Restaurant coupons save families money

The days when mom stayed home and cooked the family meals are over. With both parents working and kids more active than ever, families rely on restaurants sometimes as much as five times a week. Eating out can strain a family's budget due to the high costs. Even a simple fast food meal for a family four can costs as much as $30! That equals at least $150 a week in food costs and $600 per month!


One way families try to stretch their dining out budget is with restaurant coupons, which are found in a variety of ways. The most popular and traditional way of finding restaurant coupons is in the Sunday newspaper. The coupons can be a "meal deal" from a local fast food restaurant or a coupon for a half price entrée at a higher-priced family restaurant. These coupons are often limited to certain restaurants that agree to list with the coupon service. Local restaurants may announce special deals or place coupons in any section of the paper, any day of the week.

The Internet has become the most popular place to find restaurant coupons. The national pizza and family entertainment restaurant Chuck E. Cheese has pizza coupons on almost every discount site, in the Sunday paper and on their website. Most major pizza retailers put coupons on their web sites and in local mailers each week. With the average American family eating take-out pizza at least once a week, these coupons can save families hundreds of dollars each year!


One of the most advertised sites for restaurant coupons is www.restaurants.com. This site features special offers not only from some major chains but from locally owned restaurants as well. You can find almost every type of cuisine on this site. Just type in your zip code to find special offers. The main discount featured is a $25 gift certificate for only $10. But most restaurants will require a minimum purchase in order for you to redeem your gift certificate.

You can also find a variety of restaurant coupons at www.wow-coupons.com. Almost every type of cuisine is available on this site, with coupons from restaurants including Arby's, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut and Red Lobster.

Two websites designed to help families save money also have many restaurant coupons online. The first is www.couponmom.com. Atlanta mom Stephanie Nelson started the site to help families find ways to save money on groceries, restaurants, college costs and just about anything else under the sun. Nelson also has advice on how to use coupons to save money on her site. The website has links to other restaurant coupon sites. You can also find restaurant coupons on www.momsview.com. This site also has links to many other sites that have restaurant coupons as well. The website www.couponcabin.com also has restaurant and pizza coupons.

Most people are busy and do not have time to sort through hundreds of websites looking for restaurant coupons. To save time you can type the name of your favorite restaurant into you search engine and see if it has a website. Most major restaurant chains and some "mom and pop" diners have websites that ask you to sign up online. By signing up, you may receive special offers and coupons in the mail.

There are some things you need to know before going online for restaurant coupons. Many of these websites that offer restaurant coupons require you to install their coupon printer in order to get their coupons. While most of these installations are safe and will not harm your computer, many people do not like to install any hardware from any website.


Second, most of the websites listed are offering the same deals from the same restaurants. The exceptions is www.restaurants.com, which partners with local restaurants to offer the above mentioned gift certificates. To save time, you may want to research the websites offering restaurant coupons and just check one regularly for special deals and offers.


Some of the deals listed on some coupon websites may require you to link to the restaurant website. Often you will find the special deal offered on the coupon website has expired. Make sure you check the expiration date before trying to use the coupons.