Yes or No? Answer These Frugal Questionsby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 26 Sep 2008 05:40 PM
You go out to dinner and want to keep your bill as low as possible. Would you do any of the following: You order a free water with lemon. You then squeeze the lemon and add some sugar or sweetener to make your own lemonade. You order a virgin drink and then add your own alcohol that you brought yourself, since it is cheaper. You avoid a plate sharing charge in a restaurant by sneaking bites off of your partner's plate when the waitress isn't looking. You order the kids meal for your baby and then eat it yourself while feeding the baby some jarred baby food. You ask for a second helping of the free bread just so you can then stuff it into your doggie bag at the end of the meal. You collect other people's free bread from their tables on your way out the door. You order a very expensive meal, along with an appetizer and desert. When it comes time to pay the bill, you split the cost exactly, even though your partner only ordered a hamburger and fries. You skip breakfast or lunch so you can have more room for the all-you-can-eat buffet. You sneak some of that buffet into baggies that you have hidden in your purse. You linger over the buffet with a newspaper or book, so you can eat more an hour later (good for Chinese food?) You make a big deal of a minor complaint with the food just so they will take it off of the bill. You always ask the waitress if there are any coupons that she can apply to your bill. Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans. You Know You're Really Frugal When...
Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture, although you'll have to find the "real" one just above the category listing ). Click on "Subscribe via Email". You'll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Frugal Living Blog! Don't miss a thing - subscribe now! Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  deedee1231 (4030) 26 Sep 2008 06:55 PMHa Ha, that is so funny! No, I would never do any of these, although I do redeem coupons at restaurants, which drives my dh crazy. I will admit that I always order myself a kid's meal at the Steak N Shake drive through, but only because I can't finish a whole adult size burger and I don't want to waste what I won't finish. Is that cheap? mrmnmom82 (3365) 26 Sep 2008 07:14 PMI do the lemon in the water thing, and take home the free rolls in my doggie bag. jonesx6 (1606) 27 Sep 2008 05:05 AMI haven't done any of these things. lol Tashi (1013) 27 Sep 2008 08:19 AMOhmygoodness! I don't do any of these. I can't *imagine* grabbing other people's leftover dinner rolls, especially not knowing where they've been, OR what may have touched them before I passed by. And bring one's own alcohol?? If I drank, I still wouldn't do that. But I'm sure some people do. StBridgit (322) 27 Sep 2008 07:12 PMI have ordered from the kids' menu not knowing whether my child would eat it or not, and then eaten it myself when she/he didn't eat it. Sometimes I could predict that it would occur, and only ordered a side item for myself; at other times I have just had the server pack up what I ordered for myself to take home and eat later. I will also ask for more bread if it is unlimited and I want another piece with dinner, and then I will take the rest home--the rationale being that if they have served it to a table, they have to throw it out, and I'd rather not waste what is left over. And I will happily use coupons at a restaurant, but if I haven't brought them with me I don't ask!! Luvlyladyoo (5) 27 Sep 2008 08:06 PMI have done some of these like ordering extra bread to take home and skipping a meal in lieu of a buffet. Also there is nothing wrong w/ ordering off the kids menu especially at fast food places. 1) Its always cheaper and 2) Its a whole lot closer to the actual portion you should be eating. Another bonus: kids meals usually come with a little treat.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 28 Sep 2008 06:37 AMGreat responses! Are there any other frugal practices you will not do? The sawdust toilet comes to mind. http://frugal.families.com/blog/would-you-use-a-sawdust-toilet Tashi (1013) 28 Sep 2008 05:38 PMI won't wash out plastic baggies. But I do re-use them several times over, within reason. I won't use bath towels or washrags more than once before washing. I won't save and re-use bacon grease (or any other similar grease). I had 2 college roommates who did that, and kept it in empty milk cartons -- out in the open in the kitchen. Not so good of an idea especially in the summertime. Ick, ick, ick. Samual (11722) 29 Sep 2008 12:22 AMI would never do any of those, taking bread from another persons table is disgusting.  Julie Gentry (5915) 09 Oct 2008 11:09 AMA lot of these are really rude (and some are fraud)! When my sister was waitressing, she had a cheap guy who would always do the lemonade thing. He never left a tip either. She finally charged him one day for a side of fruit. He, of course, complained and the manager took it off, but he never sat in her section again. We usually DO skip a meal before going to a buffet. I guess I've never considered that miserly. It runs about ~$70 for all of us to go to Sweet Tomatoes (that's with a coupon and discount). That had better cover lunch AND dinner! *s* Mary Ann Romans (26876) 09 Oct 2008 02:23 PMNot leaving a tip is not frugal, it is miserly in my opinion. Community Tags eating out, frugal, morality, save money Discuss this article
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