How to Dine as a Family on a Budget
It’s fun to dine out as a family and escape the daily responsibility of preparing dinner and cleaning up after your crew. But dining out can get expensive if you’re not careful about your restaurant choice. Dining out doesn’t have to break the bank, though. Here are some ways you can dine as a family on a budget.
I am a Denny鈥檚 Diner Brand Ambassador. As such, I received compensation and a welcome kit. All opinions are my own.
Tricks for Dining on a Budget
- Kids Eat Free Nights – Many locations offer one night each week with a kids dine free promotion! If you watch the schedule and plan accordingly, you can easily cut 1/3 or more off your total bill. Typically, one complimentary kids meal is offered per adult entree purchase.
- Watch for Promotions – Restaurants frequently offer special promotional offers such as a full meal with appetizer, entree, and dessert at a special price or free appetizers or sides with a purchase.
- Free Birthday Meal – Sign up for free birthday offers and when a family birthday rolls along, you’ll have lots of fun options for where to dine. Some birthday offers are only good the day of the birthday while others are good through the birthday week or even a full month!
- Browse Value Menus – Don’t shy away from value menus, if they are available. You can score major savings and still come away feeling full.
- Split Entrees – It can be really difficult to convince your spouse to split an entree with you if you’re not used聽to doing so. If you can convince each other to give it a try, you may be surprised that you come away more than full and shave off have your bill! Plus, when you cut out an entree, it gives you room to splurge on a dessert or appetizer to share! If the adults can’t agree, sometimes a split entree will work better for your children than two separate kids meals.
- Punch Card – If your favorite dining location offers a frequent diner card with free meals聽awarded as you fill up your card, grab a card! It won’t hurt to start the punches, even if you don’t visit the location frequently.
- Use Coupons – When you can find them, take advantage of coupons! Coupons are a perfect, super easy, way to save!
- Pick Your Time – You can head out for an early dinner and catch the lunch menu to save on your bill and stick to smaller, not so overwhelming portions sizes. Likewise, dining on weeknights can be cheaper than Friday and Saturday evenings at some locations and certain promotions won’t qualify on the weekend.
Denny’s聽Budget Friendly Dining!
Denny’s聽makes it easy for a family to stay within a budget! You can easily feed your family for $20 when you plan around their promotions! They offer a couple of promotions that are always available at participating Denny’s locations:
- Kids Eat Free: You can score a free kids meal for one child age 10 or younger with the purchase of each adult entree (of $2.50 or more). Just visit your local Denny’s on Tuesday evenings between 4pm and 10pm at participating locations.
- Free Birthday Grand Slam: Come in on your birthday for a free Original Grand Slam庐 meal at your local participating Denny’s. You’ll just need proof it’s your birthday. This offer is good for dine-in only.
- Denny鈥檚 $2468 Menu Items: Check out Denny鈥檚 $2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu with lots of menu options all on a budget. Our family favorite is the all you can eat pancakes for just $4!
If these offers weren’t enough, Denny’s also offers promotional menus, pricing, and coupons on occasion to help you save even more. Even my family of 6 can eat on as little as $20 at Denny’s! Head into your local Denny’s for a filling, fun meal out while sticking to a budget!
I need to get better about watching for kids eat free deals. They have them all the time but I always forget!
I always order one kids meal for my oldest 2 to split. If they finish it I’ll order another if they’re still hungry. My 2 year old shares with me.
Pancake houses like this always remind me of late nights in college! I have fond memories of that time!
Thanks for all of the wondrous tips! We don’t eat out all that much but I’ll have to keep these in mind for when we do.
Thanks for sharing the cool tips. My birthday is next month so i will def be going to red robin to get my burger.
These are definitely things I have to keep in mind. I like trying new restaurants so it’s always nice to be able to save on meals.
These are great tips! It can be so expensive going out to dinner with the whole family. Thanks for sharing!
I love this article! Great tips, plus I love DENNYs! I wish we had one in town!
We love to dine at Denny’s. We always go on a birthday and take advantage of the birthday special. The food is always delicious.
Great tips. We also save a lot by only ordering water. I know it is cheesy, but some places charge up to $3 for a soda, then refills. I love places that offer birthday specials, especially since it’s my little one’s birthday tomorrow. I may have to take her for a special breakfast at Denny’s 馃檪
Kids eat free nights are always convenient. My daughter is a waitress and they had a kids eat free weekend this past weekend.
We try not to eat out, as it is the cheaper option. When we do go out, I look for free meals for the kids or an after hours type deal.
We always use coupons. Great way to save money while still enjoying food.
Sometimes I let my kids (under 4) pick a grown up entree and I split it with them. They always want to eat what I eat anyway!
Promotions and coupons are a life saver for my family. I would like to take advantage of the kids eat free promos, but my son very rarely eats anything when we eat out. He’s more interested in playing games.
We often took our kids to Denny’s when we were traveling. We knew everyone could find what they wanted to eat.
I haven’t been in Denny’s in a while – I should probably take kids there. My husband and I used to hang out there A LOT!
I miss Denny’s! We used to go to the one in Edmonton when we lived there.
Great tips for saving $$$. I try to take advantage of the kids eat free nights when we go out.
We always try to go to nights where kids eat free. That saves us some money. Also we will do birthday specials too to save. These are all great points, some of which I never thought of.
I’ve got to forward this to my sister. She has two kids, and both of them are bottomless pits!
I love the Denny’s deals! I haven’t been there in a while, but maybe I should pay them a visit!
We know ALL the places we get free birthday meals from around here. It’s a great way to save.
We love to dine out, but there’s always the budget to think about. I have to watch out for their promotions. Thanks for sharing this.
We love taking advantage of birthday discounts. It’s my birthday this month so we just got our free burger at red robin- love it! Thanks for sharing the great tips!