Going out for lunch or dinner and eating out at restaurants is a great ways to enjoy time with friends and family. However you may not like the bill that comes with the experience. If you enjoy dining out but don’t want to spend a lot of money there are many things you can do to save money and lower the bill.

Here are 9 great tips and suggestions to save money when eating out.

1. Restaurant.com
You may or may not have heard of Restaurant.com if not, they are a company that partners with local restaurants in an effort to offer lower prices. At restaurant.com you can purchase gift cards for participating restaurants in your area. An example a 15.00 gift card is good for 25.00 dollars worth of food, each restaurant is different but it’s always a decent savings. Restaurants benefit because they bring in new customers, and customers benefit by saving money trying out new restaurants. restaurant.com Make sure to read the fine print as there are sometimes special times and dates that are excluded from these offers.

2. Share Entrées
I don’t know about you but I usually have leftovers after dining out and leftovers aren’t as good reheated as at the restaurant, that’s  probably the  reason they are taken home in a “doggy bag”. Rather than bringing home half a plate of left overs consider sharing a large entrée with whom you’re dining out. My wife and I do this almost every time we go out and it’s always plenty of food. We usually order the larger entries to ensure we have plenty of food.

3. Use Coupons
There are always great coupons in the local Sunday paper, don’t be afraid to use them. Many times they are in the entertainment section of your local newspaper and often feature buy one get one free or an entire meal deal such as an appetizer, two meals and a dessert for a special price. You can also find coupons online and in magazines among other places.  If you can stick to to the coupon and not buy the spur of the moment items you’ll save big money. Make sure to read the fine print. Sometime there are times and dates that are excluded from these specials.

Another great place to look for local restaurant coupons are at the hotels in your area, you know that big display with all the brochures? There are almost always great coupons and offering throughout the display.

4. Going for the Atmosphere
If you going out to dinner mainly for the atmosphere or for entertainment, consider having a lite bite to eat before you go, this will bring down the bill in a big way. If you show up at a restaurant starving to death, your hunger will take over your pocket book. Having a light snack before you go will allow you to order a small entrée and still enjoy the experience of dining out at your favorite restaurant.

5. Just Have Appetizers
Have a lite dinner at home and go out for appetizers and drinks. When we lived in San Diego my wife and I use to love to go out to a little restaurant at the boat docks near down town. These restaurants offer a great atmosphere and charge for it. Our favorite restaurant sat out over the water and was an open air restaurant. We would usually order an appetizer of calamari and perhaps a cockail  or two. We would enjoy excellent food, and an amazing atmosphere for a fraction of the price.

6. Always Ask About the Specials
Restaurants are almost always running a special and it may or may not be on the menu, in fact many times it’s not on the menu as the specials change daily or weekly while the menu stays the same. Know the specials and save money.

7 .Save on drinks
Just order water, it’s funny one of the most common drinks people have is a bottle of water. And some are even proud of the fact that they drink water because it’s more healthy then other popular beverages but for one reason or another people feel obligated to order a drink of one type or another when dining out.

8. Go Out for Lunch Instead
Going out for lunch can be just as nice an experience as going for dinner and the menu options are always much cheaper and in many cases half the price.

9. The Childrens Menu?
If you’re not a big eater ordering an entrée off the children’s menu may be a great way to save money, some are embarrassed by this but if you consider it, the meal portions on the kids menu are usually just about the right size where the meals from the regular dinner menu are often too big. In reality there are many people not only senior citizens and kids that prefer a smaller portion to a larger one. Many times if you order from the children’s menu the restaurant will append an additional fee of 1.00 for the privilege of ordering from this menu.

What’s your favorite way to save money when dining out?

How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Next New Car Purchase Using the Internet Sales Department
I’ve personally  worked for the Internet Sales Department at a popular Honda Dealership. I can tell you first hand that this is the very best way to save money on a new car and get the best deal. Internet Sales Managers don’t receive commissions in the same way that a floor salesman does so the motivation is different, they are not driven strictly by commission.

Do Your Homework
If your in the market for a new car, truck or SUV, shop on the Internet first, after you’ve completed your research and have a good idea of what type of car you’re interested in, contact the Internet Sales Department at the dealership or dealerships where your interested in making the purchase.  Ask to speak to an the Internet Sales Manager. This is also know as the Fleet Department.  Yes the same department that is in charge of selling entire fleets of cars to, for example police departments, taxi companies, and others.

The Internet Sales Department is driven by volume, not commission. The motivation is to sell more cars and price is not the decision maker. Generally speaking the floor sales manager and Internet sales manager do not get along, because of this pricing issue.

How to Use Car Sales Advertisement in the Newspaper
Another great way to get the best deal on a new car purchase is to look at the sales ads in the newspaper. Many times, a dealership will put one amazing deal in from time to time to bring in new customers. The goal here is not to sell you the amazing deal “that has no front end commission at all” but instead to get you to the dealership, then  swith you to to a different vehicle all together. If you are happy with the car advertised, and you’ve done the comparisons and know that is the best price for that make and model, then go to the dealership and stick to your guns and buy that car. It takes some will power but you can do it.

More Ways to Save Money

These days there are many options when it comes to saving money on your monthly phone bill.

Straight Talk is an excellent way to save money on your phone bill each month.

Straight Talk is a cell phone service available through Wal-Mart that allows you to utilize Verizon and AT&T networks (based on where you live) for a fraction of the price and without contracts. Straight Talk is a great choice for a primary phone. There are four phones to choose from and two service plans to choose from. 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts and 30 megabytes of web usage for for 30 Dollars US or Unlimited Talk, Text, and Web for 45 Dollars US with no obligations.

Skype certainly does save money, but it’s not always all that convenient.We tried Skype as our home phone for several months and although its a great savings it didn’t turn out to be the best primary phone, mainly because many of us share a computer.

There are many pricing arrangements available including a free option. The unlimited service is 2.95 per month unlimited local and long distance. If your replacing your primary phone you’ll also need a phone number which runs 12.95 for 3 months, an excellent option if your going to give it a try. Another great benefit is the video conference option. Its free and allows you to see who your talking with.

Magic Jack is another option, I havent tried this one yet but I plan to soon. Magic Jack is Voip and offers unlimited service for 19.95 a year. You’ve probably seen the commercials.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on this but most recently good reviews which lead me to want to give it a try.

Another great way to save money on your home phone bill would be to take advantage of Googles phone service. Now you can make phone calls directly from your gmail account over then Internet.