• About
  • My Favorite Blogging Tools
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms & Policies

Family Balance Sheet

where family, life, and finances meet

  • Home
  • How to Budget
  • Finances
    • Our Debt Freedom Plan
    • Christmas Savings Club
    • Debt Free Stories
    • Marriage and Money
    • Medi-Share
  • Grocery Budget
    • Saving Money on Groceries
    • Freezer Cooking
    • 31 Days to Slash Your Grocery Spending
  • Recipes
    • Freezer Cooking
    • Recipes – Appetizers & Snacks
    • Recipes – Beverages
    • Recipes – Breakfast & Brunch
    • Recipes – Desserts
    • Recipes – Grilling
    • Recipes – Main Dish
    • Recipes – Sides & Soups
    • Recipes – Slow Cooker
    • Cooking ‘How-To’ Series
  • Family
    • Frugal Holiday Fun
    • Frugal Family Activities
    • Travel Destinations
    • Camping
    • Budget Travel
    • Giving
  • Frugal Living
    • How We Frugal-ed
    • Saving Money on Groceries
    • Saving Money in your Home
    • Saving Money during the Holidays
    • Gardening
  • 31 Days to Find $1000

How To Save Money at Restaurants and Enjoy a Meal Out

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you sign-up for services or make a purchase after clicking on a link below, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Also, I am not a financial advisor. I'm a blogger who LOVES to share how I manage the finances for my household.

February 16, By Kristia Leave a Comment


When Friday night hits, I am a bit burned out from cooking all week, so we make a point to go out to dinner. However, dining out can take a bite out of the outgoing cash flow, so we are always looking for ways to save money and still enjoy a night out at a restaurant.

Eleven Tips to Save You Money at Restaurants

1. Go to the websites of all your favorite restaurants and see if they have online coupons or specials on their sites. So simple, yet so effective.

2. Take advantage of mid-week specials. Our local pizza shop sells large cheese pizzas on Tuesdays for $6.99 vs. $14.99 the rest of the week.

3. Kids Eat Free promotions. Kids meals normally range from $3.99 – $5.99. But many restaurants offer free kids meals or reduced kids meals with an adult meal purchase during specific hours or days. For example, a favorite local Italian restaurant offers FREE kids meal with adult meal purchase on Saturdays from 2pm – 4pm. Make it easy on yourself, search Kids Meal Deals or Kids Eat FREE Deals in your area at Kids Meal Deals. I just signed up to receive their newsletter and it appears the restaurants are the national chains.

4. Eat FREE on your birthday. Sign up for Red Robin’s e-newsletter and get a free burger on your birthday.

5. Go out for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner. These specials always seem to be so much cheaper.

5. Order an appetizer and share a main dish. Or just order appetizers instead of main dishes.

6. Avoid the soda pop. At $2 – $2.50, it is an expensive drink. Avoid not just for monetary reasons, but also for your health. Most restaurants offer free refills and the waitress just keeps pouring. By the time you leave, you might have had 3+ glasses of soda. For this reason alone, I have stopped ordering sodas at a restaurant, because I was so bloated on soda. I now order just water. If you must have a soda, buy a 2 liter at the grocery store for 79 cents and drink it at home.

7. Enter your zip code at Restaurant.com to see what area restaurants are offering deep discounts on gift certificates. You might be able to snag a $25 certificate for $10 or even cheaper!

8. Consider purchasing a Bonus or Entertainment book for your area. Order them online or look for the books at a local bookstore. The majority of the coupons are Buy 1 Get 1 FREE. We get one every year from my parents for Christmas. They make great gifts for people who are hard to buy for.

9. Do you receive a Coupon Clipper magazine in your mailbox? They are a great source for local restaurant coupons. We keep ours in the car, so we always have it with us. Also plug in your zip code at the Clipper site, DoubleTakeDeals for 50% off deals in your area.

10. Check your local newspaper for coupons. Find out when they run their dining guide. Ours runs on Thursdays and often times includes coupons.

11. Short on cash even with the coupons, save your change in a large jar and when it is full, cash it in for a non-guilty meal out.

What tips can you add to help save money at restaurants? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

  • through your RSS Feed
  • have updates sent to your email,
  • become a fan and ‘like’ FBS on Facebook
  • become a Twitter follower

Image: bigjom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Get a Free Family Balance Sheet Excel Spreadsheet download

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

WELCOME!

SEARCH

Get a Free Family Balance Sheet Excel Spreadsheet download

recipes

Recent Posts

  • 8 Action Steps for a Frugal February!
  • Our 2023 Financial Goals
  • 3 Smart Steps to Pay Cash for Christmas
  • 30 Free but Thoughtful Christmas Gift Ideas
  • 10 Ideas to Find Cash for Christmas
Follow Kristia Ludwick's board Best of FamilyBalanceSheet.org on Pinterest.

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Kristia Ludwick is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

COPYRIGHT

I love it when you share! Please keep in mind that all images and text on this site are property of Family Balance Sheet. Feel free to use one or two photos provided that a link back to my original post is included. Please do not remove any watermarks, crop, or edit any of my images without first obtaining written permission from me. Please do not replicate or copy any content from Family Balance Sheet without written permission from me. All free printables & spreadsheets offered are for personal use only. Pinning is always welcome and appreciated! Thank you!

Disclaimer

FamilyBalanceSheet.org is for informational and entertainment purposes only. I am not a financial professional. I’m a girl who loves to talk and read about personal finance and how it relates to hard working families. If you feel you need financial advice, please seek out a competent professional.

Disclosures

  • The content on FamilyBalanceSheet.org may contain affiliate and/or referral links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services that I believe in.
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in