Save Money - Dine Out with Restaurant Coupons

If you don’t use restaurant coupons when you’re dining out, you’re wasting money. My family is big on eating out at least once per weekend and we never go without some sort of discount coupon. If fact, before we go, my daughters and I compare notes on which coupons we have and which is the best deal.

We never eat out anymore without some sort of restaurant deal or freebie in hand. One way to get free appetizers, discounts on meals or even a free birthday dinner is to go to each restaurant’s website and sign up for their online “club” or email listing.

It’s easier to find a big listing of freebies if you live in a larger area but almost everyone has access to a Red Lobster or TGIFridays. Even if you live in a smaller area, though, and have a local favorite, check to see if they have a website and an e-club. Many restaurants are catching on to using the Internet to build a loyal following and offer special discounts to customers.

Most of these restaurants send you a discount coupon or free appetizer just for signing up. Then you get a birthday freebie of some sort and, of course, they send emails to let you know about specials - some of which also offer some sort of deal or discount.

Red Lobster - Nearly everyone has a Red Lobster in the area and, while their food is very good, dinner can be pricey. Get a free appetizer for signing up and a birthday freebie as well. Plus Red Lobster will email you about dinner specials as well.

Mimi’s Cafe - Mimi’s is located in all the lower US states, from California to Florida, all the way up to Virginia and Maryland. Mimi’s offers you a birthday freebie but they also send out emails each week with specials. Just yesterday, I got a buy one get one free breakfast coupon at Mimi’s. They have free muffins sometimes too and these are delicious!

Genghis Grill - Serves Mongolian Grill style offers discount coupons and a free dinner on your birthday for signing up with their reward’s club.

TGIFridays - Their “Give me more Stripes” club offers a free dessert or appetizer on your birthday, plus you earn reward points every time you eat there.

Panera Bread - Lots of healthy eating options here. You get a card and a key chain fob at Panera Bread which you register easily online. The automatically loads a free pastry or other goodies for your next visit.

O’Charley’s which is located in the Eastern half of the US, gives you a free dessert or appetizer for signing up, plus a birthday freebie and specials throughout the rest of the year as well.

Texas Roadhouse is a great steak house and contrary to its name, is located in pretty much every state of the US. Texas Roadhouse also offers a freebie for signing up with their Texas Roadie VIP club and special deals throughout the year.

Buca di Beppo serves Italian food family style. Their food is delicious! Get a freebie dessert for signing up for their e-club, a free appetizer for your birthday, plus something for your anniversary too! Get their restaurant deals totaling $150 a year by joining their club, according to their website.

P.F. Chang’s mails you a rewards card which, when presented at the restaurant, will give you a 10% discount on your bill. I just signed up for this one while writing this articles so not sure what other sort of freebies they might offer.

Red Robin a premier burger restaurant offers a free burger on your birthday for joining their eclub. I just signed up for this one as well so not sure what else you get. I’m not a burger person but my son-in-law just loves Red Robin.

Outback Steakhouse - Their rewards club offers points which can be redeemed for restaurant freebies, such as $10 off two entrees. You get 250 points just for signing up.

Besides signing up for restaurant deals via their eclubs, check your credit card freebies as well. One of our credit cards offers points which can be redeemed for gift cards to restaurants or retailers such as Sears or Home Depot.

To look for other restaurant deals and freebies, just think of places you like to dine, or restaurants you’d love to try and look up their website. You’re sure to find birthday freebies, free desserts, discount coupons and more.

Group buying websites have exploded this past year, with sites like Groupon, Eversave and Living Social gaining in popularity. The idea behind group buying sites is that different businesses offer daily deals in your city, such as $50 worth of food at a restaurant for $25 or unlimited yoga classes for one month for $20. When and if enough people buy the deal, it “goes through” and everybody gets a coupon to print out.

The daily deals are all different so you never know what will pop up. You sign up for free with the various websites and they email you the deal of the day. If you want it, all you do is click and buy. Some of the daily deals are also Online stores, for instance I got $30 worth of tea for $10 from a site where I just ordered the tea and used my coupon code.

More and more people are using clipping coupons these days and group buying websites are just an updated extension of old fashioned coupons.

I’ve gotten the aforementioned yoga classes, several restaurant deals, $25 worth of popcorn for $15 at the Popcorn Factory and various other things. I’m lucky that I live near 2 large cities so there are plenty of deals for our area. If you live in a smaller area, group buying may not be available yet. But they are constantly adding new cities and areas to Groupon and Eversave.

I’ve signed up for several of the group buying sites, although Groupon is the one I buy the most from. Here’s a run down on them:

Eversave - Get $5 credit just for signing up. Gave a $10 credit for the holidays too. Also offers a related coupon website for checking out coupons and printing them. Eversave offers more than one deal a day and you also have more than one day to get the “daily deal.”

Eversave tends to have more Online deals than Groupon. Today I got $30 worth of

Groupon - Groupon was the first and is currently the largest group buying website and is in 91 cities and 23 different countries. Recent deals include massages, tickets to college football games, lots of restaurant deals. Besides the daily deal for your city, there are also deals for nearby cities and, while most expire in 24 hours, they are beginning to add new ones with a few days to purchase.

Seize the Deal - Some of their recent daily group buys include massages, tickets to the Nutcracker ballet, restaurant deals and tickets to the Texas Motor Speedway. Some of their deals are up for several days before closing. I haven’t purchased anything from this one yet but I like seeing what they offer every day.

Urban Dealight - is newer on the group buying scene. I haven’t bought anything from them yet either. Their deals seem to be fewer and farther between at this point but they will probably grow over time.

Living Social is in 89 cities. This one is new to me and I haven’t purchased anything here yet.

Dealster is in 50 cities in the US. I just recently signed up for this group buying site but some recent deals are as much as 95% off what you’re purchasing.

With each of these sites, when you click on the daily deal, it gives you a link to the website and describes in detail just what the deal covers. You also have an account so all of the daily deals are stored there and you can either print them out and mark them as used or keep them until you’d like to use them. You can also purchase them as a gift for a friend.

These days, I like to save money any way I can and I always love a good deal. Group buying sites are here to stay and offering more and more great deals all the time.

I recently discovered Groupon and it’s a great way to save money on restaurants, entertainment, spa treatments and more. How does Groupon work? You sign up for free for the city or cities of your choice and then each day one business offers a special deal which saves you anywhere from 50% to 90% for dinners, yoga classes, massages, bowling, or just about any service or business you can imagine. The deal is emailed directly to you each day.

If you want the Groupon deal, you can purchase a printable coupon and off you go.

The idea behind Groupon is that if lots of people group together and take a deal, it makes it worthwhile for the business to offer it.

Groupon.com is not specifically a senior discount site but it sure helps seniors stretch their dollars. Yesterday I bought a Groupon certificate for a local restaurant. The deal was $25 worth for $12. So the next time we visit Habenaro’s Mexican Restaurant, our first $25 is already paid for with more than a 50% discount.

The only drawback to Groupon is that you have to live near a major city but more cities are being offered all the time. Plus, think of Groupon next time you travel. You always have several months to use the deal after you buy it. You can also buy Groupon coupons to give as gift certificates so if you have a friend or relative in a major city, sign up for their city and view the deals!

Visit Groupon today and save.

Want to go organic but don’t like the high prices? You can get organic food coupons for many of your favorite products to help save you money. If you know where to look, you can find coupons for organic milk and yogurt, organic meat, organic baby foods and more.

Organic food coupons.com offers links to printable coupons for everything from organic dairy products to organic pet food. The website also has a handy listing of local supermarkets so you can browse their ads for organic foods. Chose an item, like organic free range eggs, and get a list of website to find coupons.

MyGroceryDeals.com is another site where you can find organic food coupons and it also compares in store sales at supermarkets in your zip code. If you search for “organic food” and then go to “category,” it gives you choices such as bakery, fruits and veggies and juices. You can also clip and print coupons on this site.

Another way to find organic food coupons is to visit the site of the company which sells organic foods and see if they have printable coupons. For instance, Laura’s Lean Meat offers a $1 off coupon for organic meat and Stoney Field where you can get coupons for their organic yogurt, milk and ice cream.

Organic Valley organic milk also offers coupons on their website for their organic milk, half and half, cottage cheese, butter and more. Print them out and take them to the store with you to save big on these organic products.

Most of these sites require registration, but it’s free. You can sign up for newsletters and email info too if you’d like and many of the articles are very informative.

Coupons.com sometimes lists coupons for organic foods too. Print out several if it’s a product you like. Recently, they had a $1 coupon for Muir Glen organic tomato paste. Since one can costs $1.79, I got more than 50% off the can.

Compare prices on your favorite organic products at The Find.com. I just recently discovered this fantastic, money saving website. You can put in any search term you want, for instance Organic foods which found 8,651 stores with 242,098 organic food offerings. You can compare prices, whether or not coupons are offered, or if the item is on sale or has free shipping.

The Find also offers lots of money saving articles on many different topics as well.

Other places to save on organic foods without a coupon:

Costco - Costco is carrying a wider variety of organic products these days. Be sure to break down the price per unit to see if you’re really saving money, however. Just because it’s at Costco, doesn’t necessarily make it cheaper. If you can’t use a huge bin or organic lettuce and throw 2/3 of it away, are you really saving money? On the other hand, if you can freeze or preserve the leftovers, and you can use it all in a green smoothie, for instance, you would save money on that tub of spinach.

Walmart too is starting to carry more organic options. However, be sure to check for freshness. I’ve seen organic grapes and other produce at Walmart for a good price but because not many people are buying them, half the bag is inedible.

Eating organic foods is better for your health and the environment at a whole and now you know it’s possible to get more of these nutritious foods into your diet and save money with organic food coupons.

As I find more websites offering Organic coupons, I’ll add those too so check back frequently. If you have a good source for organic food coupons or can thing of other great ways to save money and eat organic, please leave a comment and we’ll check it out.

They Can’t Tax Voluntary Simplicity - Yet!

What is Voluntary Simplicity and How Can it Help You Avoid the Coming Economic Crisis?

Voluntary simplicity has a different meaning to each person who practices it. In a nutshell, voluntary simplicity goes against the commercial culture of America which equates material possessions with happiness and fulfillment. Advocates find fulfillment in saving money, downsizing, living simply and finding ways to do for themselves.

Many who embrace voluntary simplicity live debt free, clip coupons, cook from scratch, live closer to nature and try their hand at pass times like gardening and sewing or raising their own chickens.

Maybe this isn’t you but each of us can simplify our lives and focus on saving money, rather than making money. They can’t tax you for saving $20 with grocery store coupons but that is $20 you still have in your pocket.

Is Economic Disaster and Double Dip Recession Coming?

Life as we’ve all gotten used to it may soon end. For the past 20 years, the economy has been booming mostly, real estate prices shot up, the stock market was going great guns. Then it all fell apart. My 82 year old mother recently told me when she hears the term “new normal” in relation to the high unemployment, volitile stock market and near depression-like economy, she can’t help but think that the years of the booming economy were the abnormal years.

Most of the years of my mother’s life, she knew depression, war, pinching pennies. I grew up learning thrift and tried to teach my kids the same thing, but young people really have no clue about living through a real depression.

Are you worried about what the looming economic crisis will mean for you? Are you worried about the huge tax hike coming in 2011 to pay for the exploding national debt and President Obama’s health care plan. Perhaps you have one of those “Cadillac” insurance plans, where your companies’ contribution will now be taxed as income. Dick Morris says America is facing the same financial disaster that is now occurring in Greece.

President Obama campaigned on the promise of tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 (really all Congress would have to do is keep President Bush’s tax cuts in place - which saved our family $2,000 in taxes each year.) Yet, on June 22, 2011, House Majority Leader, Rep Steny Hoyer, acknowledged that it would be difficult to reduce long-term deficits without breaking President Obama’s pledge to protect families earning less than $250,000 a year. (See New York Times article)

My husband wants to retire. He has a military pension and a good job, which already puts us in a tax above $88,000. Anyone earning over $88,000 will be taxed to pay for the health care of those who cannot afford it. I am trying to earn extra income to supplement our retirement but unfortunately, the more I make, the more taxes we will pay.

So what is our plan? How will we protect ourselves from economic collapse? I’ve decided that I can limit my hours of working on my multiple streams of income (which is pretty much on autopilot now) and focus on pinching pennies.

• I search coupon websites and grocery ads for the best deals, buying only what we need and what is on sale.
• I rejoined our organic food co-op to get fresh organic produce for our green smoothies.
• I planted tomato plants in pots for the first time since we moved to Texas. We are currently buying land where we can grow a bigger garden.
• I dusted off my dehydrater so I can preserve food and not waste anything.
• I bought a sprouter to I can grow fresh sprouts for our smoothies. You can grow tons of sprouts for pennies, providing fresh greens for your diet.
• I am making my own kefir with kefir starter instead of buying sugar-laden and expensive yogurt.
• My husband and I are putting major purchases on hold and going on a spending fast, after reading Jeff Yeager’s Guide to Cheapskate Living (a great book with lots of voluntary simplicity tips and advice)
• We’re buying an RV to put on the land and if we need to live in it for a year or two to save money, we can do that.

We are in the process of purchasing 5 acres of land where we can have a huge garden, raise chickens and build an energy efficient house with wind and solar power. (President Obama admitted that his cap and trade bill will cause electricity prices to skyrocket and trying to break our dependence on oil could cause gas prices to go to $7 a gallon.)

All is not gloom and doom, whether the nation experiences economic disaster or not. What each person must do is be ready to live in the worst of conditions and become more self-sufficient. Try saving, not spending money. Try saving instead of increasing your income. Give voluntary simplicity a try and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you can face whatever happens.

One thing our government officials have not considered is what will happen when more and more people are willing to earn less, do more for themselves and pay less taxes? They’ve made it the sensible solution but how will the government machine survive once they’ve destroyed our economy?

Resources:

Making your own kefir is easier than you think.

Sprouting seeds at Home

Raising Chickens in Your own back yard.

Check out the many coupons and money saving articles on this blog as well.

Learn more about Living Simply

Being called a cheapskate used to be an insult but now guides to cheapskate living are some of the most

The Ultimate Cheapskate by Jeff Yeager

popular money saving books published. Voluntary simplicity has become a lifestyle to be proud of and Jeff Yeager’s The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less is one of the most useful books on cheapskate living that I’ve come across.

If you’re interested in downsizing, saving money and learning to embrace the voluntary simplicity lifestyle, Jeff Yeager’s book about becoming the Ultimate Cheapskate yourself, can be a wise investment.

Do you get enjoyment from buying “things?” Do you tend to buy as an emotional choice? Perhaps you’re stuck in a good paying, but unfulfilling job and buy things, telling yourself “Why not buy stuff? I earn it?” Do you have large credit card debt and were wishing you had none? The Ultimate Cheapskate can help!

I’ve been following the advice of Jeff Yeager for nearly 30 days and I’ve found that many of the purchases I made before were not things I really needed. I love to shop and I pride myself on finding the best prices but when you embrace voluntary simplicity, you learn that it is possible to spend zero money in a week, that being debt free brings more enjoyment than buying things and that being free of “things” brings freedom and fulfillment to your life.

In America, we are bombarded with commercials just about every minute of the day. We are convinced by smart marketers that if we buy their product we will be happier and more fulfilled. If you become an ultimate cheapskate like Jeff Yeager, you can find that not spending money brings even more fulfillment - your quality of life will increase, rather than decrease with each dollar you don’t spend. Plus the book is written in a humorous, lively style that makes it a pleasure to read.

If you’re looking for ways to be happier by spending less money, whether because you’re forced to or because you see it as a better option in life, then The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less can help you live in voluntary simplicity in a totally painless way. Order through Amazon for less than $10, plus the order qualifies for free shipping. What a cheapskate deal!

Joan’s Boomer Blog - More Coupon Sites for Deals and Freebies

I love getting freebies and using money saving coupons. Coupon sites are growing in popularity and I’ve found some new ones through reading ShopSmart magazine. Put out by Consumer Reports, ShopSmart contains no advertising so there is no conflict of interest in the products and tips they offer to help save you money.

In a recent article, ShopSmart offered these freebie and coupon savings sites. Although these aren’t strictly for seniors, seniors can certainly benefit from these money saving websites.

Coupon Savings.com

Coupons.com

Grocery Smarts.com

Beauty Product Freebies and Coupons:

These money saving coupon sites let you know when department stores are having product giveaway days - such as free gift with purchase. Search by brand name or retailer. You can also subscribe to these great websites so you can get updated on new deals and freebies.

GWP Addict.com - Keeps you up to date on best shopping days for freebies with products like Clinique. Also a coupon page for instore or online coupons, grouped by when they expire so you aren’t trying coupons that are out of date already.

My Gift with Purchase.com

To get coupons for beauty products, lotions and body care products, also sign up with company websites. Ulta.com has a free membership card where you can accumulate points toward gifts, plus they email you discount coupons for online or in store shopping. Other companies like Aveda and Oil of Olay also offer discount coupons for signing up at their website.

Forums where coupons savings shoppers swap tips:

A Full Cup.com

Moms View.com

Slick Deals.com

Some recommendations when using freebie and coupon sites:

Print only from reputable coupon sites. Make sure coupons contain bar codes and expiration dates.

It might be helpful to set up a separate email address just for all your coupons site sign-ups. This will help you avoid spam and keep all our coupons and newsletters in one place. I’ve had to create new email addresses over the years when old ones got too spam filled. I use these older ones for my coupon site sign-ups.