Saving Money While Eating Out

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I love food. There I said it. It’s true, I do! And as many of you know from my blog posts, I love trying out new food products as well. One of the other things I like to do is save money on food! Shopping with coupons is important to me, and I try and save as much as I can on our grocery bill.

We don’t eat out a lot, but when we do, I try and find Sunday insert coupons or online coupons to help with the bill. A couple of weeks ago we went to Red Lobster for dinner, and I had a $4.00 off coupon. It wasn’t much but it at least covered part of the tip, and that’s better than saving nothing at all in my opinion. Even if we only eat out once per month if I can save $4.00 each time, that’s $48.00!! For our family that’s the cost of another meal out at a decent restaurant!

It’s a lot harder to find gourmet vouchers for eating out then it is let’s say finding Domino’s Pizza Coupons, and I guess that’s because the ‘classier’ restaurants feel that they don’t need to ‘entice’ you to eat at their establishment with dollars off their menu items.

When it comes to going to the movie theater, I even try and save there. Sometimes I think that it’s more expensive to buy concessions at the theater than it is to just take my family out to dinner! So I always check my e-mail newsletters from the local theater chains, and check out the weekly coupon they’re offering. Some coupons I don’t care for, they’ll have a free drink with the purchase of nachos or hot dogs….we pretty much only get popcorn at the movies. But often they’ll have one for a free box of candy with a popcorn purchase, or a free small popcorn if you buy a large drink. Then we’ll usually download, print and redeem the coupon, and I feel a little less guilty handing over the cash for my concession purchase!

Do you use coupons when you eat out? Or do you just go to the restaurant you want to and not worry about the cost?