The second step in avoiding retail is not only finding advertised deals, but managing all of those savings. There are coupons here, specials there, gift certificates and discounts everywhere and yet most of the time we miss them, let them expire, or opt for a more expensive substitute. While one won't make or break the budget, if you learn and practice (because it is an acquired skilled) taking advantage of special offers, you can save a ridiculous amount of money.
My wife loves sushi. She loves it. Could eat it ever day if she could. I like the stuff, but between radioactive Japanese fish, and lightly oiled gulf fish I'm a bit stand-offish. But mostly, the stuff is expensive. Interestingly enough, sushi restaurants seem to have the biggest happy hours on food. You can look just about anywhere and they have half priced rolls or buy one get one free deals on sashimi. Having tested a number of restaurants, we found a couple spots we really like and then picked the one with the best happy hour. Because of work schedules, we can't make it that often and for that reason alone, we don't have sushi all that often. If you can wait a day and shrink your $60 sushi bill to $35, you're crazy not to. And if you are out there saying "but I want it now", show a little self-control you crack addict and understand the value of that $25 and all the things you could do with it.
A HUGE advantage for most city folk wanting to dine out is Restaurant.com. Depending on the city, there could be tens to more than a hundred nearby restaurants that sell gift certificates through this website. The catch is you have to spend a certain minimum (for example, if you buy a $25 gift card, you may have to spend at least $40 at the restaurant so they actually see $15 in cash). Now the gift cards ALWAYS come at a discount, usually starting at 50% off (so a $25 gift card costs $12.50 and you save $12.50). This is great right there, but the website almost always has them even further discounted up to 80% or even 90% off with a special code they send to your email (you end up paying $2 for a $25 gift certificate). This means you save nearly $20 minimum everytime you use this service. If you don't know a lot of the restaurants, TRY SOMETHING NEW. Find a couple you like, WAIT FOR THE SALE and then load up. They have a long expiration date, and if the restaurant shuts down, they usually credit your account for another coupon. This here is the most prime example of managing your discounts. If there are a hundred places to eat for half off, why would you go somewhere else if its just you and your family?
There are a number of other discount websites ranging for GROUPON to LIVINGSOCIAL or URBANDEALIGHT which each offer generally just one deal per day, but they range from food to artwork, to yoga classes, etc. so you may not see what you're looking for all the time. My advice is sign up for all of them (women like the fashion discount sites too, like Hautelook and Gilt) and wait for your deal to show up. Recently, I purchased a certificate from LIVINGSOCIAL for two rounds of golf (including cart) and $10 dollars to the clubhouse grill for just $25. THAT'S AMAZING. So I bought two. $25 for a golf outing that would normally cost at least $50 or $60 for the same thing. The course isn't fantastic but even though I like golf I suck at it. My handicap makes me look like a paraplegic. So who cares if the greens aren't pristine, I probably wouldn't sink the put in anyways and with the money I saved, I can buy a beer or two and the day will be a total success.
Another great savings technique for saving on dining out is to sign up for IDINE.com. When you add your credit cards to the site and dine at their advertised locations, you could see a refund of up to 15%. Certain credit cards (such as Southwest Rapid rewards or PriortyClub Visa) have their own programs where you get extra points in the membership programs. The selection is a little more limited, but again, with some investigating, you can find a great spot.
So put this all together for a perfect storm of whirlwind savings. Buy your Restaurant.com coupon for 80% off to a restaurant that is listed on Idine.com. Go at happy hour and use a credit card (that you have provide to Idine) that gives your double or triple restaurant rewards points as I discussed in my last post. You're now a monster at eating out. Can't reach the minimum for your Restaurant.com ticket? Buy twice as much food and take it home for lunch the next day. Duh.
Check back soon as we continue this journey to the magical kingdom where pockets are lined with gold.
Sincerely,
Coco
Restaurants often provide discounts or free appetizers or drinks or something through checkin services like Foursquare and Gowalla. I use Foursquare. Sure sometimes you have to be the mayor to get the deal, or maybe it only applies ever couple checkins, but it's still a great perk to being a repeat customer.
ReplyDeleteAlso for the record, I don't think you suck at golf. You killed me the last time we played.
Sushi is expensive, yes. But so is any seafood. AND so is anything that is hand prepared, it takes time and labor and that costs. Some things are worth paying up for - not everyday, but occasionally.
ReplyDeleteI still love sushi. Even though I had it twice in the last week, I had it at lunch, which therefore was cheaper than paying dinner entree prices.
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