Eating out is a luxury that few of us are willing to give up. Working women in particularl appreciate the ability at least one night per week to not having to worry about "What's for Dinner". The average family spends $200 a week on groceries. That is a little less than $30 a day. It is going to be a real challenge to try to eat out for less than that amount but it isn't impossible.
1. Take advantage of early bird specials. There are many restaurants that offer early bird specials; this can be a significant savings off of the price of meals. Often the prices will be 20 to 30% cheaper between 5 and 6pm. This is the time when the restaurant is the quietest and they will offer these special to get people in during this time.
2. Purchase an entertainment book. This will have lots of two for one meal offers and if you use entertainment.com you can get additional coupons. These two for one coupons are not all for fancy restaurants; many of them are for casual restaurants and pizza joints.
3, Use restaurants.com to purchase discount dining certificates. You need to check their site on a regular basis; at times you can purchase a $20 certificate for $3. Be sure to read all the fine print however before you purchase their certificates, there are usually amounts that must be spent to use the certificate.
4. Watch the local paper for specials, some restaurants offer discounts on certain meals on certain days. Monday may be $10 steak day and Tuesday may be half price appetizers. Do your research and you can save a bundle.
5. Share a meal. Most of the portions are very oversized. By purchasing an appetizer and an entre and share them with your partner or child you can save a significant amount of money.
6. Look at all the local flyers that come into your home. There are some that offer specials meal rates at local restaurants. They could be 2 for 1 or a given dollar amount off.
7. Watch for local church suppers and civic groups offering a chicken BBQ or fish fry. Not only will you get a good home cooked meal you will provide support for some of your friends and neighbors.
8. Bring home all your leftovers and you will have a free meal tomorrow. If you have a baked potato that you didn't eat, it could be home fries with your breakfast eggs.
9. Skip the alcohol. This is one of the most expensive portions of any meal. Even soda can really add to the tab as can special coffee drinks. Stick to tap water and regular or decaf coffee and the bill will be much lighter.
10. Desserts are another area where restaurants can really gouge. Plan to have a dish of ice cream at home or if you really can't resist an offering, then share. Not only will it save money but it is also good for your waistline.
11. Choose ethnic dining. You will often find the best food bargains in town at the family owned small restaurants, Chinese, Moroccan, Italian and many others.
12. Order a sandwich instead of a meal for your entre. This will often cut your bill in half. You can have a nice corned beef reuben for $7 instead of a corned beef meal for $12 or a hamburger instead of a meatloaf.
13. Pick up a rotisserie chicken and sides at your local food market or Boston Market and bring it home. It isn't eating in a restaurant but it does mean you won't have to be cooking. Use paper plates and no clean up either.
These are just a few of the ways you can save on dining out. We all have choices, choose to take the time to look for bargains so that you can still have your dinners out even in time when all of our budgets are felling the crunch.