Let’s save when dining out

We love, love love, dining out. We didn’t realize how much until we realized we had $51,000 in credit card debt and much of that due to dining out. So, we’ve come up with five unique ways to save when dining out.

How to save when dining out

Dining out doesn’t have to put a dent in your budget. Through our years of becoming and staying debt free, we’ve learned how to save when dining out. Similar articles are on blogs all over the internet. That’s why we did our homework to create two unique ways to save when dining out that you won’t find anywhere else.

Hear about the most unique ways to save when dining out:

Topics covered about how to save when dining out

1. Split meals

Our favorite and most frequently used tip is splitting meals with each other. This helps us both save money and save on calories, which happen to both be goals. The restaurants we mostly frequent are Garbanzo’s, Chipotle and a local place called Spicy Bombay.

We can split a basic meal at each of these places and spend less than $12 total, $6 each. Chipotle is usually more expensive because along with the naked burrito bowl we split, we buy salsa, guac and chips.

2. Have apps and drinks out, eat dinner at home

Another favorite way of ours to save when dining out is eating the expensive course at home. Usually, we’ll ride bikes or walk to a favorite restaurant, split an appetizer and have a drink each, then pick up something fresh to grill, like steaks or salmon filet, for dinner on the way home.

This is another healthy date that helps us not overblow our budget. We get some walking or riding in and our main course is something healthy from the grill accompanied by a fresh vegetable or two. Add a bottle of wine, and that’s a perfect night in our book.

You could also flip this on its head by eating your main course at home then walking or biking somewhere for dessert.

3. Use only cash

If you’ve read 4: The Four Principles of a Debt Free Life, you know that we think cash is king. Studies show that using cash saves anywhere from 12% – 18% because humans are inclined to overspend by 12% – 18% when using credit or debit cards.

On this episode of Queer Money™, David shares our formula for including tax and tip on your meal when using only cash. That way, you don’t fall short.

4. Restaurant crawl

You won’t find this recommendation to save when dining out anywhere else. Choose three to five restaurants you want to hit in one night. In advance, choose the cheapest option for each course that you plan to have at each of the three to five restaurants that you plan to visit.

Sync some courses with any specials each restaurant has and find coupons online or on Groupon to make your dining excursion even cheaper. This is something fun to do with your friends or your man, but remember that the more people you include the more likely you are to overspend because it becomes a party.

5. Order efficiently

Our final recommendation and second unique recommendation when dining out is to order efficiently. This is why I rarely get chicken or spaghetti when we dine out. There’s no point in paying top dollar for something you can easily make at home, like a salad that costs $15 at a restaurant. There’s also no reason to pay a lot for low-calorie and low-nutrition food, like iceberg lettuce that costs $0.80 at a store.

To save money when dining out, order efficiently and get your money’s worth.

Now, go out, dine out and have fun with your SO or your friends because now you have a plan to save when dining out.

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