7 Easy Ways to Save Money on your Next Dinner Out
Eating dinner at a restaurant is a lot of fun. You get to spend time with friends and family. No one has to cook. Plus you get to eat foods that you wouldn’t make at home!
Unfortunately, eating out can be expensive. But the good news is that there are a lot of ways to make eating out less expensive.
While you probably won’t want to do all of them, some of them are really simple and you won’t mind doing them. Also, if you’re the type of person that doesn’t want to have to use a coupon so no one knows you’re trying to save money, don’t worry we have you covered as well!
I really think you’re going to like these options. While you probably know about some of them, some of them will hopefully make you feel better the next time you go out to eat!
….and here they are…
7 Easy Ways to Save Money on Your Next Dinner Out
- Choose the right night of the week. Some restaurants have deals or discounts on certain days of the week, because they are normally slower on those days. For example, Bonefish Grill has 3 course dinner deals on Tuesdays. Certain restaurants let children eat free one day of the week. Even if you get the same food, just by going to the restaurant on a different night of the week can end up saving you money, if you know when to go.
- Use Groupon / Restaurant.com / etc… There are a lot of restaurants that want to get more business. So they’re willing to offer you a big discount (sometimes 50% off) just to come to their restaurant. With these, usually you pay upfront, but pay a lot less than the gift certificate is for. So for example you’ll pay $25, but you’ll get $50 worth of food at the restaurant. Here are some places you can buy these: Groupon, Living Social, and Local Flavor. There is also Restaurant.com where you can save even more, and pay $10 or less for a $25 gift certificate.
- Sign up for emails. If you like a certain restaurant, make sure you’re signed up to their email list. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll get emailed with coupons, offers, and other discounts. With some restaurants, this might be the only way you’ll get a coupon from them.
- Look for coupons. There are plenty of places you can look for coupons these days. First, you can look in the Sunday paper. There are often coupons for restaurants in the coupon inserts. You can also get coupons for restaurants in those mail inserts you get all of the time. Often this is a great way to get coupons for smaller restaurants that are nearby. And of course, you can always look for coupons online. If you search for the name of the restaurant and then the word coupon, you’ll be able to see if there are any coupons available online for that restaurant.
- Buy a discount gift card. I love this one especially because you can combine it with coupons, plus no one has to know that you saved money buying the gift card! There are websites such as Raise.com, Cardpool, and SaveYa where you can get gift cards (both physical gift cards as well as electronic ones) at a discount. You can then use them like any other gift card.
- Share your meal. Let’s face it. Often, meals are huge at restaurants. So why not share a meal between two people? If you don’t think it will be enough, each get a soup or salad along with it. You’ll save money, and both of you will get enough to eat without being stuffed when you leave.
- Skip the “extras.” If you’re going out to eat to have a nice dinner, and want to each get your own meal, stop at just the dinner. First of all, drink water. It’s good for you, has no calories, and drinks are one of the most marked up things at a restaurant. Also, skip appetizers and desserts, since the meal will probably be more than enough food. It’ll cut down the cost of your dinner, and you’ll still be full when you leave.
I hope these ideas give you some great ways to save money the next time you go out to eat!
Enjoy,
