So, we don’t go out to eat very often. When I say very often, I can count the number of times my husband and I have gone out to eat in the past 4 years on my two hands. But, I know that lately when we have gone out to eat, we have been saving a lot of money.
It’s fun to be thrifty and to be able to enjoy a relaxing meal with my family that requires no prep, no work, no clean up.
The first thing that we do is we share our plates with our children. The second thing we do is we drink only water, or water with lemon. The third thing that we do, is I use coupons for going out to eat. Buy one meal get one free, save $5 on a $20 or higher meal. These coupons usually help me pay for tips and taxes that seem to be “hidden” costs of going out to eat.

But, I also sign up for e-clubs with different restaurants. Some of my favorites are orange julius (I know it’s not really a restaurant but I love love love orange juliuses), Sweet Tomatoes, Jason’s Deli, Texas Roadhouse, and more.
It requires a valid email address and usually some personal information. I’m queasy about giving out personal information to anyone, so I have a fake birthday that I use and I give out my “junk email” which I keep organized for deals.
The best thing about fake birthdays is that I get a deal for my birthday in a different month, so I feel like I can celebrate my birthday all year long. ha ha.

A good website to find a lot of e-club deals is:

http://foodeclubs.blogspot.com/

This website not only has national chains but some Denver-centric restaurants for us in Colorado.

If you have any other restaurants that are not already listed in this blog, feel free to add them in the comments or add a comment at http://foodeclubs.blogspot.com/

Save wisely and Live happy!