Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Eating Out

We love to eat out… really. For years we didn’t eat out at all. We were struggling new parents. Then for a while we could afford it and went out a lot. But now we ‘re tightening up our spending again. We have become spoiled and it’s been harder now to cut back this time on something we really love to do.

So we’ve settled on eating out every other week and have implemented a several rules to keep the costs to a minimum.

1. If it’s all three of us, someone always splits a meal.
2. We don’t order drinks with the meal. Just water.
3. If we want to drink, we go during happy hour and order off the appetizer menu.
4. We look for and cut dining coupons and keep them in the car.
5. We go out early for the Early Bird specials.

On average we have brought the dining bill down 30% by implementing these rules. Plus by only going out every two weeks we have cut back 75%, saving us a bunch.

I will say it’s harder to stick to these rules on special occasions or celebrations. But I did during my daughters Birthday dinner at Bubba Gumps. It saved us $10. About 12% of the total bill.  I mooched off of hubby’s rib plate and the group of 4 giggling girls shared the desert.

Yes, you can still eat out. By implementing a few rules you can still keep some cash in the bank and enjoy eating out a little more often.