Saving money and managing your finances well is not a bad thing. Neither is being a cheapskate. In fact, it can be something to be proud of. Recently, we asked Ringgitplus users on Facebook to share with us their cheap date stories and walk away with a pair of movie tickets on the house.

Some of them were tragic…

While some turned out to be fun and memorable!

Going on a cheap date can be exciting. It’s even more exciting when you notice somebody is hiding their inner cheapskate. Especially when they’re eating out at a restaurant. Here’s how to spot a secret cheapskate if you’re having dinner with one.

Paying Extra Attention to the Menu

A menu is one of the first things that a potential customer interacts with after sitting down at a restaurant. It’s the establishment’s first impression on the customer and it can tell a lot about what to expect.

A trained cheapskate will pay special attention to how the menu looks, the material used in binding the pages, the lettering, and the spelling errors (they get nervous if there aren’t any). Point out that the items don’t have “RM” or decimal points in their prices and watch these people’s eyebrows leap.

Filling up On Free Appetisers

Upon discovering that the menu items are more than the suspected cheapskate is willing to part with, they might decide to fill up on the free appetisers. If they’re available, that is.

They might even ask the server what kinds of free appetisers or free anything elses that they can expect to have. Do not be suprised if this person asks their servers to prepare the free appetisers a certain way. So long as it’s free, why not have it special, right?

Bringing Their Own Ingredients

Typically, you’re not supposed to bring your own food to a restaurant. But nobody said anything about ingredients. Expect a secret cheapskate to produce a tiny packet of dry chilli mix, a plastic thing of soy sauce, or a satchel of herbs and casually drop them into cheaper, blander tasting foods to up their flavour, DIY-style.

Other moves in this category include bringing their own teabags, their own eggs to boil, or their own lime to squeeze onto their food and drinks.

Heavy Duty WiFi and Power Outlet Use

A true cheapskate wouldn’t just use the WiFi and power outlet to charge their phone and post food pictures to instagram. They take it a step further by using the WiFi to send email, upload large files, conduct a video interview over Skype, livestream their meal, and maybe even get Waze directions to where they keep the cutleries.

The power outlet also may be similarly overused to plug in anything from a desktop computer, a portable space heater, or an electric panini press to make their own sandwiches from the free appetisers and ingredients they have hidden in their pockets.

We won’t hold it against you if you do any of these things, but even the most penny-pinching spendthrifts deserve to have a nice meal out without having to worry too much about expenses.

That’s why we think you should try out Public Bank’s credit cards. They currently offer 50% cashback for dining on Fridays (only until 30th of April 2016!) so you can enjoy your fancy end-of-the-week dinner in financial peace.

Do you have your own ways of saving some money when eating out? Why not share your stories with us in the comments section down below?

 

• TAGS:
• Cashback
• Dining
• Public Bank