We all know that eating at home is cheaper than eating out but sometimes you just want to go out to eat. What can you do to make eating out not eat up all your money? All it takes is a little planning.
You can get coupons from daily deal sites such as groupon or living social or you could buy discounted gift certificates on restaurant.com. You could also buy gift cards for your favorite chain restaurants on plastic jungle.
Both daily deal sites and restaurant.com allow you to buy a gift certificate for less than the amount you will spend but restaurant.com does require you to spend anywhere from ten to twenty dollars more than the gift certificate plus tax and tip. The website will let you know how much you need to spend and any restrictions. Some common restrictions are the higher price gift certificates only being useable at dinner or cheaper ones only useable at lunch. Daily deals are cheaper but normally you can only buy one per person and the choices are not stable.
If none of the restaurants from those sites appeal to you, I would recommend checking out plastic jungle. You won't get a good of a discount as the other sites but could save about seven to ten percent. Hey, that takes care of tax. You can also not buy alcohol, honestly just drinking water will save a large percent. Also keep in mind that most meals at restaurants are much bigger than you should be eating, put half or so aside for your next meal or split a meal.
By using these tricks you can go out for anywhere from 50%-90% cheaper than you would expect. And that means you can go out more often. Remember to check upromise and ebates before purchasing any of the gift certificates so you can get cash back on your eating out purchase. Right now upromise is giving 15% back on restaurant.com purchases.
These are great tips. Some restaurants will also have coupons in the Sunday paper or offer deals on their showcase dishes. It is always worth checking out for your favorite restaurant.
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