WFMW: Frugal Tip for Eating Out

It's Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer, and I thought I'd post a frugal tip for restaurant dining. One area where we struggle to remain true to our frugal ways is in the area of eating out. We love dining in restaurants, and me probably more than James. It kills me when kids meals cost more than a whole-family meal prepared at home, but every once in a while, eating out is something we feel we just have to do. There you go -- the secret's out.

We do, however, eat out in a frugal-ish way with the help of The Entertainment Book. When we plan to eat out, we choose a type of food we want, and then scour the book for local restaurants at half price. (Most of the restaurant coupons are for buy-one-get-one-free entrees.) One Sunday after church, we ate at a restaurant we'd been dying to try, and for both of us to eat and to bring home another complete meal of leftovers cost $14.00 plus tip. Not too bad at all...

In addition to restaurant coupons, there are coupons for various forms of entertainment (movies, theme parks, putt-putt golf, festivals, etc.), for travel, for auto repair, for hair styling, for groceries, and more. You can generally look at your local book before buying it, and they can generally be found in grocery stores, drugstores, or bookstores like Barnes and Noble.

As for us, we picked up a 2008 book before Christmas with a coupon (yes, I used a coupon to buy a coupon book), and though it still cost $20.00 even with that discount, that amount of money and more was saved within the first week of Entertainment Book ownership. (Our daughter's ballet school had a coupon for 50% of one month's tuition, so we saved $25 immediately.) Because we've used the book so much already and it's only February, I picked up a second copy two weeks ago at Barnes and Noble where it is now being sold at half-price. (Part of me wonders if I should get a third... we'll see.) The current special on the Entertainment Book website is $10.00 off retail PLUS a $25.00 restaurant gift certificate.

Whether you eat out often or hardly at all, this book will certainly keep your entertainment budget in check. For more maybe even better tips, check out the Works for Me Wednesday list at Rocks in My Dryer.