Frugal Tips for Spending Less when Dining Out

Save money on drinks

Save money on drinks by resisting the urge to purchase soda, tea or alcoholic drinks and order water. If you need some flavor in your water, ask for lemon. Water is free and good for you, too. Drink soda or other beverages at home, which is much cheaper than ordering a drink that can cost several dollars at a restaurant. What many restaurants and fast food places don’t want you to know is that they make a lot of profit from drinks because it only costs pennies per drink and many restaurants charge up to two dollars on just one soda. Sometimes even more. This is one very easy way you can save money when dining out.

Sign up for customer discounts by joining restaurant clubs

Many restaurants offer clubs you can join to receive discounts or special rewards when dining with the restaurant again. You can sign up for most clubs by going online to the restaurant’s website. For example, O’Charley’s has an e-club, which you can sign up for and receive email discounts that you can print out and take to the restaurant on your next outing. Pick a couple of your favorite restaurants that you dine at often and check their websites for email signups to receive information on free promotions and discounts. If you don’t see the information on their website, call to inquire or ask them in person the next time you’re dining out.

Use coupons or gift certificates

Look for paper coupons in the Sunday newspaper and in the free coupon magazines that are mailed out regularly, such as Valpak and Reach. You can find coupons with various discounts at local restaurants.

Use 804 Half Off (http://804halfoff.com/intro.php) to get restaurant certificates for half off the regular price to many Richmond restaurants.

Visit Half Off Richmond (http://wric.halfoffrichmond.com/) each Thursday at 9 a.m. to see which merchant is featured each week. You can purchase gift certificates to local restaurants for half off the regular price.

Check out Richmond For Less (http://rich.richmond-forless.com/) which also offers gift certificates to local restaurants for half off. Many of their gift certificates are worth $50 dollars and you can purchase them for only $25 dollars.

Use restaurant.com and other money saving sites

Use restaurant.com to purchase gift certificates to local restaurants for pennies on the dollar. Sometimes you can even get $25 dollar gift certificates for only a couple of dollars by using coupon codes when purchasing a gift certificate. You can get certificates for 70 percent, 80 percent and even, sometimes, 90 percent off the retail price. Find restaurant.com coupon codes (http://www.behindthecounter.com/restaurant-com-coupon-codes/) to get a great deal on dining out at many Richmond restaurants.

Use opentable.com to make reservations to local restaurants and earn dining reward points. Standard reservations earn 100 dining reward points each. You can earn bonus points for reservations at select restaurants and times. Look for "1,000-point" reservations to accumulate dining rewards fast. You can redeem dining reward points for Open Table dining checks, which can be used at any Open Table restaurant. You need a minimum of 2,000 points to redeem a dining check for $20 dollars. It may take a while to accumulate your points depending on how often you dine out. You can get a $20 dollar check good at any restaurant in Richmond that participates in the Open Table program.


Change the timing of dining out

You can often save money by just changing the time you dine out. For example, eat lunch out instead of dinner. Lunch is generally cheaper than dinner at many restaurants.  Also, another suggestion is to eat on a weekday when a restaurant may offer a special deal as opposed to the weekend. For example, a restaurant may offer a deal on Tuesday where you can buy one entrée and get one free or you could purchase your food at a discounted price one night a week. Some restaurants offer early bird specials through the week, so if you can eat dinner before 6 p.m. you can get a discounted price on your food.


Eat for free on your birthday

If you sign up for your favorite restaurant’s savings club online, you will usually get an email before your birthday with a coupon for something free. Some restaurants will give you a free appetizer or a dessert and some will even give you a free meal.


Use coupon codes to order food online

If you’re ordering in, you can save money by ordering online and using a coupon code. For example, many pizza places offer online coupon codes that you can use to get a discounted pizza or even free items like drinks or breadsticks. Behind The Counter (http://www.behindthecounter.com) offers coupon codes to several pizza places like Pizza Hut and Domino’s. See their Domino’s coupon codes (http://www.behindthecounter.com/dominos-coupon-codes/) before ordering a pizza online. Also, it is cheaper to go pick up your food rather than paying to have it delivered.


Food tactics to save money

You could split a meal with another person or order only an appetizer if you don’t want to order a full meal. Save your leftovers for later. Many restaurants have such large portions that you can’t eat it all by yourself or in one sitting.

Purchase only an entrée and skip ordering extras like appetizers and desserts, which add more to your bill. If you really want an appetizer or dessert, opt to eat those at home.


Dine out on special “kids eat free” nights

If you have children and would like to save money on dining out, dine out on special “kids eat free” nights at many local restaurants. You can find a list of which local restaurants offer free meals for kids and the day of the week they offer the free meals at Completely Kids Richmond.
(http://completelykidsrichmond.com/restaurants_with_kids.html)

Purchase an “Entertainment Book”

Purchase a Richmond entertainment book (http://richmond.entertainment.com/discount/restaurant/pizza.html) filled with many local money saving coupons, including coupons for many restaurants. The Richmond entertainment book also has coupons for local activities and entertainment.

Check your receipt

Always check your receipt for money saving offers or for contests to win items such as gift cards or free food on your next visit. Often receipts have money saving offers displayed at the bottom of the receipt or sometimes on the back.


Amanda Bradbury is a freelance writer in Richmond who enjoys frugal living, coupon clipping and saving money. To learn more about Amanda, visit her blog at http://www.allfrugalstuff.com and follow her on Twitter @mandasparkle.