6 Ways to Save Money at Restaurants

The easiest way to save money on food is to skip restaurants altogether and make your own food but we know many people like to go out so we are going to share some of our favorite money saving tips with you! Not only will limiting your dining out help your wallet but it will also help your waistline. You are in complete control of what goes into your food and how much you eat. We try to limit our eating out to once or twice a week but you can use these tips no matter how often you dine out. Some of these tips seem obvious but are often overlooked.

>>>>> The Ultimate List of Ways to Save: 18 Ways to Save $15,000 in 2018!

Ways to Save Money (and Calories!) at Restaurants

• Choose an inexpensive restaurant
  • We don’t promote "fast food" but places like Moe’s, Chipotle, and other similar restaurants are surprisingly affordable and typically have healthier options!
  • Calorie Saving Tip: Ask for the extras (like cheese, guac, etc.) on the side so you can control how much you consume.
• Go for lunch
  • Most restaurants are open for lunch or early dinners. Many of them have lunch menus that are similar to their dinner menus but less expensive!
  • Calorie Saving Tip: Just eating out for lunch instead of dinner is a calorie saver because the portions are usually slightly smaller!
• Skip the soft drinks
  • Even though $2-$3 per drink doesn't sound very expensive it quickly adds up over time and water is free at every restaurant I've been to.
  • Calorie Saving Tip: Water has zero calories and the calories from those "free refill" soft drinks can quickly add up, just like the cost does.
• Skip the alcohol
  • Alcoholic beverages are very expensive when dining out. The cheapest I've seen is $6 per drink. If there's two of you there and you both have two drinks, that's $24 JUST on drinks! Talk about adding up quickly! If you need to drink, drink at home.
  • Calorie Saving Tip: Again, water has zero calories and typically doesn't lead to eating other random things because you are drinking.
• Skip the appetizers
  • Eat something small before you go to dinner if you are already starving! Appetizers are at least $8 and full of calories...see below.
  • Calories Saving Tip: Appetizers are loaded with calories, most are fried and just make you even more hungry. If you are at a restaurant that automatically gives you bread or chips, ask them not to or limit yourself to one slice, a few chips, etc.
• Skip the desserts
  • See above point on appetizers...
  • If you must have dessert, limit it to once a week and buy it from the grocery store. It’s much less expensive to go to the grocery store and buy ice cream (or make your own using frozen banana and peanut butter!) than it is to buy dessert at restaurants. We also have a lot of healthy dessert recipes that you can try (four-ingredient peanut butter balls and cookie dough are two of our most popular)!

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Below are some examples and how much is spent. Keep in mind that this is for just ONE time eating out. Many families eat out multiple times per week resulting in $800+ spent on dining out in a month.

• If a party of two gets an appetizer ($8), one alcoholic drink each ($6 each, minimum), entrees ($15 each, minimum), and a dessert ($8) that's a total of $58 plus tip.
• If a part of four (two parents and two kids) gets an appetizer ($8), four soft drinks ($3 each), entrees ($15 each adult, $8 each child), and dessert ($8) that's $74.

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Although we are fully aware that many people like to dine out and act carefree at least once a week, it's not the best idea when you are trying to save money and/or pay off debt. The hard truth is that sometimes you have to say "no". Life is about balance. That requires saying "no" more than "yes" when you have goals! As mentioned, Scott and I try to keep our dining out to once or twice a week and usually spend less than $20. Sometimes, when we are traveling or really busy, we do dine out more often but we always follow these tips and try to limit our spending as much as possible.

How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

How do I eat healthy on a budget?

Is THE MOST common question we get!

Let me start off by being upfront about the fact that eating healthy is something we prioritize so we cut back in all other areas in order to eat the way we want. We don't frivolously buy random things in the grocery store so I really think that we save money by eating this way.

If you do watch your budget, it is possible to eat healthy on a budget. I want you to try something new with your budget though. If you have categories for things like entertainment, personal pampering, shopping, etc. try cutting back on those and spend money on yourself by eating good quality food. You only get ONE body and you will hopefully be living in it for a LONG time. Invest quality time and money into your body.

Below are the ways that we save money while eating healthy. While I know that some of these options may not be available based on where you live, you can still implement a few, even if it isn't at the same stores. We don't live in a big city, we live about an hour outside of Atlanta. The closest Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and other similar stores are at least 45 minutes away. We have a Publix three miles from our house and Sams's and Costco about 20 minutes away.

Even if you think you know all of these, read them all the way through because I really think you'll find a few pointers you may not have thought about before!

>>>> Ever feel like you need to detox your money? Join our detox your money challenge here!

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5 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

1. Get a membership to a warehouse club.

We started with a Sam's Club membership (this was before we ever started "eating clean") because that was the only thing close by and what my parents had growing up. A few years later we canceled that one and switched to Costco because of the amazing selection of organic produce and other items like liquid egg whites, bison, etc. We actually just got a new membership to Sam's Club again and we have been very impressed with the selection!

I'm going to be sharing more specific information soon on exactly how much money we save with our Costco membership but if you have one near you go check it out! We basically use it as our grocery store every single week (as you will see each week in our weekly updates).

RELATED: Eating Clean at Costco (Shopping List)

2. Utilize online stores.

As I mentioned, we don't have a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or any other specialty stores that close. For some items, they tend to be more expensive anyway. Ever since we started living a healthy lifestyle we've utilized online stores for bulk items that Costco doesn't carry. Typically, we use Amazon Subscribe & Save for dry goods like oats, oat flour, rice cakes, etc. There are other online stores like Jet and Boxed that you can check out as well.

You can learn more about Amazon Subscribe & Save here.

Below are items that we typically order online:

• Oat Flour (less than $18 for a pack of 4)
• Quick Oats (less than $12 for a pack of 4)
• Steel Cut Oats (less than $12 for a pack of 4)
• Rice Cakes (less than $33 for a pack of 12)

3. Stock up when items are on sale.

If you have the room, buy extra when something is on sale (AS LONG AS YOU WILL USE IT!). Yes, we hate clutter and consider ourselves "minimalist" but we stock up when something is on sale. We do this because we KNOW we will use it. We don't buy random things because they are on sale but we do buy the things we need when they are on sale. I'm not a coupon cutter, although I could probably save even more that way, but if there's a coupon in front of the item I use it. I also make sure to check the sales ad at my local Publix. Every few weeks they will have a coupon for $10 off a $50 gas gift card with the purchase of $50 in groceries. That's like $10 free because we are always buying gas. Keep your eye out for things like this, even if it isn't specifically related to groceries.

Don't cut coupons and buy things you don't need but definitely use sales and coupons to your advantage on things you need.

4. Adopt a minimalist mindset.

Are you surprised by this one?! ;-) I never really put it together until recently, but I think our minimalist mindset definitely helps in our healthy eating journey. We aren't that picky and we don't mind eating the same thing each day for a few days in a row. Life is so much better when things aren't more complicated than they need to be. This also applies to the way you grocery shop and eat. When you make recipes usually the same type of ingredients and buy the same type of groceries each week it definitely makes it easier to watch for sales and to know in advance how much you will be spending. We typically buy the same items each week from the same stores. Grocery shopping is a breeze!

5. Shop only in season items.

Not only is buying in season items (basically talking about produce here) better for your wallet, it's also better for the environment. Don't try to buy strawberries in the middle of winter. If a recipe calls for a particular fruit or vegetable that isn't in season try googling for alternatives or just wait to make that recipe. If you don't eat your fruits or vegetables fast enough, buy them frozen! Our Costco has a huge selection of organic frozen fruits and vegetables! While we would love to buy all organic, we usually don't. We do stick with buying organic on the dirty dozen. Produce with a thick covering (like bananas) are typically okay to buy non-organic if they budget doesn't allow organic.

RELATED: Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen

I hope these tips help you! Take some time to look at your budget and really dive into what is important to you in the long term. Of course, it's easier to spend money shopping for clothes and shoes because you see those items all the time but your body is much more important! Just because you won't have anything to "show off" for it, doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. I would argue that it makes it even more important that way! The way you invest in your health will show.

How We Ditched Cable TV

Cable sucks…seriously!  Or should I say “cable companies suck!”  Cable providers force you to pay for more content than you will ever watch, so why are you still paying nearly $1,500 annually when you could be spending less than 20% of that?  Recent research shows that cable subscribers are paying an average of just under $105 per month and this doesn’t include real and faux taxes, cable box fees and other additional costs (source).  

We cut the cord a few years ago and we’re glad we did.  I guess I should point out that we don’t watch much TV, so it’s probably easier for us than most people to give up the channels that air the programs that you’ve become die-hard fans of over the years but it can be done!

There are several different options on the market nowadays and this article does a great job explaining many of the alternatives, but I’m going to focus on the few measures we’ve taken to cut the cord.

>>>>> The Ultimate List of Ways to Save: 18 Ways to Save $15,000 in 2018!

>>>> Ever feel like you need to detox your money?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Check our disclosure policy for more details.

How we ditched cable TV but still watch our favorite shows AND sports!

• Mohu Leaf
  
  The cheapest and easiest way to tap into primetime content is to use an antenna to pick up the digital signal of your local networks such as ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS.  The only catch is that you have to live close to (or in) a major metro area in order to pick up a station’s signal, but the good news is that you can find out your signal strength based on your address by using this link.  
  • You can find the Mohu Leaf on Amazon for $30 or $70 (just depending on the range that you need).  This is a great option if you just want to watch the local news, prime-time television, and/or programs that air on the major networks.  After all, it pays for itself after just one month.  

Annual savings = $1,370

• Netflix
  
  The advantages and interest in Netflix are well-documented nowadays…unlimited subscriptions are $7.99 for the digital (unless you want to run the service on more than one screen at a time) and some of the Netflix original series are great (like Stranger Things, Narcos, and Longmire).
  • You need to have a Smart TV or some other extension like a Roku, XBOX, PlayStation 4, or Apple TV in order to run Netflix, but most people already have access to at least one of these devices.  We use the Roku stick which is very convenient and can be found on Amazon for $50.

Annual savings = $1,350

Amazon Instant Video

Amazon Prime

The Amazon Prime service is $99 annually (or $49 for students and teachers), but comes with more than just streaming video services.  They also offer a 30-Day Free Trial (see link below). Amazon Prime includes so many benefits, so the cost of instant video is actually nominal when you take those benefits into account.  You can find many of the same TV programs and movies that Netflix offers (minus the Netflix Originals), so this may be a good option if you just want to watch TV occasionally and don’t care to get deep into a certain series.  

Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial

Annual savings = $1,440 (because we’d spend the $99 on Prime anyway)

• SlingTV
  
  Sling is a great replacement to cable if you want to do some surfing and have access to a large variety of content and watch your favorite shows live.  There are three different packages from Sling – Orange, Blue or Orange and Blue combined.  You can see which channels are included in each package by visiting Sling’s website.  
  • We subscribe to the Orange package because I mostly watch ESPN, but it includes access to other great channels like AMC, Comedy Central, HGTV and the History channel. Sling is ideal for those that spend about 5-10 hours a week watching TV.  

Annual savings = $1,200

With our setup – the Roku Stick, Sling TV and Netflix – we saved about $1,000 per year by cutting the cord (enough to pay for most of our annual ski trip to Jackson Hole!).  So, what are you waiting for?  Free yourself of the cords and start saving some big money!