by B. B. James

Created on: December 07, 2011

For most of us, eating at a restaurant is a fairly common experience, a significant lifestyle change from how people lived even 20 years ago.  Few people cook all or even most of their meals these days, and dining out has become just a typical part of our day or our week.

However, the easy availability of restaurants does not mean that we can eat anywhere we want and at any price level.  Most of us have to live within budgets, and sometimes those budgets are highly restrictive.  Here are some ideas about how to stay within a budget and yet enjoy quality restaurant meals (not just fast food).

Perhaps the most prominent thing you can do these days is to take advantage of the many discount and coupon programs that have been developed.  Groupon and its many competitors, as well as Restaurant.com, offer ways to eat at a wide selection of restaurants without breaking the budget.  Simply go to those websites and purchase vouchers for the restaurant of your choice.

Of course, merely buying a $20 discount through Groupon does not assure that you will be able to stick to a budget.  You must first read the fine print and make sure that your meal qualifies.  Is the coupon valid only certain days of the week or only for dinners?  Does it include alcohol?  How much is the required tip?  In short, you must manage your discount carefully to get the maximum value from it.

Beyond managing your coupon, you can engage many other strategies to enjoy restaurant meals at reasonable costs.  First, you can avoid ordering alcohol, which raises the bill substantially.  If alcohol is an indispensable part of your meal, then stay within a reasonable limit and order something that's "on special" on that evening.  The same restrictions should go with dessert - and with the added notice that desserts at most restaurants are not made on-site and are not very good.  Only the most expensive restaurants employ trained pastry chefs who can truly make special desserts.

Sharing food is another way to stay within a budget.  So often, restaurants serve far more more food than a single person can eat.  So order carefully, and find a way to share.  Maybe each person orders a salad or appetizer, but one entre is shared.  Maybe a dessert is shared.  Maybe a large salad and a single entre are enough for a couple out for the evening.

In some parts of the country, such as Florida, many restaurants offer discounts for early diners, known as "early bird specials."  While selections are often limited to only some items on the menu, they can provide substantial savings, and leave the rest of the evening free for entertainment.

A final note.  Saving money at a restaurant should not come at the expense of your server.  Your waiter or waitress works hard and is not paid a lot of money.  Tip generously, especially for kind and efficient service.

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