Going out to dinner is one of my favourite things. But it can take a seriously massive cut of your budget! So here are a few ideas for saving money on your next date night.

1. Go early. Early in the week and early in the evening restaurants are typically slower and often run specials. At one point we joked that Monday is the new date night because of all of the offers near where E used to live in Fulham. Along the same lines, many restaurants don’t accept vouchers on Fridays and Saturdays. And that leads me to…

2. Look for vouchers. An obvious suggestion, coming from me, but one that is often forgotten. There are a few ways to do this: first, look through the heaps and heaps of restaurant vouchers on sites like VoucherHub.com; second, go directly to a restaurant’s website to find out what promotions they are running; third, sign up for localised group discount sites like Groupola, Groupon and MyCityDeal. Now repeat after me: “Never make a purchase without checking for a voucher”!

3. BYOB. There is the most amazing kebab shop in Notting Hill where I used to live called Fez Mangal. E and I went there way to often because they had just the absolute best chicken shish and lamb beyti. They didn’t serve alcohol and we could pick up a cheap bottle of red from the shop next door and do dinner for under £20, usually with leftovers for lunch.

4. Be loyal. Sign up for a restaurant’s loyalty scheme, facebook fan page and twitter. You’ll always be the first to know about promotions. The Geronimo Club is one of my favourites – I like their pubs and every month they send an email full of lovely offers for discounts on dining and free drinks, plus pub events.

5. Get a card. If you live in London, for a small upfront investment you can get a Taste London or a View card which will give you 50% discounts at restaurants all over town. At the moment, Taste London is £65.95 (but check around for a 20% off voucher!) and a View card will run you £25.95.

6. Read this blog! I write about restaurant deals I’ve tried or heard about from time to time in the Mummy Daddy Date Night posts.