I just wanted to pass along a tip I've used for about a year now. Whenever I went to a sit down restaurant or even some fast-food restaurants I was getting more and more uncomfortable with the amount of money I was paying just for a diet drink. Man, it was creeping up to 3 bucks a drink at some restaurants. Even going out once a week at that price adds up to about 10 bucks a month. I just can't pay prices like that. I decided to try some of the concentrated teas that they have at Walmart and other grocery stores. You can get a small bottle you can carry in your purse for about 2-3 bucks. Rather than buying a drink at a restaurant, I just ask for a glass of water and use my own concentrated tea. A person can easily save 30 bucks or more on soda as each small bottle contains over 20 servings. Skinny Girl also have some non-tea flavors and Crystal Light has also come out with similar products. I never feel deprived. All of the flavors I've purchased have been really good. The only drawback I've had is that you need to be careful when squirting out the concentrated fluid. If I'm not careful, it seems to make a mess sometimes. Other than that, I am very glad I've found a great alternative to wasting lots of money on soda.
That's not the worst idea in the world BUT I'd be careful with that. Though there may not be specific rules in the restaurant concerning this I can see them frowning on it. Because you're basically bringing outside drink into a place that is making money selling similar drinks.
Yeah some restaurants won't let you do that and will actually charge you or kick you out. If I want to save money I would just always get water. Plus if I drink soda I'll be full by the time the food comes. I would rather save some stomach room for the food I ordered!
I also wondered if any of the waiters/waitresses would ever say anything. I've never had a problem. I have thought that if they mentioned it, I would simply tell them I can either order a soft drink OR give them a decent tip but I can't do both. Seriously. I can't spend money on both pop and tips. It's one or the other. For fast food, I usually go through the drive-thru anyway, so it's not an issue.
It's certainly not a nice trend that drink prices are going up. I'd just ask for a glass of iced water instead, in some ways it's also healthier than soda. Alternatively you could just brew some tea at home, pack it in a vacuum flask and enjoy it chilled or warm according to preference.
I just wouldn't even chance it, to be honest. I don't know if any one restaurant that allows it. I don't think it's right that the prices are sky rocketing, but I also don't think it's right to bring in stuff from elsewhere. I'd just ask for water instead, I prefer water to pop/fizz anyway. It's cheaper and better for you
I wouldn't have thought that any restaurant would be too happy with that. In fact, it's no different to you smuggling in your own food to stick on their plates. I would agree with Lushlala in going for the water route. Simply ask for tap water - I know some places get funny about providing it, but most shouldn't be. And it's definitely better for re-hydration.
I always thought that that the drinks in restos or even in Pizza Hut or Dominos Pizza is overpriced. So I chose to just buy take out or thru delivery then I buy my own drinks. I don't want to pay triple for the price of a soda that I can get cheaper somewhere else.
A person I know used to bring a lot of her own items into restaurants. She also took a lot of items home with her such as jelly, sugar, and salt packets, etc. She would also ask for a glass of water with lemon instead of ordering a drink, and then proceed to make herself a glass of lemonade with the lemon and some sugar packets. She would then fuss and fuss over the bill, look for excuses not to leave a tip, and just generally be an embarrassment. I didn't go out with her if I could avoid it. I'm not condemning your choice. I'm just noting that some people do take it to the extreme.
I leave a generous tip because I can afford to do so because I'm don't have to spend my money on soda. That was the entire point of me bringing my own tea in. It boiled down to either cut the tip out or cut the soda out. I chose to cut the soda out. If I have leftovers, I'll take home a doggie bag but I certainly don't steal from restaurants. I recently took my sister out for lunch and even though I drank my own tea, the bill was over $27. Just for lunch. I'm on a fixed income so I have to cut corners wherever I can. I just cannot keep up with everybody else. Yes, I could just order plain water and not put anything into it, but then I feel deprived because everybody else is drinking something and I'm too poor so I have to drink water. Bringing my own tea concentrate helps me feel not deprived. I don't think that is such a terrible thing. I leave a decent tip and that's the most important thing.
If it was just a fast food restaurant, I think it is not a big of a problem to do that. For me, I sometimes eat them with my own sweetened tea that is relatively cheap compared to soda. For higher class restaurants though, I think bringing outside food is prohibited and depending on the restaurant, they might either ask you politely not to do that or charge you for that. It reminds me of a story of people in Chinese restaurants that bring their own rice so that they can eat until they are full.
I always have a bottled water with me whenever I go out. It just doesn't save me some money, but it's also healthier as the experts have been claiming that drinking plenty of water is good for our body, and sodas are of course harmful.
And, that is certainly up to you. As I stated in the post you quoted, I was not condemning your choice. I'm sorry if you thought I was referencing you in any way. I was merely pointing out that there are people who take this idea to the extreme. I think the extreme ones need to rethink it. I was not trying to insult you or change your mind or look down on your choices or anything like it. I apologize if it came off that way. I just couldn't believe the woman I mentioned, because she was out of hand, in my opinion.
No problem. I know some people get out of hand and think they should "lift" just about everything from a restaurant when they go out to eat. I'm not that bad! It was just getting to the point, when I was going to have to make a choice between have a drink and leaving a tip. I'd rather spend money on a tip.
I was brought up to order water when we went to a restaurant. Even though it didn't use to be as expensive as it is now, buying any kind of a drink is always more costly than having that same drink at home. I remember my mom saying that she could buy a whole quart of milk for the same price as it cost to buy me a glass of milk to drink with my meal. Occasionally, like when we were at a drive-through burger stand, we would order a soda since it often came as part of the meal alonng with french fries. Otherwise, I had water with lemon in it, and that is what I still do. I have used a packet of sweetener and the lemon to make a kind of lemonade from the water; but usually I just drink it straight.
I think some restaurants might not like your idea! In many places they profit mostly on drinks, not so much in food. So if you are sitting at their table and having their food, they expect you to drink something there. Not that you need to, actually in the US you can have water for free, which in most places you can't.
Restaurants make money hand over fist on soda's and other fountain drinks. They purchase them in syrup form and hook the syrups up to a carbonated water dispenser. It literally ends up costing them only pennies per drink that they sell for like $2.50 each per person. So on a table of like 5 people, if everyone orders a soda, that's $12.50 on the check right there - just for 5 soda's. That said, your servers would likely frown on it if they saw you mixing your own drinks at the table. It's fine to order just plain water in a glass for free (though they will try to upsell you bottled water), but it's rather irritating to them when they see you either mixing your own drinks from some concentrated solution you brought in, or another popular method, asking for extra lemon wedges, then making lemonade at the table with the sugar packets. More than likely they are going to assume you're a cheapskate and you're going to screw them over on the tip and not leave 20%, so they may possibly start neglecting your table and focus more on other tables they are also waiting on. I've not seen any restaurants confront guests about making drinks at the table, but I have seen people kicked out of restaurants for sharing a plate of something, especially at the buffets in Vegas.
Sounds like a plan. If they kick you out, so be it. It's just a restaurant, not the royal palace. Although, I'd go one step further in saving money and my health, by not going to a restaurant to begin with. If you can't afford the 10 bucks a month, then making your own food would be a better option in place of a meal out.
I personally prefer not to bring around outside drinks to restaurants but I don't think it's wrong. I have some relatives who prefer to bring their own tea bags with them so they can drink it along with their meals, probably because they are more used to it and would prefer it over restaurants' free tea. I usually just order water if I'm trying to watch my budget though.
