Split an entree with your child when eating out.

If your kid doesn't eat all of the meal you buy for them why get it? Order something they'll eat in a bigger variety and YOU eat most of it. We divvy out together and everyone is happy. And all of the food gets eaten for less $$$.

Challenge yourself by learning new dishes, even some from your favorite restaurant.

Cooking can be really fun! Search for some of your favorite dishes and see if you can find copycat recipes. I own a set of books by Todd Wilbur called Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. It is really fun not only to cook for my family but to be duplicating a family favorite from a specific recipe. Whether it's a flop or fantastic, it's a really exciting adventure. This can also be a really fun date or party idea.

Invite friends over for dinner instead of going out.

This worked really well for our family of four and our best friends’ family of four. After church Saturday evenings we needed to feed our families. We went "out" sometimes but it often ended up being stressful and expensive. Finally we made the switch to eating in. Ultimately, one family always cooked, which wasn't really fair but in this specific situation there were food allergies to consider. This was great because the adults were able to consider diets for themselves and the allergies of a child and make the best of the situation. We found ourselves having game time, fellowship, and movie nights when otherwise we would have paid a restaurant with loud music and crowd noise making it difficult to talk to each other. Invite your friends over, it never hurts to ask.

Take your lunch.

Whether you are going on a play date with kids or to work or the zoo, consider taking your lunch. Lunch out is almost guaranteed to be more expensive than taking your own lunch. If you plan your dinners well enough to always feed double, everyone in your house could have a lunch prepared for them in a snap. Spaghetti, tacos, fajitas, burritos, lasagna, burgers - just make a bigger meal once and you've done 95% of the work!

Avoid fast food breakfast by preparing breakfast at home

Buying Jimmy Dean sandwiches for the mornings will help you avoid McDonald's while you’re scrambling to work. They are a fraction of the cost, mighty tasty and don't take the extra time of the drive through. Say no to fast food. Whether you are making bulk batches of freezer breakfasts or cooking a scrambled egg each day, make the commitment to your future not to overpay for breakfast.

Learn to make a few of your favorite restaurant's dishes to avoid splurging.

 There are plenty of copycat websites out there that can walk you through almost every chain brand restaurant dish. When you go into a favorite restaurant, you likely already know what you want. If it's on the more expensive side of their offerings, learn how to make that dish at home so you can relax and know you had that dish for 1/4 of the price and now you can pay less for something else. Make this a treat to research and find a favorite dish. You could spoil your spouse, treat yourself, or host a restaurant style dinner party. There are so many options, you just have to be willing to try.

Order off the dollar menu at fast food restaurants.

So you walk into McDonald's with $15, what can you order? Anything! Walk into McDonald's with $2, what can you order? You might be surprised. Order water when you eat out. No matter where you go, pretend in your mind you are worse off than you are and look for ways to spend less. 

Go out to lunch instead of supper.

Supper is generally a busier production. Lunch menus are often a more reasonable size, an easier atmosphere, and a better price. If you really want to go out as a special event, make it a lunch celebration.

Make your dinner date at home after kids are in bed.

Plan a dinner for after the kids go to bed (or put them down early). Cook up your mock dinner and have that two-liter of soda or a bottle of wine. You could also order in or pickup at a restaurant. Just think - not paying a tip or  babysitter and no travel - so you can feed your pig.

Super Supper and Let's Dish for entertainment, great food, and reasonable take home.

Super Supper and Let's Dish for entertainment, great food, and reasonable take home. Small towns may not have access to places like this but these two businesses and others like them have menus of food from which you can choose. Most will prepare most of the ingredients then let a family or group come in and do the rest of the work, combining and making the dish. There are places that will prepare one for you in advance so that you can sit down with your party and eat - then you can still take what you made home for your refrigerator or freezer for a different day or week. There are also places that advertise wine throughout the event. This can be a great treat learning some cooking techniques and sampling new recipes.

Invite friends over for dinner instead of going out.

Invite friends over for dinner instead of going out. If you're creative and open minded, you can have fun, enjoy friends, and save money!

If you are blessed enough to have friends in your life, it is a wonderful thing to be able to spend time with them. A restaurant can be an easy atmosphere for enjoying the company of friends but it can be VERY expensive, too. Consider hosting dinner at your place instead. You can easily create a dinner for six for less than you would have paid for dinner for two at the restaurant. Then consider the cost of drinks, dessert, and tip!

Consider a theme party with some fun music and maybe a matching movie from Netflix or Redbox, dinner-and-a-movie style like they run on TBS. Take turns hosting or just rotate bringing food if one home is more suited than others.

Consider this menu: Crock-Pot Hickory Brisket that cooks itself, baked sweet potato, store-bought coleslaw or canned green beans, bagged salad, double chocolate cheesecake, 2 liters of soda, bottle of wine or filtered water from your fridge, and coffee from your coffee pot.

You've got dinner with drinks, dessert, and coffee to chat over afterwards for everyone for what one couple likely would have spent. And you're at home so you can easily pick your own entertainment AND put the kids to bed when they need to be going to bed!

Take advantage of age-appropriate menu items.

Besides the well-known kid’s menu serving up kid-friendly options, senior menus offer down-sized portions of adult foods at a lower price than the comparable regular menu item. Senior adults need fewer daily calories than youth and younger adults, so this cuts down on waste while saving a little money. In addition, some restaurants have early-bird specials for seniors, allowing them to enjoy a meal at a slower pace.

Go to a restaurant only for dessert.

Eat a meal at home. Make sure you are full enough not to want to order at the restaurant! Then take your love (or your friend or yourself) out for only dessert. This is a much cheaper alternative to paying for an entire dinner at a nice place. It can also work well for timing the perfect date with your love.

Learn to cook your favorite restaurant's dish at home.

Learn to cook your favorite restaurant's dish at home. There are lots of recipes online for mock dishes. If you can name what you want you can likely Google the recipe for it.

Outback special sneak

Outback special sneak - I know this will sound WEIRD - before the end of dinner, mention that you would like another loaf of bread and some hot chocolate sauce. They give it to you for free and it's wonderful; almost a molten brownie... yum.

Complain - if something wasn't right - tell them.

If it was really bad you may get something free out of it but management should know when things are affecting their service. You are doing the business a good service by complaining about SOME things. If a manager does not know, they can't fix the situation and it will continue to happen. If there is something wrong with a product, it will stay on the shelves and not sell as people begin to find out but it can't be corrected until someone says something. You may get a refund of the purchase price. You may get an entirely free meal. You may get coupons for your next visit. You may not get anything but you've helped your world. Most importantly in the complaining, be as polite and courteous as possible - that usually helps with getting a bonus in return. :D

Look for freebies

Look for freebies - watch your newspaper for coupons to restaurants you like.

Order water!

No you don't need to pay more for a glass of soda at a restaurant than you would for an entire two liter at the store.

Take half home for the next day.

 Many places provide you with tons of bread or chips while you sit and order then wait.  These places then serve twice as much food as you are really supposed to eat for a meal AND have the nerve to ask if you want a dessert. 

Split your entree and order an extra side when eating out.

 Meals are typically more calories than anyone needs and why pay extra to take leftovers home! Split the entree, order double vegetables or sides and make two meals out of one for a much lower price.