Frugal Dining

Did you know you can go out to eat and still save money?  For a lot of people, dining out is a luxury...I'm one of them.  But I've found a couple of ways to save enough money that I can enjoy a meal out and not stress about what it's doing to my budget.

1.  Find your favorite restaurants' websites.  Many of them offer email clubs you can join.  With that membership, you'll frequently receive coupons for buy one, get one free entrees.  You'll also receive coupons for free appetizers or desserts and usually a free offer for your birthday.

2.  "Like" your favorites on Facebook.  In addition to the free coupons listed in number 1, the fan pages will often run giveaways or instant win games for gift cards, free food, etc.  In addition, you'll be the first to know about new menu items and special promotions.

3.  "Follow" your favorites on Twitter.  As listed in numbers 1 and 2, the same deals are sent out in tweets to followers.  At times, Twitter will be the only place to score the deal as they run Twitter only promotions. Subway does that exact thing on a regular basis.

Most of these offers won't get you a 100 percent free meal.  But when you only have to pay for one entree rather than two, it does move a dinner out from the "not going to happen" category to the "we can afford this" category.  Everybody deserves a treat or a night off duty in the kitchen.  These are ways you can have that without the guilt!!