{"id":1084,"date":"2010-10-15T05:51:33","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T12:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2012-04-23T15:18:33","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T22:18:33","slug":"eating-out-frugal-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/eating-out-frugal-dining\/","title":{"rendered":"Eating Out: Frugal Dining"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the things I love to do is eat out. There are few things I enjoy more than eating at a restaurant, trying a new dish — and having someone else handle the cooking and the cleanup. However, as is frequently pointed out to me, eating out doesn’t exactly fit with a frugal lifestyle<\/a>. It’s one of my indulgences, and we can afford it, so I don’t feel too<\/em> bad about it. But, to keep my conscience from smiting me over the whole thing, there are some things that I do to reduce the amount of money spent on eating out:<\/p>\n

Limit Going Out<\/h3>\n

First of all, it’s not as if we’re going out to eat every day. We try to keep it to once a week. We plan out our menu, and eat most of our meals at home, cooking them ourselves. We have our budget specifically set up to accommodate 5-6 meals out each month. This provides us with a little leeway on going somewhere more expensive, or making an extra effort for someone’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Lunch Instead of Dinner<\/h3>\n

One way to save money on dining out is to go for lunch instead of dinner. Dinner usually costs more than lunch, and you are more tempted to order drinks. Plus, the tip on your bigger check will also be more. Things tend to add up faster when you go out for dinner. Going to lunch can significantly lower your final bill. Plus, for us, it means that we can go on a date while my son is at school, negating the need for a babysitter — which adds to the cost.<\/p>\n

Discounted Gift Certificates<\/h3>\n

Another way to save money on eating out is to get discounted gift certificates<\/a>. There are a number of sites that offer discounted certificates for chain restaurants, and even for local restaurants. It is possible to pay $15 or $20 for a $25 gift certificate. You can then use it when you go out to eat. Just remember that your tip should be based on the regular price of the meal, and not the discounted price.<\/p>\n

Skip Drinks and Dessert<\/h3>\n

Restaurants often make the most on drinks (especially soft drinks) and dessert. Pass on these expensive items; it’ll save you money and contribute to your health. We usually get water, and sometimes request lemon to add a little flavor. This isn’t much of a sacrifice, since we don’t usually drink much beyond water and milk anyway. If we decide we want dessert, we go to a little local ice cream shop, or the pastry shop. Going to these places gets us superior desserts — without paying as much as getting it at the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Take Out<\/h3>\n

Sometimes, instead of dining in, we call ahead and get take out. That way, we don’t have to include some of the costs that coming with dining in. Sometimes it’s fun just to get take out, and then have a picnic. It doesn’t save a whole lot, but it does reduce the cost of eating out. And it adds a little extra fun to the excursion.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite tip for frugal dining?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things I love to do is eat out. There are few things I enjoy more than eating at a restaurant, trying a new dish — and having someone else handle the cooking and the cleanup. However, as is frequently pointed out to me, eating out doesn’t exactly fit with a frugal lifestyle. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[22,510],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}