by Robin Tidwell

Created on: August 02, 2008   Last Updated: September 29, 2010

If you do a lot of cooking, dinner every night, and the occasional dinner party, that adds up to quite a few meals - so make the attempt to get everyone to a restaurant at least once a week. Even if your budget does not particularly allow for this, you can still enjoy a nice meal for less than you may think.

There are a number of ways to save money when eating out at a restaurant, so let's begin with the appetizer course. Skip the appetizer. On the other hand, appetizers can make a complete meal - simply ask your server to bring your choice to the table when he brings the rest of the food. Regardless, doing either of these things can save you up to $10.00 or more.

Skip the drinks; either have a cocktail at home first, or wait until afterwards. Another $10 saved.

Some restaurants have "kids eat free" nights, and certainly many offer newspaper, doorhanger, and mass-mailing coupons. Both are excellent ways to save money, especially if your kids are young and have less-sophisticated tastes.

Split the entree. Even when a menu says that there is an extra plate charge, you can still come out ahead. Suppose you and your spouse split a $15.00 entree: you just saved $7.50, $6.50 if there is indeed a plate charge. Alternatively, you can just eat half an entree yourself and ask for a doggy bag at the end of the meal; presto, you have tomorrow's lunch already taken care of!

Speaking of lunch, restaurants typically advertise "specials" for the noon hour which are often simply smaller versions of dinner entrees. Choosing to eat out for lunch instead of dinner can save up to half the cost of that dinner; you can do this frequently on vacations and just grab a sandwich or a burrito for dinner or, if you're staying someplace where you can cook, make dinner yourselves. It's much more cost-effective to cook than to order!

Finally, you can skip dessert, or split dessert. For those watching calories, the former is probably the best choice; if you can't stand firm, you do risk a bit of added indigestion - restaurant desserts are notoriously rich, as well as irresistible.

If the average restaurant check per person is $20.00, or $80.00 for a family of four, by employing these tips you could easily save $40.00 or half your cost of dining out. This makes eating at a restaurant every week much more economically feasible for your family. And, with groceries these days costing three times as much as they did just a few short years ago, it might actually make sense to eat out even more frequently.

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