When going out for lunch, I use to eat whatever I wanted without regard to the price.  This was good, but usually once I found something I stuck to it, and whenever going to that restaurant, I would buy that menu item over and over.

Unfortunately, what the food that I liked was also typically one of the more expensive items on the menu, with the exception of steak meals.  Lately, I’ve discovered that I can make my dollar stretch farther, if I buy soups at the more expensive restaurants.  The good news is that the soup at better restaurants also taste better.  For instance, when I go to Macaroni Grill, I now buy 1 of their soup menu items.  They are extremely taste and very reasonably priced ($3.49 for a cup of Macaroni Grill’s tasty soups) plus, their free bread that comes with the meals is superb.  I have to admit, I’m not sure that I would get the bread if I went alone and ordered just soup, but since I always go with my buddies, and they still eat large, I reap the rewards… 🙂

So in an earlier Post, I mentioned that I’m doing an experiment where I only spend $12 a week on eating lunch out.  If I buy soup meals instead of the more expense meals, I can eat out 2 times a week for lunch! Booyah!

I win multiple ways with the above approach:

• I still get to save the same $40 a week for the allowance experiment.
• I get to enjoy the socialization aspect of lunch with my buddies at work.
• If I only eat out once that week, I get to save an additional $6 that week.
• I get to escape from work for an hour!
• restaurant food taste even better, after being on a diet of noodles, peanuts, and eggs.

Buying soup when going out for lunch should be considered!  Try it you might be surprised…