Night Out Receipts: Inner-North House Party, Cheap Wine, Amyl

Evelyn, 29, West Footscray, Melbourne.

Saturday: After a slow and steady morning I rummaged in my pantry for ingredients I could turn into a dish for potluck dinner at my friends’ house. It was cold, I didn’t want to go to the shops. 

I made Ethiopian ful – soft, stewy fava beans mixed with spices and garlic, topped with raw onion and boiled eggs. The ingredients probably cost $3 all up. I didn’t buy flatbread because my friend was already making some. 

I grabbed two beers from my fridge, $8, and a $20 bottle of chardonnay from the IGA. 

$31

6:30pm: I ordered an Uber to my friends’ house in the inner north – living way out west means Ubers are unfortunately the best mode of transportation for me, but if I’m going from west to north they’re actually pretty cheap because I don’t go through the city. I booked an Uber pool, which added an extra 10 minutes onto the trip and saved me a whopping $2. 

$27.40

Dinner was delicious, everyone brought incredible vegetarian food – many legumes – and the homemade flatbreads were unreal. We were all absolutely stuffed. 

11pm: We were out of piss but a friend who works in a bar arrived after his shift with heaps of red wine. We offered to pay him back but he said don’t worry about it. 

12am: Decided to go to a house party nearby which our friends were djing at. We had to book two Ubers, I got one of them, it cost me $10.

It was absolutely chockers. There were hundreds of people but it was surprisingly quiet from the street. The backyard was a tripping hazard and if you wanted to get inside you had to map out a route. This wasn’t the kind of house party with an esky, you keep your drinks on you, in a tote bag, and BYO cups because there weren’t any to be seen. 

The dancefloor was inside through the back door to the tiny kitchen and into a windowless kinda living room. You could feel the body heat radiating 10 metres beyond the door. 

It was loud, cramped and fucking boiling, made even sweatier by many whiffs of amyl – my bottle cost about $40 and, not going to lie, I and the dozens of people I shared with probably went through $10 worth.

2am: The amyl was my only substance but a nice fellow by the fire offered me a little rock of MDMA. Thank you, sir.

4:30am: I had shit to do on Sunday so I said my goodbyes. Found my jacket covered in muddy footprints under the kitchen table and booked an Uber home for $21.40.

Total: $99.8. A very successful night. Maximum fun for moderate spend.

See more Night Out Receipts here.