We mainly look for restaurants that offer Kids Eat Free. We have 3 kids so it adds up quickly. Occasionally we have had early dinner to eat at the lunch prices. Later that evening we will have a nice treat at home like yogart parfaits.

We do have offers like that around here. Subway has $2.99 footlongs on Tuesdays and $3 and $5 lunch deals the rest of the week that my kids and I can share. I've seen several buffets where the kids under six can eat free on certain days. We mainly don't use those deals unless we want a treat or we can't eat at home.

My family eats healthier than a lot of families and it is still not healthy enough. There is junk food coming at us from so many sources. Restaurant food is often loaded with extra fat and calories. We've started taking portions home as a way not to just sit there and keep eating. I try to use eating out as a treat instead of a way of life.

Buy $25 gift certificates for $10 at Restaurant.com for local restaurants.

It has worked well for us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Restaurant.com

Also, many restaurants offer gift certificate deals. Some have free $5 girtcard with the purchase of $25. One of my favorite fine dining restaurants offer a free $25 with the purchase of a $100 card. Most restaurants offer these type of deals around the holidays.

The restaurant.com site used to offer good deals. Now, most of the places have "fine print" written on the cetificates, usually stating that to use the certificate one must make a minimun purchase of $35-50 AND that dollar amount does not include beverages. So you cannot just order two $12.95 meals, and use the $25 certificate, or two $7.95 meals and a bottle of wine, and use it. Some are excluding weekends now, and some restaurants are only allowing the certificates to be used at certain times of day.

So you have to order $50 dollars worth of food to use it, then add in a couple of bevs for maybe $20 and you've spent $70 for the priviledge of using a $25 certificate that cost you $13 to get it. So you "save" $13 by spending $70. Not a good deal IMHO unless you eat out like this ($$$$) a lot, and don't mind the hassle of searching for certificates online, and running to the library to print them out, and keeping track of the expiration dates on them, and always having to explain to the server what they are when the bill comes.

And you can NEVER "save money" by eating out. It is always cheaper to prepare your own food. If you do choose to eat out, you can find places that offer a better value for your dollar, but it is always going to be more expensive than any other options.

bud wi,That was funny!

"And you can NEVER "save money" by eating out. It is always cheaper to prepare your own food."

We do!

We eat free at Red Lobster/Olive Garden/Bahama Breeze with my Discover card Cashback bonus rewards....
FREE is cheaper than cooked at home - and NO dishes! :)

We don't eat out often and rarely go out on the weekend because the local restaurants are so crowded. DH does not do lines. When we do go out, we try to go to a nicer restaurant. We split a salad and dessert and order 2 entrees and drink water. That usually adds up to about $35 or so. Almost all of the $25 certificates require that one spends $35 in food to get the $25 off. So we get a $35 meal for $20 - not quite half price but better than paying full price.

Guess different areas have different restrictions.

And, yes, it is cheaper to eat at home.

The original post related to saving dollars when using restaurants.

Several posters related to ways that they achieve this.

Some others suggested some cautionary ideas that a person who had thought that they were making big savings at such times (or about to) may have actually been (or about to) save less than they thought.

Someone also suggested that there may be some flaws in the basic premise here, in terms of *actual* savings related to the whole financial picture of family ... that it's usually cheaper to eat at home.

And someone also suggested that there may be some health risks associated with certain basic ways that a number of restaurants provide their product.

All in all, a worthwhile discussion, I think ... without anyone getting his/her knickers in a knot.

I've been a bit surprised by the statistics that show what proportion of meals the average family eats out, rather than at home.

Good wishes for a week that brings enough healthful food to eat, along with the other necessities of life.

And foresight to arrange for similar experience at age 90, should one get that far, rather than being reduced to eating turnips nearly daily. Or, of necessity due to skinny wallet, eating three times a week at the kids' house (if they live close enough to make that a viable option).

ole joyful (nearing 80)

Thanks Ole Joyful! I love your insight and sense of perspective on things, with its added dash of wry humor.

When we eat at a restaurant, there is always the added expense of gas to get there (usually) and at least a couple of dollars extra for a tip. So my $5.00 meal quickly turns into a $7.00 meal. Still not bad, but we do have to factor the extra cost in to be sure we are getting a bargain. Bettye (who thinks any meal I don't have to cook in this heat is a bargain! LOL)

western_pa_luann - "We eat free at Red Lobster/Olive Garden/Bahama Breeze with my Discover card Cashback bonus rewards.... FREE is cheaper than cooked at home..."

You can apply your cash back bonus as payment to your bill. So it is no more 'free' than cash out of your pocket.

"You can apply your cash back bonus as payment to your bill. So it is no more 'free' than cash out of your pocket."

?? Why would I do that ??

If I owe $2000, I owe $2000... whether there is a cashback bonus or not. The cashback bonus is free 'money' (even if it is applied to the bill - which I have never done)... and the bonus is worth more if you take it as a reward.

If I have $100 in cashback bonus, I can get five (5) $25 restaurant gift cards. I can have five lunches with friends for FREE... they even take out the tip.

Another thing I have done is cash in $20 of the cashback bonus for $40 at Mrs Fields... then I can send gift baskets to friends having birthdays or anniversaries at little cost to me.

No, if your bill is $2000 you can apply your $100 cashback bonus to the balance and now only need to write a check for $1,900. Instead you take gift cards and write the check for $2,000. So you aren't getting anything free.

With that said, there is nothing wrong with you using your bonus that way. I just wanted to point out how it worked for others who may read this. Enjoy your food!

Having read your post some more it appears you are getting a discount ($125 restaurant gift cards for $100; $40 of cookies for $20). So you are saving money at restaurants as this thread was all about. Good for you!

My point remains the same. It is not FREE food, it is food at about 20%-50% off according to your examples. Good idea if you are eating out anyway, but still likely more expensive than staying home.

"Instead you take gift cards and write the check for $2,000. So you aren't getting anything free."

Yes - I am getting FREE $25 gift cards.

I am not paying for them and they have value.... I eat meals in a restaurant and do not have to pay for it.

I don't see how that is not free....

If you apply your $100 bonus to your account, your bill the next month is $100 less than it would have been (you will see a -$100 entry at the begining of the itemized list along with any returns you made). Instead, you are choosing $125 worth of coupons for the restaruant (5 x $25). So you are choosing between $100 more in your checking account next month and $125 worth of restaurant food. So it is not 'FREE'. It is a good decision on your part if you are taking your friends out to eat there anyway. If you would have otherwise ate at home (likely for less than $100) then it is not a good deal. Not putting you down, we go out to eat quite often ourselves. And it's nice you take your freinds out. It's just not "FREE".

DH and I order the large dinner at several restaurants and share it. We were in Dallas yest and got the seafood platter at Pappadeux's, split it and had some left over. Some of the restaurants here have a senior citizen discount and at some you're allowed to order from the kid's menu.

Sorry but it is....

If I apply the $100 to my account, that is a free $100 that I do not have to pay. (I pay only $1900 instead of $2000 to have my account paid in full)

If I take the gift cards instead, they are free.

Can anyone help me explain this at all???
Or are you just staying out of this? LOL!!

western_pa_luann - I think I see now how you and I are on a different page. To you they are both free, and you are correct. My perspective is that I have already earned the $100 CASH-back bonus as money in my pocket (technically next months pocket). You are trading $100 cash for $125 in coupons. I consider that BUYING $125 in coupons for $100 cash. Yes they are both free, but your are giving up CASH for FOOD. The $100 in groceries would go farther than the $125 at the restaruant. That was my point.

LOL!

"The $100 in groceries would go farther than the $125 at the restaruant. That was my point."

THAT I agree with....

And either way (groceries or restaurant) I don't spend a dime!

If my employer said I could have restaurant coupons instead of my paycheck I'd say NO. I tell Discover that I want the cash that i EARNED (for using their card) and not coupons. I consider choosing coupons over cash as 'buying' the coupons. I hope you don't think that mortgages are good things because they save you on income tax!

I think we just have to agree to disagree on this and let people get back to using this thread for it's purpose. So I'm done. Thanks for the coversation!

"If my employer said I could have restaurant coupons instead of my paycheck I'd say NO."

Ummm... I think everyone would! How else would you pay the bills?

(I don't have a mortgage....)

Maybe that's why I take the cash (30 year mortgage) and you take the coupons. I'll trade places with you :-)

When we get groceries at WalMart we stop by their Subway and split a foot long sandwich. It's cheap and we enjoy eating "out". Linn

Back to the OP -

azzalea, I noticed in today's paper that a few locally owned restaurants have specials on Monday and Tuesday. DH and I haven't taken advantage of them yet... but we will have to give them a try!
Thanks for the prompting to keep my eyes open!

Another thing to remember at restaurants. The BIGGEST markup is on drinks and desserts. Order water and have a dessert at home. Or quite often the desserts are so big you can order one and several spoons to share.

Speedway(gas station) has a reward program that i signed up for. I buy there gas anyways because they are usually the cheapest around town. After so many points you can earn restaurant giftcards and other rewards.

A lot of pubs and bars around here sell food. The menu is a little limmited in some places, but mostly the food is very good and much cheaper than a restaurant.

Keep an eye out for fliers at the bar, they often have coupons and offers in them. Some of the big pub/bar chains have web sites too, which list offers.

Other places to find coupons are anywhere tousists go, like the tourist information office and hotel lobbies.

We tend to eat expensive food items at home, like steak and shellfish and go out for cheap food like gyros and pizza. I'll spend $20 at the grocery for crab for the two of us but to get that out would be a really expensive meal. The cost of the pizza at home is not much less that eating out.