What would 20 pounds buy today ??

Depending on the place, I guess two meals, but certainly not forty.

I m already looking into catering for my parents golden anniversary and being a tight A*** I m not looking f=to pay a lot. But I can tell you that a buffet (cheapest...just blades of grass and a celery stick each) is £8.50 per head. A sit down meal with two courses £15. Even spoons would be £12.
What year ws that... I can t quite see

Looks like 30 Oct 1974; Still, I don t suppose you will mind - after all you do not even know if you will be invited.

True, you ll not get much for 50p a head nowadays. but the relative cost of eating out has reduced substantially in the last 35 years. You can probably extrapolate from the amount of it that goes on nowadays but the time it takes to earn £8.50 at the minimum wage now can t be far different from the equivalent in 1974.

In 1974, I was earning £20 per week, less deductions. That was for a 37.5 hour week.

I was earning 32p an hour in 1974. I could get a pretty good meal for 50/32nds of my current hourly rate but that is not fair to compare as I have moved off the bottom of the pay scale in the intervening years.

Will buy you a steak mean and a couple of drinks in Wetherspoons ...i do miss spoonies