Six Tips to Save Money While Eating Out

Eating out has become an expensive proposition these days, particularly for a family with kids. Unless you plan to hit a restaurant with a $5 meal, chances are eating out will leave a large dent in your wallet. However, there are a few techniques to employ that will help keep your restaurant bill low.

1. Dine out only on “kids eat free” nights
Many restaurants now offer one day of the week when kids can eat free, or for $0.99. Plan your meals out around these nights to save money on kid’s meals.

2. Order water instead soda
The other night my family went out to celebrate a birthday and one member of our party ordered a Coca Cola - $2.22. Now, I love an ice cold soft drink as much as the next guy, but I could nearly buy a whole fridge pack from the grocery store for that! That’s why we stick to ordering water when we eat out.

3. Order an appetizer as an entrée
Appetizers are usually cheaper than entrees, and often times they have enough food to be substituted for a full entrée. Look for appetizers that offer a variety of food groups, such as nachos or quesadillas (meat, cheese, greens, sour cream, etc.).  It’s not so easy to make an entire, balanced meal out of fried cheese sticks.

4. Ask for a “to-go” box when your meal arrives
If you do order a full entrée for dinner, ask for a to-go box as soon as your meal arrives and put half of it in the go box. Dinner sizes at restaurants have grown to mammoth proportions, so saving half of it will help spread the calories, and the cost, out across two meals.

5. Skip dessert
Even a couple scoops of ice cream can cost as much as three or four dollars at most restaurants.  If you really are in the mood for dessert, pay your bill and head over to a local fast food restaurant for an ice cream cone.  McDonalds offers an excellent, low-fat, soft-serve ice cream for less than a $1.00.

6. Don’t be a cheapskate when leaving the tip
Although I look for areas to be frugal while eating out, tipping is an area where I believe in being generous.  Most servers earn a reduced wage with the expectation that tips will make up the difference. Unfortunately, it only takes a couple cheapskates leaving a tiny tip to drive down a server’s hourly wage. If your service was outstanding, reward your server adequately.