Take The Time!

With the holiday yesterday, my days are a little messed up and therefore my weekend shenanigans wrap up you can find here if you missed it :)

A parade, a movie date, ball time and girls night all in weekend that's something you don't want to miss!

Also, check out the upcoming giveaway details if you haven't already!

Let's just shout a big Hallelujah that it's already Tuesday!

 

It seemed like when I was growing up that people rarely ate out.
Mothers would cook every meal at home and if dining out happened it became a treat.

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Since then times have changed and eating out occurs almost daily either for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
In today’s society everything is about saving time instead of nutrition and quality.
Times have changed and so have prices. It almost hurts ones bank account to eat out anymore. Spending hundreds of dollars on food makes us sick to our stomach but we have to eat, right?
At least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.

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As great as it is to dine at home, cook a fresh prepared meal and sit down in the convenience of our own home it sometimes doesn’t work out to be that easy.
Couples plan date nights, kids have after school activities and life gets in the way.
You work hard so why not treat yourself to a morning, day or night out?


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There are many ways you can dine on a dime and I am here to share some of the great ways I have managed to eat out for less.

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The key to saving money is looking over the menu and prices and finding a meal for two or more. On vacation we did this a lot. We would order the $12 nachos and the heaping pile of yummy goodness fed all three of us. Ordering soft drinks instead of alcoholic drinks can be a big penny pincher! You get unlimited refills almost every time allowing you to receive your money’s worth. Also, ordering water with a few lemons is free! Drinks at most restaurants cost up to $4 a drink. Crazy right? So look over the appetizer list and find something that the family can agree on and save, save, save!

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Kids eat free!
If you have a small child, most likely they take a few bites and are dunzo. I have began to realize the importance of planning. I have done my research and around my city there are numerous of restaurants that participate in kids eating free during certain times of the day. Steak n shake has a kids eat free day on Sunday. Buffalo Wild Wings offers kids eat free from 4pm-9pm. Chick-Fil-A offers a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entrée from 5pm-8pm on Tuesday nights. The list goes on and on. I simply google “kids eat free in Indianapolis” and website after website displays all of the local deals. Easy as 1, 2, 3 and you will be counting the money you saved just as fast!

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Coupons!
You know that annoying pile of junk mail that you receive weekly, well there are tons and tons of coupons mixed in the ads! Arby’s and pizza are among the most popular that I receive. It is awesome because I can grab a combo meal with a free drink, buy one sandwich and get one free or purchase a large pizza with free bread sticks and a two liter for a easy dinner night! It’s a no-brainer to clip a coupon and reap the benefits!

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Social Media!
How many times a day are we on Twitter or Facebook? Too much? Well, now we have a good excuse to use our time by following our favorite restaurants and looking for “freebies” given away to followers and fans. A lot of restaurants want your business so they are constantly giving away coupons and “deals of the day.”

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Lunch Portions!
Recently, I sat with my mom in Johnny Carino’s talking about how large the portions were with the waitress. The waitress advised us that we could ask for lunch size portions at dinner time! You mean we could save money and save our waist line? Yes please! Boy did we jump all over that. I had never been so delighted to receive this news. We had dinner at Olive Garden and I tried out the “Can I please have the lasagna but in the lunch portion size?” She happily obliged. This allowed me to not waste any food, pinch pennies and enjoy a delightful meal!

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Dollar Menu!
I never realized how many restaurants offer a dollar menu until I started searching for them. The dollar menus offer great food options and save a few bucks. Just think about it a sandwich, fries and water could total $2 + tax! I don’t know about you but I would rather save money by ordering a smaller sized portion then order a huge meal where half of it is thrown out and costs a small fortune!


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Here are just a few dollar menus that I came across:

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With a little planning and preparation treating yourself out can be affordable. The prices continue to increase everyday but we shouldn't let that affect our meals that we share with our families. Take the time to clip a coupon, share an appetizer and enjoy what it is most important the time spent with each other!