Our budget buster? Restaurants. We eat out a lot for the convenience, great food, and because we really aren’t very good cooks. We also hate to grocery shop. Enough excuses already. If you dine out, it’s always good to save money. We have used some of the following tips lately to reign in the spending on our dining out expenses.
Eat for free at a “trial night.” When new restaurants go up, ask when the kitchen will do a practice run. We’ve eaten for free a few times the night before a new restaurant opens. Often there is a limited menu to give the staff a chance to practice, but it’s great food at an unbelievable price.
Try the buffet for kids meals. We recently found out our local Chinese buffet is only 99 cents for kids age 2. There are also restaurants that offer kids eat free nights; find them at Kids Eat Free.
Get cash back. Use a cash rewards credit card to get money back on your purchase. In addition, some restaurants participate in Upromise, letting you get even more cash back.
Try family style restaurants. Since you’ll pass all the dishes, order one less meal than the number of people. There will be plenty to go around and you’ll save the cost of one meal.
Eat early or late. Sometimes restaurants offer discounted meals for dining during off-peak times. In addition to early bird and late night prices, try dining out for breakfast instead of dinner where prices are considerably cheaper.
Drink water. You’ll save by avoiding pop or alcohol. The restaurant business has a large profit margin on drinks, especially pop. Skip it and your wallet will thank you.
Stop somewhere else for dessert. If you must eat dessert, stop by a local ice cream shop on the way home. It will be cheaper and you’ll probably avoid having to tip.
Take the kids! Often the price of a kids meal is actually cheaper than a babysitter. Make it a family event.
Sign up for restaurant clubs. Clubs give free meals on your birthday, coupons and frequent dining card. Take advantage of them.
Ask about a half portion. Some restaurants will gladly make a half size meal for half the price. It will help cut out the extra calories too.
More great resources for dining out on the cheap:
I’ll share more of our budget busters this week, since Lynnae at Being Frugal shared her biggest budget busters and asked me to do the same.
Photography: Mesa Pizza! by .Bala.
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Great ideas! My wife and I frequently ask Grandma to keep the kids in the early afternoon. We do a late lunch date to avoid dinner prices, and then take in a movie. That move alone saves us several dollars on the dining out budget.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Another way to go at it is to cut the number of times you eat out and make the times you do better.
I believe the level of satisfaction you get from eating out and not counting every cent is greater than you’d get from eating out more and feeling guilty.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The “drink water” advice is something my wife and I vowed to do after taking our family out to eat last Friday night. 2 Adults, 2 kids, 0 alcohol cost approx. $8. I don’t think that is unusually high, but, just a few $8 saved, add up to real money. Great ideas !
April 28th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Good points! I tried to stop eating out for many times but it’s like addiction rather than bad cooking skills. Pleasant addiction I’d say!
I totally agree that the only way to save money is to eat out less. I’m spending less thanks to drinking water or tea/coffee instead of coke or alcohol. *Eat for free at a “trial night.”* sound awesome!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
@ Frugal Dad: Can’t beat free babysitting from Grandma… we like to use that one too!
@ TPF: I really like the idea of eating out and making it count. We are going to try your idea and only eat out for dinner once on the weekend, but make it a great meal. Thanks for the tip.
@ Todd: When you think how many drinks you could buy for $8 at the grocery store, it is amazing isn’t it?
@ July Bucks: Yes, keep your eye out for a trial night, they are a blast!
May 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I just recently (accidentally) learned about eating free while the kitchen and staff were practicing. It rocked! I was so impressed and taken aback that I blogged about it!
http://mrsnespysworld.blogspot.....inner.html
May 6th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
@ Kaye: Glad to hear others have found the practice meals fun, cheap and worth seeking out!
May 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Great ideas! I love eating out and am always looking for ways to save! How about buying an Entertainment Book? Right now the cost of the book is offset by just one dinner out. Another great way to save: order take-out! It saves you 15% as you don’t need to leave a tip!
June 7th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
@ Frugal Parent: Take out is a great tip! We sometimes do that for Friday night fish fry. I’ll have to look into an entertainment book!
June 8th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Had a question and thought perhaps you or one of your readers might know the answer. My family and I frequent a local Mongolian Barbeque in our neighborhood. The set-up is such that you gather your own food buffet style and bring it to the cooks who cook it up on a large wok in the center of the restaurant. The waitress simply brings your drinks, rice, and some flat bread. My question is since we do much of our own serving is the standard 15% tip still suggested? I suppose this same question would apply to anyone dining buffet style…I’ve always been unsure how to tip in this situation…can anyone help?
July 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
At a buffet resturant we tip $1 per person per hour that we occupy the table and more if major clean-up is going to be involved to prepare the table for the next guest.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:56 am
@ Frugal Parent: Check out what readers thought on the tipping situation in Sticky Situations: How Much Do You Tip?
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
Late to the post…but posts live on forever on the internet!
Wife and I now do water unless drink is included.
Kids are now told IF you are not getting kids meals, it’s water.
Our reason is not so much “saving money” but the fact that if we do this, then it only takes about 3 times eating out before we earn enough for a “fast food night out”.
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Great post! We love the kids eat free days. Also, I order from the “big kids” menu I like 6 nuggets but 8 or 10 is going to go to waste. Just doing my part to help our family save money.
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September 24th, 2008 at 9:37 pm