Choosing to live a frugal lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to go without the things you love. For instance, my family loves to eat out. While it’s not something we do every week, we still make allowances in our budget for eating out a couple of times a month, and when we do, it’s usually for a fraction of the menu price.
How do we do it? We use coupons, of course! There are several places to find restaurant coupons. Here are my favorite.
1. Check the Restaurant’s Website
Most restaurants have a website, and many offer deals and discounts on them that aren’t available anywhere else. Be sure to check them out before heading out to eat.
2. Local Events
Many restaurant owners will offer special deals, coupons and discounts at local events and festivals around the city. I especially love these types of discounts because it gives us the opportunity to try new places we typically wouldn’t be able to afford.
I’m a big fan of the Entertainment Book. This coupon book is full of coupons for lots of stuff in the area, and for about $20, it’s a steal. This coupon book also comes with a dining card that allows you to get two-for-one deals at a handful of restaurants in your area. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out just a couple of meals out with this card pays for the book itself.
4. The Newspaper
Check the Sunday paper. Sometimes you find restaurant coupons in there.
If you haven’t heard of restaurant.com, you’ve obviously been living under a rock. Even if you’ve already used the site in the past, there are a couple of money-saving tricks you may not know. For instance, signing up for their newsletter earns you the right to deals on the site’s already low prices. A $25 gift card, which sells for about $10 on the site, is only $2 through the newsletter. Check it out!
6. OpenTable
This is one I don’t use very often because it’s geared toward more mid-to-end restaurants, but for special occasions such as anniversary, I like to use it. OpenTable allows you to make online reservations at select restaurants to earn points. Points range in value from $1 to $10, but once you reach $20 in points, you’ll receive a check to use at any of the restaurants listed on the site.
7. Groupon
Groupon is a group buying and daily deals site that gives you access to restaurant coupons and much, much more. The only downside to getting deals this way is your savings (or lack thereof) depend on others to take the same deals. However, in my experience, the deals almost always go through (meaning enough people sign up for them), and the savings are almost always huge!
8. Discount Gift Cards
Ask for discounted gift cards at the restaurant itself, or visit their website to see if they offer them. You can also go to Card Cash, which is an online discount gift card market place.
Do you use restaurant coupons?
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