The Best Way to Save Money On Eating Out (Plus Four Other Money-Saving Tips)
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Alexis
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Like 90% of America these days (or at least it seems that way), we're cutting back on eating out. We never really ate out that much before the economy went into the toilet, but we're being a bit extra careful these days so we're watching the number of meals we eat out.
That said, we haven't totally eliminated eating out since it can often be a fun time for our family to get out and enjoy ourselves. In particular, we've hit on one very big money saving tip when it comes to eating out: Buffets.
Specifically, there's a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet near our house where lunch is just $6.99. They not only have the traditional foods you'd expect in a Chinese restaurant, but they also have fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and so on so even our daughter who doesn't like Chinese food has something to enjoy. And for $6.99, we can eat enough to cover both lunch and dinner for the day. (Yes, I know I'm a cheap-o. But the food really is very good.)
By the way, this tip also works with those all-you-can-eat meal offers (I think Applebee's has some of those going now.)
Besides the buffet suggestion, here are four other money saving tips we use when eating out:
Eat breakfast/lunch versus dinner. Ever notice how dinner costs are waaaaay more expensive than for the same thing at lunch? For example, the Chinese restaurant above charges $11.99 for "dinner" and IT'S THE SAME THING (an all-you-can-eat buffet.) And breakfast food itself is fairly inexpensive, so if you eat out then, you're bound to save more than if you go out for a large dinner.
Use coupons. I eat at Logan's now and then and I ALWAYS have a coupon. My wife collects restaurant coupons, puts them in a folder, and when we decide to eat out, she goes to the file (we often take the file with us in the car when we go out on Saturdays). We save at least a few dollars every meal when we use a coupon.
By a deal. The restaurants are offering all sorts of good deals out there -- usually combination offers that save you a couple bucks on each person's order. They're doing all they can to attract customers, so go with the flow and order the combo that gets you a good amount of food for a little bit of money.
Skip drinks and desserts. Consider the following:
How about you? Do you have any other tips for saving when eating out?
Source : FreeMoneyFinance
That said, we haven't totally eliminated eating out since it can often be a fun time for our family to get out and enjoy ourselves. In particular, we've hit on one very big money saving tip when it comes to eating out: Buffets.
Specifically, there's a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet near our house where lunch is just $6.99. They not only have the traditional foods you'd expect in a Chinese restaurant, but they also have fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and so on so even our daughter who doesn't like Chinese food has something to enjoy. And for $6.99, we can eat enough to cover both lunch and dinner for the day. (Yes, I know I'm a cheap-o. But the food really is very good.)
By the way, this tip also works with those all-you-can-eat meal offers (I think Applebee's has some of those going now.)
Besides the buffet suggestion, here are four other money saving tips we use when eating out:
Eat breakfast/lunch versus dinner. Ever notice how dinner costs are waaaaay more expensive than for the same thing at lunch? For example, the Chinese restaurant above charges $11.99 for "dinner" and IT'S THE SAME THING (an all-you-can-eat buffet.) And breakfast food itself is fairly inexpensive, so if you eat out then, you're bound to save more than if you go out for a large dinner.
Use coupons. I eat at Logan's now and then and I ALWAYS have a coupon. My wife collects restaurant coupons, puts them in a folder, and when we decide to eat out, she goes to the file (we often take the file with us in the car when we go out on Saturdays). We save at least a few dollars every meal when we use a coupon.
By a deal. The restaurants are offering all sorts of good deals out there -- usually combination offers that save you a couple bucks on each person's order. They're doing all they can to attract customers, so go with the flow and order the combo that gets you a good amount of food for a little bit of money.
Skip drinks and desserts. Consider the following:
- 15 oz. drink at a restaurant = $1.25
- 2liter bottle of pop at a grocery store = $0.99
- Dessert for one (maybe two) at a restaurant = $4.99
- Half gallon of ice cream on sale (and one's always on sale) at a grocery store = $3.99
How about you? Do you have any other tips for saving when eating out?
Source : FreeMoneyFinance
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