My husband got deployed, and truthfully, with three kids, a house, a job, and more, cooking is the furthest thing from my mind.  So,  I have to fess up that we’ve been eating out way more than we should.  But being the coupon shopper that I am, I make sure that everywhere we eat, we get a deal.

With my newly-found knowledge of lots of dining out, here are the four best pieces of advice I have for getting the best restaurant deals.

1. Gift Card Deals

Scope out restaurants that are offering special incentives to buy gift cards.  I went to Claim Jumper restaurant with the kids, my mother inlaw, and her nephew for a special occasion.  Claim Jumper was offering a $5 bonus gift card for every $25 gift card you bought.  I went right to the hostess, bought $100 giftcard, and she gave me $20 free dollars good for a later visit.  We promptly used the $100 gift card on the dinner we were going to buy anyway.  Now however,  I have $20 free dollars to use again on another visit.

2. Inhouse promotions

A few years back, my husband and I each signed up for a rewards card for McCormick and Schmicks.  For $25, you got to sign up for the club.  However, they mailed you out a $25 gift certificate, so in reality, it didn’t cost anything to join.  Since we each got our own accounts, we listed each other as spouses.  M&S sends each of us a free dinner on our birthday valued at $40, just for being a member.  That’s two accounts, four meals, for $160 in free meals.  You then accumulate points on everything you spend.  They have a great happy hour with $1.95 appetizers, so many times we eat off the bar menu.  And for every 500 points you accumulate, you earn a $50 gift card.  The points are calculated before coupons and discounts.  So you can see where this is going.  Now, we go to Costco and buy $100 in giftcards to use for $79.99.  So we save an additional 20% off our meals.  It equals lots of cheap dinners at a really nice seafood restaurant.  They then had an inhouse promo to sign up for their newsletter and get a free $10 gift cert.  The savings just keep coming.

3. Costo gift cards

Costco in many areas offer discounted giftcards to local restaurants, typically at a savings of 20% off.  But, since gift cards are essentially cash, unlike combining two coupons, you can combine a gift card and a coupon.  So if you get $100 of giftcards for $79.99, and then the restaurant has a coupon available, you’re increasing your savings.  One of my local restaurants offers a giftcard at Costco, but they also have a Buy One Get One free coupon they offer.  By combining the gift card and the coupon, I’m getting one meal free and the other at 20% off - so the savings is about 70% off.

4. Entertainment Book Coupons

I always buy at least three Entertaiment Books each year, mainly for the grocery store coupons, but the restaurant coupons sweeten the pot.  Going back to my McCormick and Schmick example, they offer a $20 off coupon in the Entertainment Book. By combining that with the Costo giftcards and the M&S rewards card, we can have a really nice dinner for about $20 (gratuity not included). The restaurant coupons in there really do save you money.

5. Restaurant.com

Lastly, Restaurant.com can be a tremendous savings.  They discount gift certificates to local area restaurants across the country.  The certificates aren’t completely free - there is usually some sort of stipulation around them, like “Spend $35 and get $25 off” and you bought the certificate for $4, so you really wound up spending $14, but it’s still more than 50% off.  And during the course of the month, they discount them all the way down to 80% off.

Now if I had a secret for how to not put on the pounds while eating out, I’d be a genius!  But in all seriousness, even in a bad economy, you can still treat your spouse or family to a night out at an affordable price. Just remember, always tip your server at the full price of the meal.  Happy servers means restaurant owners will continue to offer great deals!

So enjoy your savings and a night off from washing the dishes!

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Tags: Costco, Coupons, Dining, Dining Out, entertainment book, food coupons, gift cards, recession, restaurant, Restaurant.com
Posted in Articles, Frugal Living | 4 Comments »

It’s the sign of our times - stores are going out of business left and right.  This week, retail sales figures were posted for the country, and not surprisingly, they were worse than anticipated.  No store category is being spared.  Home electronics, hardware, clothing, sporting goods, and even grocery stores are shuttering their doors and liquidating their inventory.  While it’s sad, and you don’t wish for a store you love to go bankrupt, it’s also a prime time for you to step in and find things your family can use at a price well below full retail.

First, let’s talk about liquidator tactics.  Once a store’s inventory has been handed over to a liquidator, the 3rd party company comes in and retags the merchandise, marking it up to its highest retail price.  From there,  they mark the items down. So a camping tent that retailed for $125.00, at the “clearance price” of 20% off, is still going to be $100.00.  That’s not a deal when other stores have similar tents on sale for $79.00.   If the item you’re interested in isn’t a commonly available item like a tent, and there’s not much inventory left, 20% off retail might be a good deal. Because of the media attention given to stores going out of business, most people will tend to flood the store when the sale starts and the best inventory will move quickly.  The general public will be happy at 20% savings and think they got a deal.

Within a few weeks, the inventory starts moving into new percent-off brackets.  30%-50% is where you’ll start seeing better prices, but you’ll still need to be careful that the price your paying is better than someone else’s best sales price.  Inventory will stay in this price bracket the longest because of the consumer perception about the value.  If there’s an item you’re interested in, shop around at competitors’ stores and check if it’s truly the best price before you buy.

In this savings bracket, the 50% off items are going to be things that are out of season or harder to sell items. A sporting goods store going out of business in May will have the winter items at the 50% off mark because no one is thinking about skiing in May.  But commonly used items like footballs or running shoes will be at the 30% off and be slower to move to the steepest brackets.

The liquidators will then move into the 60%-70% bracket, signaling that the store’s last day of business will be within a few weeks.  That’s the time to really start digging through the inventory.  Look for things you can use, or that might even have a resell value on Ebay or Craigslist.

The store will finish off with 70%-80% off most merchandise, and a few things that are “junk” items are going to be at 90% off.  Ninety-percent off makes for a great sign marketing - you know, the guy on the side of the road twirling an “everything must go sign” on a street corner.  But most of the 90% off stuff isn’t worth looking through more than once.

Now that you understand the tactics a liquidator uses to mark down inventory, here’s XXX tips for getting the most out of a liquidation sale.

1. If the store has more than one location be sure to check out each store. The inventory at each store will be different based on what they had left in stock before the liquidation sale started.

2. Make a list of the items you’re interested in at each store you visit.  Write down the price it’s at, and then go home and compare the pricing online.  Amazon.com is a good barometer on most items, and most stores have at least one online competitor you can price check against.  If the best price for that tent onsale in another store is $79, you know you’ll need that tent to be at the 50% off bracket during the liquidation sale before you should buy it.

3. If it’s an item you really need and you don’t think it will make it to the next price bracket, buy it at the one it’s at now.

4. If there’s a good amount of inventory and you find an item you want to stockpile, buy one or two at the current discount, and then as it falls further, buy more at the better percent-off bracket to increase your savings.  For example, you buy a pair of jeans at the 50% off rate, but they still have them when they are 70% off, by picking up the extra pair, it’s like getting both of them for 60% off.

5. Shop through each price bracket of the sale.  Liquidators will not only mark things down, they’ll consolidate inventory from multiple stores, and even bring in inventory from previous liquidation sales from other merchants in hopes of selling it while they have an audience of shoppers to look at the additional items.  And because stores will pull more out of the back storage, you don’t know what you’ll find the next time you come through.

6. If you’re shopping for kids, size up and buy multiples.  At a recent liquidation sale, I found Columbia Sportswear fleeces for $12.50 - regularly $32.50.  I bought a size that would fit the kids now, and then bought the next three sizes for later.

7. Don’t buy what you don’t need.  Just because it looks like a good deal, if you’re not going to use it, then it’s no deal at all.

8. Lastly, buyer beware.  The policy of every liquidator is “All Sales Final“.  Make sure that the things you’re buying are in good shape, that shoes are the same size and you have a left & right foot, and that all the parts and pieces are there.  I have no problems opening up a box in the store before I buy it. If I buy a tent, get it home and it’s missing a pole, it’s on me.  There’s no returning it.  You’ll also want to be sure that warranties on anything you’re buying are still in full effect.  This is especially important with electronics.

Liquidation sales are bittersweet.  It’s sad to see a 57-year old store leave your community, but don’t feel bad about making their loss into your advantage. The opportunity to save is huge and shouldn’t be overlooked.

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Tags: bankruptcy sale, Clearance, clearance sales, fire sale, going out of business, liquidation sale, percent-off, recession
Posted in Articles, Frugal Living | No Comments »