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Post a CommentIt’s possible to live sensibly and still be on top of your finances. Eating out doesn’t have to break your budget. Since we met each other in college, we learned some ways to have fun and cheap dates with eating out.
Frugal Tips on Eating Out
Here are some tips to maximize your meals:
- Dig to find local spots. We asked around and discovered a fantastic Cuban place in the area. Lunch specials (entrée and 2 sides) are $5.95 and dinner is $7.95. The portions are great and I usual have to have a to-go box.
- Make a second meal on leftovers. Be conscious of portion sizes, as many restaurants serve a large amount. If salad is included with an dinner, then eat the entire salad before eating your entree. It fills you up and it’s generally good or you. Two meals for the price of one!
- Get a discount online. See if they have lunch/dinner specials or use a site like Restaurant.com to get a deal on gift certificates. Sometimes you can get a $25 gift certificate for $10 or less!
- Mix Appetizers. Sometimes you can get a good deal by having two appetizers.
- Drink water. This is not a frugal tip, but more a health tip. Having water is a good thirst quencher and if the food is flavorful, it’s a nice complement. Water can also reduce your meal as some people confuse hunger for thirst.
- Buying an Entertainment Book can save you some money if it includes restaurants you enjoy. We have gotten 50% some of our meals with the Buy One, Get One Free coupons.
- Ask your friends and family to support you. Have an appetizer only night or agree to remind each other to stay on budget. It helps to involve your friends with your savings. It could also motivate them to watch their wallet.
We use these tips, but after doing them for a bit, it’s become a habit. We have a budget for eating out and we try to stay within the budget.
Caution: Do not be ‘frugal’ with the tip! Tips are a part of some one’s wages, so please be considerate. If you don’t have money to tip properly than you don’t have money to eat out.
Your Thoughts on Eating Out with a Budget
What do you do to save money when you go to eat out? Or do you set a budget, eat whatever you want, and just stay within the limits?
Photo Credit: kspoddar
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yelp.com is a great way to find some local cheap eats. I have become a big fan of it and always looking to it for new restaurants, as well as to find some cheaper hole in the wall type places.
Good suggestions! Drinking water is also cheaper! Saving between $2-4 on every meal ticket will let you stretch your eating out budget that much further!
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Back in the last city we lived in, my fiancee and I found an awesome local Vietnamese restaurant. Fantastic food, HUGE portions, and very inexpensive.
Sadly, we’ve been a lot of places around here and we haven’t found anything that has come close to the place we used to frequent. We have an entertainment book, but everything in there is so far away that it is hardly ever worth even going there to try it out. This saddens us.
One thing that we do to stretch our money is to eat at home, and then go “out for dinner” and just get desert. That way we’re not spending a ton of money on food, but can still enjoy the experience and atmosphere of a restaurant. We do this so we can spend time with each, not money.
I’ve never tried the site; thanks for mentioning it! Sometimes the local spots have the best foods.
Going out for desserts can be quite romantic. I’m partial to tiramisu, cheesecakes, or anything chocolate.
Drinking water has helped me shave a few pounds off as well.
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I’m a little late adding to this thread but my latest “eating out” money saver has actually been eating in and taking advantage of “copy cat” recipes that are all over the internet.
We love to eat at a chicken wing place in our town but for a family of four it can easy be $40 for lunch (not including dessert…sad face!!!) – but after a quick google search I found a recipe for the wing sauce from our fave place. The damage: $7 for a bag of chicken wings, $2 for a bag of fries & the ‘secret sauce’ is made from items that I always have on hand (hot sauce, cayenne pepper, brown sugar). So we’re fed for around $10! How awesome is that?!?