10 Restaurant hacks to save your budget
Dining out with family and friends is a fun experience, but it can take a large bite out of your budget. No worries — we’re not trying to convince you to give up your favorite fast-food restaurant. Instead, use our 10 restaurant hacks to trim your bill when dining out.
1. Look left
When looking at a menu, most people’s eyes drift to the right. Restaurants know this and purposely put their most expensive items on the right side of the menu. Before looking right, check out the left side of the menu for cheaper options or appetizers that can make a complete meal.
2. Eat out on Mondays and Tuesdays
The beginning of the week is slow for the restaurant industry. So take advantage of specials and discounts that eateries offer only on Mondays and Tuesdays.
3. Skip the Chef “Special”
The Chef Special you’re looking at on the menu is actually not that special at all. It’s more like a code for “We just inflated the price on this dish for no reason.”
4. Don’t eat out on major holidays
To make significant holidays super-profitable, many eateries only offer fixed-price menus. These menus might sound cheap until you consider that the four-course meal for $55 is a lot more expensive than the $18 entrée you’d have otherwise ordered. If you’d like to celebrate these special days with a restaurant meal, consider eating out the day before or after the holiday.
5. Take it to go
Pick up food from your favorite eatery and enjoy it at home. You’ll save on server tips, beverage costs, and extras. To make it super-cheap, only purchase the entrée. Then, roast some veggies and potatoes at home for a quick side and crack open some rocky road ice cream for dessert.
6. Drink water
Restaurants are notorious for marking up beverage prices. Soft drinks are marked up by 400% and alcoholic beverages by 600%. Ask for water, and you’ll save a pretty penny on your final check.
7. Don’t pay full price
Never walk into a restaurant without first checking for online deals and coupons. Visit the eatery’s website and check out restaurant deal sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, Restaurant.com, and OpenTable.
8. Split it
Instead of ordering individual portions that look like they are for giants, split an entrée with your dining partner.
9. Eat like a kid
If the restaurant allows, order from the kids’ menu. The items there are always priced better, and you might find that one or two kids’ menu choices are enough to keep you satisfied.
10. Skip dessert
It takes our stomachs a while to get the memo that we’ve had enough. So don’t order dessert right after scraping your plate clean. Wait, and you might find that you’re so full that you can’t eat another morsel.
If you follow these 10 restaurant hacks you will save some money going out to eat. In what ways have you been able to save? Share them with us in the comments. Did you know our advantage checking has local coupons through Bazing? Find out more about it here: Bazing Rewards.
