I love to eat out but really can't afford to do it often. I have found that If we go to lunch and drink water that 2 can eat for what it would cost 1 for dinner and a drink. Its just a liitle way to save money. There are also great dollar menue items at most fast food chains. I have occasionaly purchased the dollar food and then stopped and bout a 3 liter soda for the kids for a cheap lunch when we are out.
You know those Enjoy the City coupon books that the kids in the school sell for fund raisers? Well, this time of year they are available from the company for a fraction of the face price, as they are getting ready to come out with next year's book. The current ones expire either in December 2012 or March 2013, depending on the book. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that these books have some coupons for buy one get one free entrees at some of the local restaurants. We can eat at one of our favorite Thai restaurants for about $8.00 plus the tip for 2 people using one of these. Plus they have grocery store coupons, too. You might want to check this out for your city and see if they have coupons for any of the places you like. You can preview the books on their website.
Great tips, thank you. Yeah, depending where you go there are some places that you can take your drinks in with you. Some places, the drinks are even more expensive than the food, it is insane. Keeping fresh filtered water with you is a good way of keeping hydrated but still getting your food at an inlet. Also, asking what deals they have that may not be displayed etc.
This is true. I think they count on the fact that more people will be available for dinner than for lunch, assuming that these people work during the day. I work most often during dinner time, and so I always take advantage of lunch specials and early happy hours when I go out to eat.
I almost never drink soda with my meals. I prefer water or beer the restaurants charge a lot for sodas. If I had to choose between the two I like dinner a lot more. I hardly eat lunch, but when I do it's only a sandwich from Subway.
That's a really good tip actually. I don't often do this even though I should. Dinner prices are always so much more, even when the lunch menu is just as good and as enjoyable. Restaurants aren't generally as crowded from 1-4 either...between the lunch and dinner rush, but before the dinner menu kicks in. It's a lot more enjoyable to be able to hang out during that time without feeling like you have to hurry up, eat, and get out for the next set of people.
Many places also offer 'Early Bird' discounts, if you're able to eat outside of peak times. For example, if you eat between 6 and 7.30pm, you can often get lunchtime prices. Also, the restaurant will be fairly quiet, so you won't wait for ages for your food. In these stringent times, many food outlets are putting on special offers to tempt people through their doors - it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open.
Those are all good ideas! We eat out so rarely that we tend to just forgo trying to save any money. It is our big night out so to speak so we just have fun and forget the expense. There are times when we are forced to eat out like when we are out shopping or something. Those times I will have to take advantage of the water tip!
Happy Hour!! Of course, this only works for grown up dining, but scoping out the best happy hour deals in your town can save so much money, plus it's fun. When I go out with girlfriends to catch up it's always for happy hour. There's this really great sushi restaurant here that offers screaming deals for happy hour and 3 of us can each get a fancy cocktail and enough sushi to make a dinner for less than $24. And there are places like that all over town. Happy hour always feels a little more like a treat than lunch. But that's just me...
We have two local restaurants that run their lunch specials until 4:00pm. One is Mexican and the other is Chineese. They both give you just a little bit smaller portion than a dinner size for the lunch size but for a few dollars cheaper. I like to call them and order the lunch deal to be picked up at 4:00pm on my way home from work. The easiest weeknight dinner ever!
I agree that lunch is usually cheaper than dinner. I always make an effort to have water with any meal - I usually can't handle carbonated beverages too well because honestly they make me very gassy and I feel full with 3 sips while my plate is still full. It does help in saving. Also if where we go for lunch the servings are huge I will share a plate and maybe just 1 additional side. This really halps reduce the bill
I just have to add that you obviously need to pay attention to your local culture, too. It jumped out to me that you said between 6-7:30pm as "earlybird." Dinner/suppertime here is often seen as 5-6:30, so your example sounds really late to me...and definitely not earlybird, lol.
If you ever go out, it's a much better alternative to go out for lunch rather than dinner. To put this into perspective, a sushi place we love going to, which has all you can eat sushi, charges $12.99 for lunch and then $23.99 for dinner. Please note, there is nothing different about the dinner menu. It's amazing the near double in price just for a few hours difference. Not matter what time of the day I go out to eat, I will always select water as my choice because it's just outrageous how much they charge you for a soda (good thing, though, because it's terrible for you anyway). I do have a question pertaining to the beverage choice: how come these restaurants or fast food places do not offer club soda as an option?
In fact, usually the lunch menu is exactly the same, but with a slightly smaller portion size and a disproportionately lower price.
I'm not exactly-sure of the difference between lunch & dinner. I mean; I know the typical schedule-slots for each, but--other than that--aren't they basically the same meal? Well, I can understand that 'lunch' is more of a 'snack-break from work-at the office or -on the construction-site,' while 'dinner' is more of a "full & filling meal." Is that the question then? 'snack-time' vs. 'drowning your appetite'? It's said that--in the Orient (Far East)--they have 'snacks' all day (rather than 3-meals). That seems to work for them; but I prefer to have up to 3 'big refueling sessions' per day and then spend the rest of my time doing what I do with full focus. I guess that's saying I'd rather-work all day than -diffuse my focus with a lunch-break.
