Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Great Ways to Find Restaurant Coupons & Save Money Eating Out

Using coupons for restaurants is a great way to save money eating out. One recent survey said that 45% of Americans are eating at home more because they are trying to save money. By using restaurant coupons you can dine out and not break the budget.

Looking for Restaurant Coupons to Save Money? Here’s 10 Tips on How to Find Them:

Looking for Grocery Discount Coupons to Save Money? Here’s how to find them:

1. Sign up for ValPak. This packet of great coupons is mailed to your home and includes many terrific coupons for restaurants. They also have an email version of ValPak where you can do a search for various restaurants, as well as coupons for other businesses to print out.

2. Purchase an Entertainment book for your area. For about a $20 investment, you get hundreds of discount coupons to be used in the given year of the book. You also have access to their website, where even more coupons for groceries and other food items in your area. Last years’ book had a $5 discount coupon for groceries at Kroger’s for each month of the year! This year, they are offering $5 grocery coupons for Tom Thumb. So I actually made money by using that discount coupon throughout the year.

3. Sign up for Coupon Surfer.com you can get $5 off an Entertainment book. Sign up with Coupon surfer is free. You'll also find dozens of great restaurant coupons at Coupon Surfer.

4. Check newspaper ads or flyers you get in the mail. In bad economic times, restaurants are trying to attract customers and offering coupons is one way to draw them in. Clip restaurant coupons when you see them and organize by expiration date.

5. For restaurant coupons online, sign up with restaurant email newsletter lists. I recently got a free lunch or dinner at the Genghis Grill for my birthday. I signed up with the restaurant email newsletter several months ago and have gotten discount coupons like 20% off a meal. This month, it’s my birthday, so I got a free meal. I’ve also gotten free appetizers at Red Lobster and PH Changs, among others. Other advantages to joining a restaurant mailing list is you are kept aware of specials at your favorites.

6. Fill out customer satisfaction surveys. Many restaurants offer a discount coupon for filling out a survey via the phone or online.

7. For online, printable coupons, simply do a search for “restaurant coupons” and see what comes up. If you want a specific restaurant coupon, add the name to the search. I’ve gotten free appetizers and discount coupons this way for various restaurants.

8. Check the websites of the restaurants where you would like to dine. Sometimes they offer free, printable coupons on their websites.

9. Check your membership sites, like Costco. Costco offers restaurant discount certificates for purchase by their members. Many times, these discount coupons come in a pack. The other day, my daughter purchased $100 worth of Starbucks gift cards for $79, for instance (great holiday gift idea too!)

10. Check Ebay for restaurant gift cards for sale at discount. Sellers want to get rid of gift cards they receive but didn’t want and you can benefit.

11. Watch for Specials on restaurant discount coupons. Our local newspaper offers a “press pass” with the sale of a 6 month or one year subscription. This press pass gives a 20% discount at selected restaurants in our area. We subscribe to the paper for 6 months at a time and always check the list of restaurants accepting the discount before we go out to eat.

Using these tips to find restaurant discount coupons, you can still eat out and save money too!

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