Quote:
Originally Posted by 4691mls
Can't afford to eat out all the time.
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Yeah. Believe me, I do understand.
- Frozen meals are often very economical. Labor is a big cost in the price of restaurant food, and production of frozen meals takes very little of that. Some of the meals actually taste pretty decent, although they won't be mistaken for fresh or homemade. Of course, if you've got coupons from the newspaper or Internet for cents-off, that makes it even better. Check sale flyers for specials on frozen meals, entrees, and vegetables, and load up on them when they're on sale. Walmart here used to ad-match until relatively recently, but they no longer do it. It may be a store policy here (store managers seem like they have been going through a revolving door here lately) now, but not in other places. I dunno.
- Consider unconventional places. I used to go to the local community college to eat lunch. Saved a ton of money, and the food was decent enough. And, I even bought meal tickets, which brought down the price even more. And, don't forget hospital restaurants, sometimes they're cheap and good (and healthier) (however, some of them seem to overcharge non-hospital staff so that they can offer hospital staff (many of which have no shortage of money) cheaper meals). There are also places like nursing homes, if it doesn't get you depressed or whatever.
- Clip restaurant coupons. Keep your head on a swivel while you're out and about town, looking for flyers, advertisement booklets, etc. that often have these. Look for them hiding near cash registers at fast food places and inquire about them. Sometimes sales on restaurant gift cards can give you the equivalent of 10% or more off of meals, when you use those cards.
- Do the majority of your eating at times during the day when the prices are cheaper. Lunchtime is almost always cheaper than evenings. One place here has lunch pretty decently priced to begin with. But between 2-4 p.m. seniors (I'm not really one, but they just give me the discount without me asking, anyway) get a big break in price. There's usually no difference in the food or portions thereof, they just need to increase business in "dead" times like 2-4 p. m. Keep a mental file of these places.
- Save leftovers--and eat them! I often buy a pizza special at a great local pizza shop. It runs about $15. Expensive, to me, but I can usually make three meals out of it (hint: if you get extra tomato sauce on the pizza (usually free), the pizza tends to taste better when it is reheated).
- Drinks and desserts are where a lot of restaurants make their profit. Personally, I almost never buy a drink at a restaurant. They're usually way overpriced ($2.00 for a glass of mainly water and a little bit of tea in it. PULEEEZE!). And, I like iced water to drink with meals about as well as anything else, again personally. I only very rarely eat a dessert, unless the restaurant has them moderately price or they come with a meal (as at a buffet). Then, if you tip the waiter/waitress based on how much you paid for the meal, you have to it add accordingly.
- If you can stand it, complete surveys (information about them is usually on the back of receipts from the restaurants). Here, I know that the chains Burger King and Wendy's do it. So does Popeyes Chicken (regional--based in New Orleans, I think). You can get $2 off of a salad or a large sandwich at Wendy's, by completing a survey, for example. But watch it--sometimes they're not really all that great of deals. Using Wendy's value menu usually works out better than buying a large sandwich with $2 off, for example. And, as a wise (and now pretty wealthy) friend of mine told me years ago, "money is time and time is money." It's time-consuming and a hassle to do these surveys and there comes a point where the savings is not worth the aggravation and loss of time that you could be doing something that you like to do or doing productive work that will net you more money than you would save by filling out surveys.
Just some things that quickly come to mind. You might be surprised how much little steps like the above add up. And you're still eating well.
But do keep in mind that driving to restaurants is not free. It does cost you, at least eventually, in wear & tear, gas, maintenance, depreciation, insurance, etc. There's a reason that the IRS lets business people take off 44 cents a mile, or whatever it is, and I can guarantee you that it's not because of the goodness of their heart. It's expensive to own and operate a vehicle! I was impressed with that this week, when I got hit with a mostly unexpected $700 auto repair bill. Ouch! Make sure to factor that in. If you rely mainly on stockpiles of frozen meals, you minimize this expense.
Good luck.