When filling your stomach with healthy and delicious foods, grocery shopping and cooking is almost always the most frugal option. However, we all need a treat every once in while, including the occasional trip to a favorite restaurant. By committing to frugal money saving tips when dining, it is possible to eat out on a budget without depriving yourself.
Read on to learn about how to eat out on a budget.
Reasons to Eat Out Besides Treating Yourself
Besides occasionally treating yourself, there are several reasons eating out may be a good option for your family:
- When a family member is sick
- A loss in the family
- If you have a new baby or have recently adopted a child
- Moving homes
During these often busy and expensive times in one’s life, it’s especially important to create and stick to a budget – including one for grocery shopping and restaurant dining. Next, let’s go over the best money saving hacks so you can learn how to eat out on a budget.
Essential Tips on How to Eat Out on a Budget
1. Include Restaurant and Takeout Dining in Your Budget
Before trying out the different ways to eat out on a budget, you need to have a plan. Decide how much you’ll have to spend each month on takeout and restaurant outings. If you plan ahead, you won’t feel guilty about indulging every once in a while. Not sure what a good dollar figure is for restaurant outings? Start with $100-$200 per month. After a month, assess if you struggled to stay on budget and adjust your monthly spending limit accordingly.
2. Eat Out on a Budget by Checking for Meal Deals In Your Area
While eating out can really… eat into your budget (pun intended – sorry), it is possible to dine on a budget. Some restaurants offer special discounts such as:
- Kids under a certain age eating for free
- Buy 1 get 1 drink, appetizer or main course for free
- Meal deals where you get bread, an appetizer, main course and sometimes even dessert included for a fair price
Check what’s popular in your area to see which deals are available. Additionally, if available, sign up for a restaurant’s loyalty card and email list. You may have access to rewards and coupons that many others won’t.
3. Drink Water Before Going
This tip might seem like going frugal extreme, but bear with me. When you drink water, you’ll feel fuller longer. Additionally, you will be less likely to overeat, saving you money and keeping you on track with staying healthy. While drinking water isn’t a meal replacement, it’s a good idea to ensure you’re well-hydrated to you order and consume appropriate food portions.
4. Eat Out on a Budget by Skipping the Beverages
Choosing to say “Waters all around, please!” can save you anywhere from $10-$50 on your restaurant bill – even more if you’re in a larger group. Does the thought of drinking water sound boring? Ask for a lemon to flavor your water. Water is also healthier than soda and alcohol, both of which are full of empty calories. A win for your wallet and your waistline!
5. Enjoy an Appetizer at Home Before Going to the Restaurant
Choosing to eat a small snack before heading to the restaurant can save you a lot when the bill comes to your table. Prepare a healthy, filling snack so you don’t order too much food at the restaurant. Some ideas for a filling, cheap and nutritious appetizer include:
- Pitas with veggies, hummus and crackers
- A fresh fruit plate with a peanut butter or yogurt dip
- Crackers and cheese
- Homemade spinach dip with pumpernickel bread
- Bruschetta
When going to the grocery store, be sure to keep your money-saving hat on by shopping frugal. Price compare at different grocery stores and go to stores that offer price matching. Additionally, make appetizers with frugal foods such as cucumbers, crackers, tomatoes and cheap fruits like bananas and apples.
6. Order an Appetizer as Your Main Course
If you’ve filled up before heading to the restaurant, order an appetizer as a main course. Appetizers are generally more expensive for the amount of food you get, but they’re still a lot cheaper than a main course. When you eat before you go, you’ll save lots on your bill. Another easy way to eat out on a budget: order 2 or 3 appetizers to share with a small group. You’ll enjoy a variety of tasty dishes without breaking the bank.
7. Eat Out On a Budget by Going for Lunch Instead of Dinner
Flexible with when you’ll go out to eat? Go out for lunch instead of dinner. This simple switch can save you 20-40% on your bill – sometimes even more. Restaurants follow the rules of supply and demand and lower their prices at lunch to incentivize customers to go out to eat. Prices are much higher at dinnertime because this is when most people are available to go out to eat. Take an hour or two off of work to go out for lunch. Fill up on a large meal and eat a light dinner at home instead of eating lunch at home and going out for dinner.
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8. Don’t Upgrade Your Side
If you want to save a few dollars here and there that will add up in the long run, stick with the side options that the restaurant provides. For example, if the restaurant offers a side salad or fries are the default side, stick with those instead of upgrading to chili cheese fries for $3.99 extra. While that doesn’t seem like a lot of money, if you apply this money saving technique towards the whole family’s order, you can save a minimum of $15-$20 just on sides. If you keep applying this frugal tip each time you dine out, you’ll save a lot of money in the long run.
9. Take Advantage of Birthday Discounts
If your birthday is coming up, go out on your actual birthday at a restaurant that offers free stuff. Even in this day and age, restaurants often provide discounts or a free dessert or appetizer on your cake day. Go online and check which restaurants in your area offer special deals for birthdays.
10. Choose an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet over Regular Dining
An all-you-can-eat buffet is an economical way to eat out on a budget. Try to find a lunch buffet instead of dinner as lunch is generally a lot cheaper. Load up on healthy carbs such as whole-grain pasta, salads, breads, beans and lentils. While the quality of buffet-style foods may not always be the highest, fresh foods will keep you satisfied.
While all-you-can-eat buffets are a great way to fill up, just be sure not to stuff yourself. While you may be excited about all the food available, overeating will cost you by making you sick and tired for the rest of the day. When you’re laying in bed for the rest of the day exhausted from all the food, you’re wasting your own time. Being frugal isn’t just about money – it’s about how you use your time. When you spend the whole day in bed, you’ll miss out on time you could spend working on a business or engaging in other side hustles.
11. Choose a Restaurant That Serves Large Portions
Many family-style and diner restaurants serve large portions of food. Take advantage of this by ordering a large portion of food – say, a sandwich that comes with a large side of fries. Your friend or family member than can order their own sandwich and you can split the fries two ways. Alternatively, you can each order your own dishes and take whatever you don’t eat to go. This way, you’ll have food for one or two more meals. Is there anything better than reheated rotisserie chicken and fries the next day for lunch?
12. Order Takeout – Eat Out on a Budget While Staying In
Learning how to eat out on a budget isn’t just limited to going out to eat. Takeout should be included in your eating out budget as it’s just as expensive, if not more when you add in the delivery fee. Additionally, some restaurants who list their offerings on apps such as User Eats and GrubHub raise their prices to compensate for platform fees.
Eat out on a budget while staying in by participating in the following frugal tips:
Delivery Platform Signup Bonuses
When you sign up for many delivery platforms, you often get a discount off your first order. Sign up for each platform and take advantage of signup fees. At the very least, platforms often offer you free delivery on your first few orders.
Platform Discounts
In addition to signup discounts and offers, online delivery platforms often have promos going on. Take advantage of free delivery and discounts at select restaurants to maximize your takeout budget.
Prepare Your Own Drinks and Appetizers and Only Order Entrees
In the same way you should consider eating an appetizer at home before going to a restaurant, apply this tip to takeout as well. Prepare a healthy, filling snack to eat before you order delivery. Appetizers can be costly – especially when you factor in the delivery fees and tip. When you only order entrees, you’ll automatically save. Additionally, forgo ordering sodas and other beverages. Instead, pick up a bottle of pop or reasonably-priced bottle of wine and enjoy it with your takeout pad thai. Buying your own beverages means more savings kept in your pocket.
Cheap vs. Frugal When Eating Out on a Budget
The tips listed above should be tried by anyone serious about eating out on a budget. Being extremely frugal is just fine! However, just because your main goal is saving money doesn’t mean you should deprive yourself. When being frugal with what you eat, it’s easy to confuse being frugal vs. cheap. There is a clear difference between cheap and frugal:
Being Cheap When Learning How to Eat Out on a Budget
Being cheap when eating out on a budget is easy to do, even when you don’t do it on purpose.
One important note: if you’re a person or family who is struggling financially, there’s nothing wrong with trying to save as much money as possible. A cheap and stingy person is someone who has the means to afford dining out without coupons but is always unnecessarily cheap. Take care of your family first and don’t worry about whether you’re being cheap or not.
With that, here are the telltale signs someone is being too frugal when dining out.
Only Paying With Coupons
There’s nothing wrong with thoroughly browsing your mail delivery and favorite restaurant apps to find a deal. However, if you’re someone who refuses to eat out unless you can find a coupon, you’re leaning towards being a cheap person. Don’t deprive yourself of enjoyment. If food brings you joy, include takeout and dining in your budget so you don’t feel you need to use coupons every single time you go out.
Not Ordering Anything at All
Believe it or not, some people are so cheap that they will only order a Coke when going out with family or friends. There’s nothing wrong with saving as much money as possible. However, when you go out only to order a cheap beverage, you’re taking up table space in a restaurant where others are spending good money. Servers rely on tips to make a living. When you tip a small amount on a beverage, they aren’t making any money.
Leaving a Low Tip or No Tip
If you’re traveling to or located in Canada, the United States or another country where tipping is commonplace, this is one area where you should absolutely never be stingy on. Even if you think frugalism extends to how much you tip, when you leave a low tip or none at all, you are negatively impacting someone’s livelihood. Servers rely on tips to make an income in countries such as Canada or the United States.
Many years ago, I worked at a restaurant where the servers needed to pay a small portion of their tips into the kitchen and host tip pools. When a customer left a low tip – or none at all – the server was left to pay out of their own pocket. Think before you go out. If you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip!
Being Frugal When Learning How to Eat Out on a Budget
While being cheap means that you’re being stingy and potentially impacting others’ livelihoods, the difference between cheap and frugal essentially means that your actions are smart. The essential tips I listed provide frugal ways to eat out on a budget without being cheap.
As I mentioned earlier, cheapness is when someone decides only to go out when they can use coupons. However, don’t let that deter you from using coupons altogether. Why not commit to couponing as much as possible and also treat yourself to one meal per month regardless as to whether you can use coupons or not?
A Final Word on How to Eat Out on a Budget
There are so many ways to eat out on a budget without feeling you’re depriving yourself of enjoying tasty dishes. With a little planning, it’s easy to save money at restaurants without depriving yourself of enjoyable foods. Find balance between restaurant dining, takeout and cooking your own food!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
