Judging by the weather we’ve been having lately, there’ll be no more sitting outside pubs or restaurants in the evenings. But one good thing is that at least we can go to the cinema and watch something decent.

Because, as we all know, film distributors hold back the best movies until the autumn but it can get pretty expensive.

There’s no doubt, it makes sense to shop around for good deals and because all the cinema operators want our business, there are plenty of tempting offers out there.

For instance, Cineworld’s MyCineworld offers 10 per cent off the price of tickets when booked online and there’s also access to exclusive competitions and offers.

Sign up for the chain’s Unlimited scheme and you can watch an unlimited number of movies for a monthly fee.

There are also £1 a ticket showings of children’s films at certain times.

Picturehouse also offers a membership scheme, which operates separately from its parent company Cineworld.

Members are entitled to free film tickets and are offered 10 per cent off the cost of food and drinks.

You’ll also have Picturehouse publications posted to your home, which they reckon are worth £8.

The brand also has a number of tie-ups with popular restaurants including Strada, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Giraffe and Hotel Chocolat which can give you 20 to 25 per cent off the cost of a meal out.

Odeon’s loyalty programme, Odeon Première Club (OPC), reckons it’s the biggest cinema loyalty programme in the UK.

It offers kids screenings on Saturday mornings for £2.50, with a pretty good selection of titles.

And of course, there is Orange Wednesdays at Vue cinemas, where you can get two tickets for the cost of a single if you are an Orange customer. As part of the promotion, Orange users can also extend the two-for-one offer in Pizza Express, so you can stuff your face cheaply, as well as watch a good movie.

Vue has an offer aimed at two to 12-year-olds who can get £1.75 tickets with the Kids AM offer on some weekend and school holiday films. Fortunately, accompanying adults get in for the same price too.

Vue also runs the Super Tuesday promotion, which offers a third off the cost of all adult tickets plus it has a Thanks-for-Sharing promotion running until October 23.

This is a two-for-one deal on tickets for the movie of the same name. Unfortunately, despite these offers, it’s the price of popcorn and drinks that will break the bank.

There’s two ways of looking at it. Either you can shrug your shoulders and figure that since you’ve saved money on admission, it’s OK to splash out. Or, refuse to pay the often extortionate prices and eat before you go or after you come out.

If you opt to travel to get to a cinema outside Oxford, don’t forget to factor in the cost of petrol or bus fare.

It’s true that the real money-saving tip would be to download a film, or rent a DVD and watch it at home.

But there’s nothing quite like the proper big screen experience to cheer up the coldest autumn evening.