I come from a restaurant background working in various positions since I was 16 years old. I managed restaurants for 5 years before having kids and it was really hard having to pay for food at restaurants. You get a lot of perks working in the restaurant business. We love to go out to eat as a family and I was asked recently how we can afford eating out weekly on a tight budget. These are the tips for saving money while eating out.
1. Use coupons! Do not feel like you are going to get poor service because you handed your server a coupon (make sure you show it to them before you order). We have coupon books from SaveAround the City, ZBest and the Entertainment book. We check restaurant.com frequently as well.
2. Bring your own drinks or drink water. Beverages are marked way up. If your kids like a certain beverage with their dinner, bring it. I have never had anyone tell me that I could not bring in my kids drinks. I always order water and if we are on vacation I just bring it in with me.
3. Do NOT order kids meals! This will save so much money. Kids meals are pricey at some places and the drinks are not included, though you think they are and now you just spent another $1.99. Restaurants give you way too much food in the first place. To save money and calories share with your kids and if you do this from the start they will not know any better (or have your kids share a meal).
4. Sign up for every club there is. Chili's has free Queso if you sign up for their e-mail club. Many places give you free food for your birthday. For example you can get a free burger at Red Robin and or a free drink at Starbucks. Panera has a great rewards card. I have received a lot of free pastries and coffee using my rewards card. If you look, you will find something for free.
5. If you are not satisfied with the meal and you are not eating it, it's okay to ask for something else. The server is not offended, no one is going to spit in your food if you ask for them to fix it. If a restaurant truly values their customers, they will make you happy (just be polite about it).
6. Make sure to tip your server based on their service. If they were accommodating and you appreciated their service then tip them well. If you want to save money on tips then eat at places like Chipotle, which I love and we eat at often.
Our eating out money comes out of my grocery budget. And if we run out of money before the next paycheck, then we don't eat out. We have a budget and we stick to it. I just make sure I leave money in my budget for this expense.
Here are a few sites where you can get points for gift cards:
My Points I enjoy the $10 Panera cards.
Swagbucks I usually cash mine in for Paypal $$, but they have different gift cards as well.
