Let the Quest Begin!

Toledo has more restaurants per capita than probably any other city in America. With so many yummy restaurants to explore, I decided to begin this quest in order to maximize my dining experiences using all of the new technologies out there promoting free and discounted restaurant programs! So, for the next 365 days, the only restaurants, cafes, ice cream shops, etc... that I will patron is those that I have a coupon or offer some sort of discount program.

To get me started I enrolled with several websites that notify me of restaurant deals such as www.groupon.com and www.livingsocial.com I recently purchased a coupon to Treo, Tropical Smoothie, and Elaine's Tea Shoppe, which I cannot wait to use!


Other sites that I found like www.restaurant.com that offer gift certificates for up to 1/2 off. As I come across more sites, I'll be sure to post them and if you know of any other websites similar to these, let me know.


I also purchased the 2011 Entertainment book. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it is a huge book full of coupons for restaurants in your city. They also have a website (www.entertainment.com)that you can print more coupons from. (BTW: I bought the book for $32, got a $25 gift card to Treo Restaurant in Sylvania and saved $9 by purchasing it through www.mrrebates.com- so in essence the book alone already made me $1!!!)


I receive the J.D. Power Coupon Magazine, ValPak, and some local coupon flyer's in the mail all the time which I will clip and store in a coupon folder. I also intend to purchase the Fan Club Card in the next few days. And even without coupons, many restaurants offer free or discounted meals throughout the week. While many of these coupons target diners in Northwest Ohio, you could probably find similar coupons for restaurants in your area using these sources.


Some people might think this is just me being cheap. However, by no means am I a frugal person. I just enjoy eating out but I hate paying the exorbitant prices so many restaurant charge. I am a married stay-at-home mom and have 3 kids (well one is still breastfed so she won't be eating at restaurants anytime soon). All of you out there with kids knows, that to feed a family something other than McD's or BK it'll run you upwards of $40. But why? Why should we be forced to pay these prices? A few months ago we took our kids out to the Real Seafood and paid $115- for LUNCH! Okay, I know this was a special occasion meal, but that's 2 weeks of groceries for our family! 


Ok let's look at a more realistic scenario. We usually go out to eat one time a week as a family and pay about $60. Multiply that by 4 weeks in a month and that's $240 each month. Tack on an extra date night meal with the hubby- $60, me eating out with my friends once a week spending about $20, and my husband* eating lunch everyday and before you know it, we've spent well over $400 a month on eating out! 


*I cannot guarantee that my husband is going to agree to this quest. (He spends about $120 a month on lunches- $6 per lunch X 5 days per week X 4 weeks per month) He thinks my coupon cutting and free meal quest is kind of embarrassing and resists taking part in these attempts. However, if and when he does use a coupon I will post the savings.


Please, feel free to share your comments and savings experiences with everyone.


So here's the plan... for the next 365 days, every time my family and I eat out I will post where we ate, what coupon I had and how much we saved. At the end of this quest I will tally up the savings and prove that it is possible to enjoy eating out without EVER paying full price!!