Over TEN Ways to Save Money Eating Out at Restaurants

Several months ago, we gave you some tips on foregoing the urge to go out to eat ~ for most people, eating out is a large part of their budget. 

When we had one child, I’ll admit we ate out often too – and little did we realize how much we spent until we sat down and started to take a hard look at how much of our income went towards that area of our finances. It was unbelievable.

Now, with a handful of kids, we really don’t go anywhere at all ~ it’s not that we don’t like to do, but it’s not convenient for us. It’s incredibly expensive, very stressful and hard to find a place that we really value in terms of food quality and prep without feeling icky later on.

So we stay home and make food here – I always enjoy to cook, so going the extra mile to make food isn’t a huge problem, at least for me. But some people love to go to restaurants – perhaps they don’t have children or, if they do, they are older and it’s a little easier.

I think we all know that it can be incredibly expensive if you aren’t watching your pennies – but you can save money while eating out if you can make some smart decisions while you are dining at the restaurant.  Here are a few ways you can save.

#1 – Friend them on Facebook

I’m not too much of a fan of Facebook but in the case of saving money on eating out, you can save quite a bit – if you like and sign up for notifications from your favorite restaurants. Often times, they will post specials for either lunch or dinner — you can (in most cases) print the coupon out or, show on your mobile.

#2 – Discounted Gift Cards

If you know you are going to be eating out ahead of time, Costco is a great place to find discounted Gift Cards near the register.  In many cases you can buy $100 in Gift Cards for popular restaurants as low as $80 – $85.

#3 – Use Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com can allow you to try new places for low prices – usually they have additional savings opportunities that will sometimes allow you to score a $25 certificate for $3 – $4 (or, even less).   The gift certificates have restrictions (minimum spending amount and in some cases, certain times of the day only) but can be a great way to try a new place for less.

#4 – Kids Eat FREE at Many Restaurants

We have rounded up a list of Kids Eat Free locations – use that to your advantage, especially if you have children. Dining out with this many kids is not a cheap venture for us, so those Kids Eat Free opportunities are what we try to look for.

Some places will allow up to 2 kids per paid adult, and a special children’s menu applies – so check with your local restaurant to determine what they offer.

#5 – Check out LocalDines

LocalDines allows you to score discounted gift cards to various restaurants in our Phoenix area for MUCH less – they have many places in Phoenix, Peoria, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler and even Mesa. Log in or register to see if there is a restaurant that interests you.

In most cases, you can request a gift card every 6 months, some offer 2 every 6 months.

#6 – Use your Entertainment Book

We have mentioned deals on this book all year long – as low as $10 + FREE shipping in some cases. It’s a GREAT investment, for the coupons alone! They are a great resource for eating out and often times have 2-for-1 coupons or 25% OFF coupons you can use to save.

All offers and coupons in the book are available through their Mobile App.  The app gives you NATIONWIDE access to all coupons.  If you live in Phoenix and took a trip to California,  open your app and you have access to all coupons in California. 

Go Digital & get your Entertainment Book on your iPhone for just $.99!

#7 – Use Groupon or LivingSocial, even LocalFlavor

All 3 sites offer routine discounts for popular places around town – be sure to check a few days ahead to ensure you have time to use the certificate if there is a waiting period (Groupon usually has that). 

In many cases, if you sign up for their emails, you can score additional discount codes to save too – $5 OFF any order at LocalFlavor can make some of their certificates extremely cheap (and a great way to eat lunch for less!)

#8 – Forego the Drink & pick up Water

We both do this when and if we go out and it saves quite a bit. It saves even more if your kids can do it too — chocolate milk refills are usually never free, so a second glass x 4 or 5 kids can add up VERY fast!

I always ask for a glass (not plastic) cup of water, and I always bring my Essential Oils with me for Lemon, Lime or Grapefruit in my water.

#9 – Pick Lunch over Dinner

Eating lunch instead of dinner can usually be much less – not to mention they have smaller portions that you can eat that will be better than the larger, more wasteful portions. AND, they often times have specials to get you in the door, too!

#10 – Split a Portion

Some restaurants have extremely LARGE portions -in many cases, as hungry as you are, you’ll always come out with food in a to-go box. Eliminate need for the that by splitting a portion with your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or friend who you are dining with.

If you are unable to do that, pick up a to-go box and use the other half of the meal for your lunch the next day or dinner that night – it’ll be like saving 50%.

In the end, you might also want to consider setting a budget each week or month if you eat out ~ put that cash in an envelope and stick to that spending plan in order to prevent you from overspending each month. No matter which way you opt to save, always remember that you should tip on the full amount (which is important to remember for Groupon and LivingSocial deals!)

Sure… it might not be the favored choice, but it’ll prevent you from spiraling out of control with your meal costs – once you reach your spending limit, then opt to eat at home for the remainder of the month.