Five ways to eat out for less
We Brits love to eat out, but since the credit crunch such indulgences have been pushed aside in favour of more frugal living.
However, while its important to rein in your spending to a reasonable level, everyone needs a little luxury now and then.
Luckily, there are ways you can treat yourself to a few fancy eats without breaking the bank. By following my five top tips, you could take some of the bite out of your bill.
1. Scour the web for savings
Browsing the web before you book a meal out could save you serious money. Many of the best restaurant deals are made available online to customers who book in advance – so by planning your meal out a few days ahead, you could bag anything from a 2 for 1 deal to a free bottle of wine.
Even better, you won’t need to trawl around cyberspace for hours in order to dig up these discounts. My four favourite websites will help track down the top offers for you, and all at no charge.
Toptable.co.uk provides an online restaurant booking service for restaurants all around the UK, featuring eateries from your local curry house to Michelin starred restaurants. There are thousands of offers to be had at the mere click of a mouse.
London-eating.co.uk has an excellent review community and offers its users a wide range of special deals at lots of different London eateries.
Lastminute.com provides offers for dining out all around the UK and is one of my favourite websites for nabbing bargain ‘theatre plus dinner’ deals.
Finally, 5pm.co.uk is always worth checking out for its collection of UK-wide meal deals.
All four sites are easy to use. Once you’ve chosen where you want to eat, all you have to do is search for a table on the date you want, book it and print the confirmation.
My advice would be to mention whichever offer you’re using to your waiter when you get to your chosen restaurant, just in case the discount is for a set menu only.
Also, make sure you have checked the terms and conditions of your offer before your arrive and ensure you have a print out of your booking confirmation with you.
2. Bag top deals with discount vouchers
Since the start of the credit crunch there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of discount vouchers available to us. Websites such as HotUkDeals.com and myvouchercodes.co.uk provide discount vouchers for a dizzying range of retailers and restaurants, as well as forums where you can learn about all about fabulous freebies.
Right now, it’s easy to find an array of ‘click and print’ restaurant vouchers on sites like these. Usually, all you have to do to make great savings in big-name eateries such as Pizza Express and Wagamama is take a hard copy of your chosen voucher with you when you visit.
Online forums are also an excellent place to check for more information on the meal deals you are interested in, as they’ll often have been tried and tested by other users.
It’s also worth signing up to receive regular newsletters from your favourite restaurants. Lots of places will e-mail their members with details of special offers and promotions, so this way you won’t miss out on anything.
Furthermore, if you’ve built up a stash of Tesco Clubcard points, using these on anything offered in its Deals Brochure means you could get four times more value from your vouchers. £10 worth of Clubcard vouchers would buy you just £10 worth of shopping in store, but £40 worth of food in a restaurant such as Chez Gerard.
3. Dine for less in the day
Eating out in the evening is often more expensive than doing so at lunch time. Many restaurants offer ‘early bird’ discounts which allow diners the same choice of food for less.
And if there’s a Michelin starred restaurant you’ve been dying to dine at – but you simply just can’t justify such a luxury - then you may find your escargot en croue will be far cheaper at lunch time than at dinner. Always check restaurants’ own websites for details.
Also, remember that many restaurants’ special offers will exclude Fridays and Saturdays. Therefore, it will often be cheaper to wine and dine during the week.
4. Barter for a bargain
If you’re planning to eat out in a group it’s always worth popping into a few restaurants before you book and having a chat to the manager.
Many places will offer you a free round of drinks to book with them. Alternatively, if there are enough of you, you may be offered a discount on your total bill.
Never be afraid to haggle; after all, if you don’t ask you don’t get.
5. Bring your own booze
Drinking in restaurants can be expensive, and you’ll often spot your local supermarket’s cheap bottle of bubbly going for twice the price when you’re out. After all that careful saving on your food, remember – you won’t want to bump up your bill with expensive alcoholic drinks.
Visiting a BYOB (bring your own bottle) restaurant is a great way to save some pennies. Although some places charge £1 for corkage, many will simply let you crack open your cans for free. Have a look on Wine-pages.com for a list of BYOB restaurants near you.
And if you’re after a simple drink of water, remember to ask for it from the tap. Not only is it miles cheaper than expensive bottled mineral water, it is better for the environment too.
If you follow these simple steps, hopefully you’ll shave a sizeable sum off the cost of treating yourself to a special meal.
So go out, eat, drink and be merry! You can always go back to eating beans on toast tomorrow…
**This material is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. We strongly encourage our readers not to rely solely on this content, but to seek independent advice when making financial decisions.**
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