Josh and Becca Thrap and Family

I know that I have quite a reputation for eating out. It’s true, I am no domestic goddess. Even though my cooking is often praised by those fortunate enough to get a rare taste of it, I seldom have the desire or the energy to put forth in preparing an actual meal. And on occasion I am even willing to drop the $60 it may take to feed the family a nice meal and not have to mess with the preparation and clean-up. However, obviously we could not afford to eat out nearly as often as we do if it cost $60 every time! And I have often been asked how we do it, how do we manage to eat out and keep the costs down? So, here is how I do it. Obviously, it does require some small bit of sacrifice in terms of where you go and what you order. Find out which restaurants in your area offer a “kids eat free” night, or some other type of family promotion that will save money. In my area, kids eat free at I-HOP on Monday nights, and they even bring in a fellow who makes balloon animals for the kids! Now, for the kids to eat free, they have to order off the kid menu, and it may not include a drink. That is when the kids get water! And if there is a concern that the kids menu items may not be enough to fill your child (as is now almost always the case with my older children!) then you order something for yourself that comes with extra sides or things that you can share. Also, right now (at least at our I-HOP) the promotion is All-You-Can-Eat pancakes. I took the kids last night and I ordered the pancakes that came with eggs and hash browns. When the kids had finished their food and were still hungry I fed them my eggs and hash browns and then they each got one of my pancakes. Now some places don’t like you to share AYCE items, and that is fine, be respectful and don’t try to cheat the places you eat, but if you have small children, I see nothing wrong with a little sharing. And our waitress did not charge us extra. And since Josh–who was supposed to be joining us but got called away to a work emergency, never made it, the kids and I all ate our fill for about $5. I paid $10 so that the waitress would not be slighted her tip on what would surely have been at least a $30 meal. Now, Tuesdays in our area kids eat free at Godfather’s Pizza buffet with an adult buffet from 5-730. Sometimes they will limit you to two free children per paying adult, in that case, if you are alone get your older two free and pay for the younger two because they are often cheaper. You can drink water again, or they have big mugs you can purchase and keep and refill for a dollar. We have two and so when we go we bring them along and I fill one for the kids and one for myself. Wednesdays in our area McDonalds has cheap Happy Meals. Also, from 4pm on at Applebees kid’s meals are a dollar and that includes their drink! They also have the $2 dessert shots if you deserve a little something extra. I like to go there when they are running their other specials so we can get the most bang for our buck. I’m sure you are getting the point. Basically my tips are these: Find out which restaurants in your area offer free kids nights, order things that can be shared, drink water, if neccessary give the kids a snack before you go out. One last tip, don’t feel like you have to order a separate item for everyone. For example, one of the places out family really likes to eat is the Texas Road House. They have a “family night,” but I haven’t noticed that that makes anything any cheaper, so we just go whenever. Now, they do have early bird specials during the week, so if you can go early you can save. When we go, we let the kids fill up on the free peanuts and bread and then all Cameron ever wants is a little salad so we make sure that one of our side dishes is a salad and he’s all set. Jacob and Elise both like steak and the kid’s steak is only $2 cheaper than a regular steak order so we just get a regular order (which is bigger than the kids order) and split it between the two.