Our goal at Seniors Discount is to try and find you as many great savings as we can. In addition to these deals, we have a few suggestions for how you can reduce your daily expenses, and use the dollars saved for an exciting trip, a new car, or ……….

Meals

How often do you eat out in a week, in a month? Don’t Cheat! If you said 4-5 times a week, or approximately 20 times a month, then you are an average consumer. While most of the meals reported as “eating out” were lunch, this represents about $5-10 a day and over the course of a month this can add up to be quite a significant amount of money. Think about it, would you rather eat a so-so burger, a lukewarm soup and stale bun, or have a freshly made sandwich, and $100 extra dollars in your pocket at the end of the month?

This isn’t to say that eating out shouldn’t be part of your life, in fact, there are few nicer treats than going to a cozy restaurant with friends and family – but make it a special event and not an everyday occurrence. Not only will this help reduce your spending, but it might help reduce your waistline too!

If you still wish to keep your weekly dinner night at your favourite restaurant, never fear, there are still ways to save!

1) Avoid Appetizers – dinner menus are full of these tasty morsels, just enough to tantalize your taste buds AND empty your pocketbook. Often we order appetizers at the start of the meal when we are “starving”, but find ourselves unable to finish our main course. Dining with friends? Offer to split the appetizer, or select only 1 or 2, rather than a table full, you’ll definitely see a difference in your bill as the appetizer course generally represents about 30% of the total bill!

2) Limit Alcohol – Alcohol is often the most expensive part of the meal. Rather than ordering by the bottle, or litre, have a glass or half litre of wine. Some restaurants allow you to bring your own supply; however, you will still have to pay a corking fee, so this might not be a savings. Once you get home you can have an intimate nightcap of your favorite liqueur, for a lot less than you would have paid at the restaurant.

3) Have a Glass of Water - Drinking a glass of water prior to any meal will help curb those hunger pangs. Ordering food as you salivate on the tablecloth is a sure fire way to end up with more food than you bargained for, ask for water, and take a few minutes to decide on what you want before you place your order. Most restaurants will be more than happy to add a lemon or lime wedge to help spice up your beverage.

4) As this is Seniors Discount, we don’t want to forget to mention that many restaurants offer “Seniors Specials”, whether this is a certain night of the week, or a special menu, that offers additional savings for seniors. Generally these types of deals can be found on the menu, or you can ask the host or hostess for details.

5) Lastly, remember the link on our discounts page which offers great savings for restaurant dining.

So now that you aren’t eating out as much, you’ll need to go to the grocery store and pick out all the tasty ingredients for your next dish.

Step #1 – Plan your meals

Before you begin, it’s best to have a plan (in almost every part of life!) Creating a meal plan for the week, or at least for a few days at a time, will help you to figure out what grocery items you will need to purchase on your shopping trip. Special Tip: Be ambitious! Include a roast chicken, beef, or pork loin to your weekly meal plan, any leftovers can be used to make fantastic sandwiches, stews or soups that can be used later in the week!
Step #2 – Make a List

After you have your meal plan, break it down into the components, or separate ingredients that you will need to make your meals. Scan your refrigerator and pantry shelves, you may find that many of the ingredients that you need are already there; this will reduce the number of items that you need to buy and save you money. A list is a also a great way to save money, as you can search for coupons, or find price reductions for items in market flyers. Look around, while you may prefer one grocery store over another, you are likely to find the most savings by shopping at different locations and tracking down the best prices.
Step #3 – STICK to the List

Once you get to the store don’t be distracted by the signs and offers around you. Focus on the list you have prepared, as these are the items that you need in order to make the meals that you have already outlined on your meal plan. It is very easy to be tempted at the supermarket, servers offering yummy hors d’eourves on toothpicks, or serving the new fruity punch, these are all ploys to get you to buy the product they are presenting – and spend more money than you intended to – or than you need to. Remember, stick to your list!

Going to the grocery store can be a daunting task, and you may wish to just get in and get out as quickly as possible, without much consideration for your options. Take a look at a few of our suggestions and see if they work for you:

 

The Nightmare Before Christmas – DON’T shop on or near holidays if you can avoid it! These are often the busiest and most expensive times to shop as everyone is scrambling to get their groceries for the family get together, or a dinner party. In addition to the long lines, and limited parking spaces, there will be little to no savings on your groceries as the stores anticipate the high turn out and take advantage of the consumers need to buy. Few people are looking for deals at this time, but YOU are! Stay home.

Cash or Charge? – This is a sensible tip for most purchasing these days. We live in a world where debit or credit is the primary payment method, but we advise to use cash instead. Using your meal plan, list, coupons and market flyer, you should have a pretty good idea of how much your groceries will cost. Bringing cash will ensure that you do not overspend, if the receipt ends up being more than the cash in your hand, you should return something. Better to hand over that extra loaf of bread than break your budget.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing – Many products these days come in fancy packaging, individually wrapped or with a brand name with a pricey marketing scheme behind it. These are all things that end up costing you more, so be smart, look for store brands, rather than brand names, buy in bulk, or choose less fancy packaging as this will save you money in the end.