Our "Scary" Dining Out Expenses

Submitted by Phil on Thu, 10/30/2008 - 05:32.

We're one day away from Halloween so I thought it might be a good idea to follow Tim's lead and confess one of the expenses that "scares" me every time I review our spending: dining out expenses.

Dining Out Expenses

We spend way too much on dining out each and every month. In fact, if I could only review one category of my budget it would be this one. It probably has the most bearing on whether or not we reach our maximum savings potential each month.

It's likely we could add two or three-hundred more to our savings account each month if we really reduced our dining out.

Anyway, there's really no excuse for how much we spend. We just do it. We like food! And we have so many good options close by. Busy work and school schedules are likely the main culprit. I suspect when the baby comes along we'll be staying home for more meals so that will help to reduce the expense a bit.

How We Spend Less When Dining Out

Okay, so while we do dine out a bunch, we try and minimize the damage by:

  • Using Coupons - We review every half-off and freebie coupons that come in the mail and stash the good coupons in a kitchen drawer. Every time we're feeling up for a meal outside the house we check the deal drawer first. In the past we've also used www.restaurant.com, as well as a community coupon book purchased from the local little league team.
  • Splitting the Meal - There are certain restaurants we go to that serve huge portions, so splitting the meal makes sense. Most places will even serve the split meal on two plates for you. Tacky? Maybe. But so is stuffing yourself with today's huge portion sizes, and/or wasting a bunch of food.
  • Taking Half Home - If we don't feel like splitting the meal, we sometimes try to take half of our respective meals home and have it for a lunch the next day.
  • Skipping the Soda - The cost of a coke, soda, or pop (whatever you call it) at a restaurant is kinda ridiculous. When we can, we try and go for water instead.

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If you've got a tip for spending less on dining out I'd love to hear it. Let me know.

Photo by: moriza

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