deals like $8 gentlemen’s pours – 45ml cocktails instead of the usual 30ml – and $10 house wines during happy hour (noon until 9pm daily), as well as one-for-one martini specials following after, from 9pm until 1am.

At this Orchard bar, you can enjoy bevvies without worrying about burning a hole in your pocket. Look out for house pour spirits like Jim Beam White and Teacher's Whisky priced at $6, house wines at $8, and draught beers like Heineken and Erdinger at $10, from 5pm to 9pm daily.

Groove to live music performances every night while you down your glasses at this bar. Much like its neighbour Alley Bar, happy hour specials run at the same time (5pm to 9pm daily) and feature the same promos – $6 house pour spirits, $8 house wines, and $10 draught beers. Aside from that, it also has attractive shooter deals like six shots for $58, a tray of 25 apple or lychee shots for $68, and 12 shots for $88. That’s about $9, $2 and $7 per shot respectively, so if you’re not thrilled by this, we don’t know what will.

First up (and most importantly), entry to this nightclub is free. Next, the music here ranges from EDM and hip-hop to chart-toppers, so know that you’re raving it up amongst trendy and hip party-goers. Expect antics, too, like Super Mario and Pikachu mascots, people shooting out smoke from CO2 guns, and lots of confetti. Tipples here are pretty costly, so head to this venue at Pan Pacific Hotel to dance it out only after you’re done with pre-drinks elsewhere.