I guess this is more of a savings strategy than a special offer...
Our bill at our favorite Mexican restaurant (Rancho Viejo) was consistently around $60 or more for a family of 5...(3) adult entrees, (2) kids meals, drinks, and a couple of desserts to share...nothing extranagant, but it adds up. Eventually we ended up just not going out to eat because it was too expensive.
We talked to the kids and told them that if they would drink water at the restaurant, we'd pick up a bottle of soda and a pack of cupcakes or some ice-cream at the grocery store...whichever is on sale ;~)
Our regular entrees were around $10 each. But we found that we could get side orders, including tacos and burritos for around $2- $5 each. We each get a side order of a burrito or a taco and then get a few more side orders to share. Add the free chips and salsa and nobody goes home hungry.
Our dinner bill went down to around $30 and then we spend $5 or less on treats from the super market to eat at home while we watch a movie together.
For us, the key to making this work was a lot like grocery shopping. We check out the menu online and decide ahead of time what we plan on getting at the restaurant...instead of impulse shopping once we get there.
To get the kids on board, we created a vacation account and any money left from the entertainment budget goes into the vacation account at the end of the month. When we reach our goal, we get a Disney vacation.
|