Eating out...

Me and my girlfriend and sometimes with my friends, we go out to eat on fridays, saturdays and sundays. We don't really share. We do eat our full five course meals all the way. It might be a little expenssive, but worth it.

Eating out is expensive--- We cut costs by buying the Entertainment book-- There are alot of coupons for Buy 1 get 1.. Also we use coupons-- Last year we ate at a upscale restaurant (we bought a $15 card) it was good for 8 buy 1 get 1, 1 50% off bill, several free drinks. etc. Also we'll use the Abry's coupons and such-- wait for a good sale and then use coupons. We don't share meals-- Usually I bring half of mine home for lunch the next day! : ) We also like to go for wings-- So we go to the bar on chicken wing night-- Sure it's not a Friday-- but I would rather pay a cheaper price on Tuesdays and get served faster! There are many ways to be frugal when dining out.

We go out to buffets for lunch sometimes before 3:30pm. After that time, it's dinner prices and gets more expensive. For breakfast, we usually eat at home. One time I complained about a service at Olive Garden. I complained over the phone, and the manager sent us $20 gift cards. I also wrote a letter to one of the Subways because one of the employees wore gloves and touched the money first and then touched our food with it. He didn't realize. After they read my complaint, they sent us gift certificates so we can try their service again or another facility. Also, when we used to go out to the movies, we would bring snacks with us and bottled drinks and put it in a backpack/purse. It is a lot cheaper than buying at the cinema food stands.

It's tough to be frugal with things like eating out. I would suggest ordering water to drink instead of anything else, and sharing, which you already said you do. Look out for coupons or discounts. If either of you work for a big company, many places actually give discounts to employees of certain companies. (For example, both of my parents work for verizon and they get discounts in lots of places.)

We use our Discover card for most of our everyday purchases (groceries, gasoline, some utilities, etc.) so we can earn a cashback bonus of 1-5% on everything. [Don't worry--we pay off the bill every month!). We even bought a used car on Discover and paid it off with funds from a CD. We can use ur cashback bonus to get restaurant gift cards for Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or Smokey Joes. It's nice for when we want to splurge without actually spending money.