Working people often find themselves in the situation where they must go out to eat. Business lunches are popular and many times unavoidable in certain industries. Fortunately, there are ways to save money on these meals without appearing "cheap." When appropriate, share a meal or appetizer with a friend or co-worker. You can ask the waiter to split the dish in the kitchen and bring out a plate for each of you. Of course splitting a meal is very easy to do if you are going out to dinner with your significant other. Keep in mind that restaurant portions are very commonly more than you really need to eat to be full, so ordering a small amount of food or even considering having an appetizer for your meal could very well end up being a healthier and more economical food choice. If sharing is not an option and a large dish is all that is available, just make sure that you ask for a take home container or doggie bag and save the portion of the meal that you did not eat to take to work the next day as a lunch.

Also, feel free to ask if the establishment that you will be dinning at has any lunch specials. Many times, you will find that restaurants have these smaller mid-day meals available for a lower price. Getting these smaller meals will not only cost less per plate, but lunch time waits are typically shorter, so you waste less time waiting and as we all know, time is money.

If you make a lot of lunch appointments, make sure that you are not overlooking the possibility that those lunches could be re-reimbursed by the company. Turning in your receipts for business lunches could mean free lunches for you.

Use the appetizer as a way to save money. Many times if a couple goes out to eat, they can save the cost of an entire meal for the second person by simply sharing both an appetizer and the main course. By sharing two different menu options, each person gets to eat something that is appealing to them. This arrangement can also be done with the main course and a dessert option if that is your wish. In some cases, you may even be able to get the appetizer or the dessert free. By looking for and signing up for online dinning coupons, you can try new restaurants and save at the same time. The savings on some dining coupons can be significant. For example, a buy one entree get the second one free deal and can cut your final bill by as much as 40%. Some restaurants give free starters (i.e. free breadsticks at Olive Garden or free chips and salsa at Chevy's) that you can be filled up on and spend less on the actual meal.

Researchers have determined that it costs about 67 cents to "super-size" a fast food meal. 67 cents seems like a bargain to a hungry drive thru customer, but over time that 67 cents can add up. Many times it takes just as much planning to decide where you will go to eat, get in the car, drive to that place, wait in line for food, and eat your meal as it takes to just plan ahead. Eating fast food should be the occasional treat or guilty pleasure. Having it be the norm is just lazy.