Thursday Thrift: Dining Out

Och, I'm awake earlier than usual (and necessary!) today bco some kitty making a racket this morning.  'Some kitty' indeed.  I would normally blame Miles bc he's always getting into something so he gets a sort of blanket blame, but I knew fer sure it was him when I saw that someone had knocked a bunch of stuff off of a bathroom shelf.  He has this fixation with Q-tips and, once he spies them, will go to any length to get them.  I have to admit that he is adorable running around with a Q-tip in his mouth or when I find him asleep with a Q-tip.  In short, I can't get mad at him.  Or any of my cats; I certainly can't stay mad at them.

Today is Thursday which means it's Thursday Thrift here, not Friday Cat Blogging which is on, well, Friday.  Somehow those cats creep into everything around here.  They're like a fog that settles over everything.

On second thought, maybe I can stay mad at Miles.  I'm still yawning.  Gotta get another shot of diet coke.  Easy for Miles...he'll just be settling down into his daytime nap (approx. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) when I'm leaving for work today.

In January, I posted about the first in a series of articles published in December, 2008 about thrift in the Star-Ledger.  The second article is 'Be Thrift on the Homefront' and discusses ways to save on food and energy costs.  Let's see what they have to say about dining out.

1. BYOB.  Yes!  Definitely.  Alcohol is much more expensive when purchased from the restaurant.  Bonus: Presumably, you know you like whatever you're bringing to drink.  Con: If you're fussy about food-wine matching, you're bringing wine that may or may not well match whatever you decide to eat.   I wonder if people who BYOB drink more...hmm.
2. Look for deals.  Check newspapers, mailers, etc. for coupons, BOGOs, etc.  I would think that 'look for deals' pretty much applies to everything.
3. Dine early.  Some restaurants have senior discounts; others have kid discounts/kids' menus or kids eat free deals.  You don't have to be an oldster to take advantage of early bird menus.
4. Bring half your meal home...and have them for lunch or dinner another day.  Bonus: A popular weight loss tip is, when you order your meal, ask to have half of it packed to go before they bring it to you.  No temptation to eat the whole thing when you're no longer hungry, but the food is as yummy as ever.
5. Order cheaper items.  E.g., order appetizers instead of entrees; share entrees of several appetizers when dining with others; order off the bar menu; etc.
6. Sign up for restaurant email.  You'll get emails with coupons, special offers, etc.  You'll also get emails about other stuff, so it's a tradeoff if you're concerned about the amount of email you receive but end up deleting.
7. Get take out.  Provide your own drinks; no tip (or at least a minimal tip at the take out counter; certainly less than what you'd tip a waitperson); maybe you already have at home the fixings for part of the meal, e.g., salad or dessert.
8. Eat out at lunchtime.  Lunch menus are generally cheaper bc the meals are smaller.  There may also be lunch specials.  E.g., my usual lunch haunt has lunch specials, but not dinner specials (except on Friday& Saturday nights).  Yes, the lunch portions are smaller, but I still often end up taking half of that with me and I might leave it at work to have for lunch the next day.  Sometimes, when it's going to be a long day at work and I'll be there for lunch and dinner, I'll get a lunch special at said haunt, have the cup of soup that is an option with a lunch entree (or salad) for lunch and then have the entree part for dinner later.  So lunch and dinner at work for $7-$8.
9. Don't skimp on the tip.  Although I heartily approve this message (having been a member of the second oldest profession in the world), I'm not sure how this saves you money.  If you go to the same places regularly, it probably helps ensure you get good service.

To the above suggestions, I'd also add:

• Try restaurant.com.  The deal there is: You buy restaurant gift certificates for at least 50% of their value.  Sometimes they have sales where the certs will be, e.g., 50% off the 50% price.  So a cert originally valued at $10 regularly sells for $5 at restaurant.com, but if you get on their email list or somehow or other learn the current magic sale code you get it for $2.50.  Restaurant.com must have some kind of deal with Kevin's employer bc employees occasionally get emails with some special code to get even more $ off.  Anybody can use the codes, not just employees.  You get an email that tells you how to access your certs and then you print them off.  Notes: Sometimes there are restrictions, e.g., a particular restaurant's cert might be good Monday - Thursday (which is still handy bc sometimes you just don't feel up to cooking and if a meal out costs you maybe 75% less than usual, why not?).  Others might specify a minimum expenditure or minimum number of guests.  So read carefully before you buy the certs.  If you like to give gift cards, I think restaurant.com offers some kind of gift card.  You can also buy them as if buying them for yourself and then print them off, but I think the gift card would look nicer.

I was going to also blog about the article's tips for grocery shopping, but I gotta get a move on and this moving of which I speak is not going particularly fast this morning.  I'm sooooo tired that I just want to close my eyes and put my head back right here and now in the comfy chair, but I know I'd fall asleep again in seconds.  So I'll leave the article's grocery shopping tips for another day.