Can you eat out for free?? NO- but here's how to save some cash!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011


This post has nothing to do with sushi. I just really like sushi. A lot.

If you've been following my posts you already know that hubby and I are doing 30 days of no dining out. We're on day...9? 10 maybe? I'd have to go check the date of my day 1 post to be sure. Anywho, all this not dining out got me thinking...is it possible to dine out for free?

After several days of painstaking research, the answer is no- unless you're a celebrity or something. Until this blog blows up, and I mean to Brangelina proportions and people pay me to eat in their restaurants, somebody is footing the bill. Being the sweet person that I am, I compiled a little list of ways to take treat yourself to dinner without having to file Chapter 11.

Here's a list of some of my favorite chain restaurants and the discount clubs they offer:

Ruby Tuesday - So Connected Club: Sign up for their email club and they'll sporadically send you coupons for all sorts of stuff- a couple I've gotten are free handcrafted burger on your birthday,and a free garden bar with entree purchase (I know, it's $2- but hey, if we all saved $2 a day for a year we'd have $730...a year).

TGIFriday's Give Me More Stripes: These guys get all fancy- sign up and they'll send you a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert and...wait for it....a freaking jump the line pass! That's right, you heard me! You're rollin' straight VIP at Friday's!! In addition, you get a card that earns you $8 in free food for every $100 you spend, and maybe a lil something nice on your birthday. Baller.

Moes e World: WELCOME TO MOES...e World. Here you'll get something for signing up, a treat on your birthday, and a reminder about $5.55 burrito Mondays.

Chik-fil-A: Sign up heer to ressev speshul offerz, promoshuns, and nooz frum the cowz.

The Pita Pit PIT Card: Earn free food by earning points on the card. $1 spent = 1 point earned on the card. Here's an example of what you can get:

Standard Pita / Fork Style 90 Points
6” Pita / Kids Pita 70 Points
32 oz Fountain Drink 30 Points
Bag of Chips 15 Points
Fresh Baked Cookie 10 Points

So only $90 spent and you'll have earned yourself a FREE Pita! Deal of the century!! :)

Aside from chain restaurants, you can get awesome deals through Restaurants.com, like $25 gift certificates for as low as $2 with the promo codes they release frequently. Typically, these are $25 on a $35 purchase, so you're really spending $12 for a $35 meal, but that's a significant savings! This website is legit and the gift certificates do work- I've used them. Just a word of caution- booze is typically excluded, so you can't go have a liquid lunch of 7 martinis for $12. I've tried.

Another way to get deals at restaurants is to "Like" them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter- a lot of companies are jumping on the viral marketing strategy, and doing promos/giveaways to attract attention. Go like 5 of your favorite places now!

And least, but not least, if you have already signed up for Groupon then just stop reading now because you already know the incredible deals that are delivered in your inbox every day. If you have not signed up for Groupon yet- do it now by clicking here! As a matter of fact, today's Tampa deal is $12 for $25 Worth of Seafood and More Friday-Sunday (or $30 Worth of Seafood and More Monday-Thursday) at Palm Pavilion in Clearwater Beach - you don't have to be Albert Einstein to see what a savings that is!

Enjoy all of your yummy savings!

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