MAKING A MEAL OF IT
Eat Out to Help Out: Bargain hunter shows how to get three meals a day for under £5
A BARGAIN hunter has revealed how you can eat out for three meals a day for under a fiver from today using Rishi's meal deal.
From breakfast at Costa, lunch at McDonald's and dinner at Toby Carvery, Britain's Coupon Kid Jordon Cox shows The Sun readers how to make the most of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
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From today, the Government will pick up half the bill, up to £10 per person, when you dine out at a registered restaurant, pub or cafe.
"I will absolutely be taking part," Jordon, 23, said. "When else can you get breakfast buffets and unlimited carvery for around £2 per head?
"Deals and discounts on food like this, will probably never come around again - and it helps out struggling restaurants too."
The discounts are available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August and there's no limit to how many times you can use it - you can even claim it on top of other restaurant offers.
That means you can eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, three days a week for £17 per person. We reveal Jordon's meal plan.
Monday - Total spend: £4.17
Normally: £12.43, Saving: £8.26
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- Breakfast: Sausage bap from Costa Coffee, £1.29 (normally £2.95)
- Lunch: Big Mac and fries from McDonald's - £1 (normally £4.49)
- Dinner: Yorkshire pudding turkey wrap from Toby Carvery - £1.88 (normally £4.99)
Kick off your week with a half price sausage sandwich from Costa Coffee - you can find your nearest branch here.
You'll need to stack a couple of offers to get a bargain medium Big Mac meal from McDonald's.
Maccies offers discounted meals in exchange for customer feedback - to get the offer, you'll need to fill in the 12 digit code on the back of a receipt from a previous visit.
This will give you a code to claim a Big Mac and fries for £1.99, which will be halved if you use it on a Eat Out to Help Out day, making it £1.
Toby Carvery offers 25 per cent off to customers who sign up to their newsletter, which will bring down the price of a Yorkshire pudding turkey wrap down to £3.75.
This is the slashed in half again to £1.88 when you buy it on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in August.
Tuesday - Total spend: £6.10
Normally: £13.97, Saving: £7.87
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- Breakfast: Sausage and egg McMuffin and a hash brown from McDonald's - £1.75 (normally £3.49)
- Lunch: Cheese and ham panini and a soft drink from Wetherspoons - £1.85 (normally £3.69)
- Dinner: Fish and chips at Sizzling Pubs - £2.50 (normally £6.79)
To get 50 per cent off your breakfast and lunch is straightforward on a Tuesday in August - just head to the till and place your order.
To make the most of dinner, you'll need to bring a friend along with you.
Sizzling Pubs is currently running a two for £10 meal deal, which would normally make dinner a fiver when you split the bill.
Stack that on top of the Eat Out to Help Out discount and you'll only have to pay £2.50 each.
Wednesday - Total spend: £6.63
Normally: £13.25, Save: £6.62
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- Breakfast: Regular full English breakfast at Morrisons cafe - £1.88 (normally £3.75)
- Lunch: Carvery turkey sandwich with stuffing at Crown Carvery - £2.25 (normally £4.50)
- Dinner: 6oz beef burger, chips and a drink from Wetherspoons - £2.50 (£4.99)
Finish off the three-day half price meal out streak with a fairly straightforward day.
You won't need to stack any deals to get a bargain but it's always worth seeing if there are any last minute offers that have been launched on the day to boost your savings.
Remember though, the half price discount doesn't extend to alcoholic drinks, so stick with a soft drink at 'Spoons to make the most of the scheme.
How to stack offers to get bigger discounts
The blogger made his meal plan even cheaper by "stacking" the scheme with other deals.
"Before you eat out at any restaurant involved in Eat Out to Help Out - do a quick scan of its website for any bonus offers you can stack," he said.
"If you’re a member of any discount meal clubs such as Meerkat Meals or Tastecard, you should be able to stack these too.
"Have a look at which restaurants are involved to see if there is any overlap."
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Jordon also advises fellow deal hunters to download reward or cashback apps, like Quidco and Topcashback, to boost your savings even more.
The Sun confirmed with all the chains that the discounts we've mentioned will work alongside the 50 per cent off offer.
The scheme launches a week after Boris Johnson revealed plans to get Brits to lose weight to save the NHS money.
Under the "Better Health" campaign, shops will be banned from offering Buy One Get One Free deals on junk food
But the Chancellor's incentive makes purchasing unhealthy food even cheaper.
Plus, some food outlets have slashed prices even further thanks to a 15 per cent VAT cut for the hospitality industry.
Hundreds of high street chains have signed up, including Burger King, KFC and Greene King pubs.
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The scheme is open to independent restaurants too and you can use the postcode checker to find out local eateries near you that are taking part.
How to calculate the bill
THE government will pay for half of your bill, up to £10 a head, when you eat out on certain days of the week in August.
To work out how much your bill will be after the discount is applied, you should start by adding together everything that you ordered.
You'll then need to take off any items that it doesn't cover, such as alcoholic drinks and the service charge.
Then, divide this by two to find out half of the bill.
What if it comes to more than £10 per head?
To check that it comes under the £10 per head cap, divide it again by the number of people who are dining.
If it works out as more than this per person, then you'll need to multiply the number of people eating by £10.
You should then minus the answer from the total cost of the items that the discount can be applied to.
For example, four people eat out and the total bill that the discount can be applied to comes to £90.
Half of the bill would be £45, but that's more than the limit.
So you need to minus £40 (£10 per diner) from £90 to get the amount you will need to pay, which in this case is £50.
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