5 Restaurant Habits That Quietly Drain Your Bank Account
Eating out doesn't have to break the budget. But a few small habits at the table can quietly turn a $20 meal into a $60 one without you even noticing.
Here are the five biggest money drains hiding in your restaurant routine.
Read More: 6 Budget-Friendly Cars With the Most Reliable Engines
Find Out: Start Growing Your Net Worth With Smarter Tracking
1. Ordering Alcohol
Nothing inflates a restaurant bill faster than drinks. A single glass of wine or a cocktail typically runs $12 to $16 at a mid-range restaurant, and most people don't stop at one. Two drinks each for a couple can add $50 or more to a bill before the food even arrives.
Restaurants mark up alcohol significantly because it's one of their highest-margin items. Drinking before you go or splitting a bottle rather than ordering by the glass are easy ways to cut this cost in half.
2. Ordering Appetizers
Appetizers feel like a small addition to the meal, but rarely are. At most sit-down restaurants, a starter runs $12 to $18, and ordering one per person can nearly double the food portion of your bill. The portion sizes are also designed to complement an entree, not replace hunger, which means you often end up full, slightly over-budget and wishing you'd skipped it.
If you want something to snack on while you wait, splitting one appetizer at the table is the move.
3. Ignoring the Upsell
Servers are trained to upsell, and it works. Suggestions to upgrade your side dish, add a protein to your salad or try the specialty item of the night all sound reasonable in the moment and all cost extra. These small additions rarely feel significant individually, but a $3 side upgrade here and a $5 protein add-on there can tack $15 to $20 onto a bill without any conscious decision to spend more.
The fix is simple: Decide what you want before the server arrives and stick to it.
4. Skipping the Tap Water
Bottled water, sparkling water, lemonade and fountain drinks are pure margin for restaurants and pure waste for diners. A $4 to $6 specialty drink or bottled water ordered out of habit rather than preference adds up fast, especially for families. Tap water is free, comes immediately and costs nothing.
Choosing it every time is one of the smallest habit changes with one of the most consistent payoffs.
5. Paying for Delivery
Delivery apps have made ordering in feel effortless, but the real cost is easy to miss. Between the delivery fee, service fee, small order fee and tip, you can easily pay $15 to $20 on top of your food total before you've eaten a single bite. On a $30 meal, that's a 50% to 65% markup. Picking up your order directly or dining in just once or twice more per month can save hundreds over the course of a year.
None of these habits are dramatic on its own. But ordering a drink, an appetizer, a delivery fee and a couple of upsells in the same meal can easily double what you intended to spend. Tracking what you actually pay versus what the food costs alone is usually enough to change the pattern.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
More From MoneyLion:
