This is a guest post written by Liz Cutten. Liz manages a newer coupon blog featuring promo codes, hot deals, and so much more!

Going out to eat can be awfully expensive, especially if you have kids.  If you’re like me, you love to save, and since you’re on a coupon site right now, I wanted to give you some great tips on how you can save some killer money, no matter where you eat out.  I wanted to give you some cool pointers that I use that allow me to save a ton of money!

#1 – Kids Eat Free

There are countless restaurants out there that allow your kids to eat free.  If you have children that are 12, and under, I always recommend that you head out to a place that allows you to have your kids to eat for free.  Do a Google search for “Kids Eat Free Restaurants”, and you’ll get an endless list of ideas.

#2 – Restaurant.com is GOLD

If you haven’t heard of this website yet, I highly recommend it.  You can find little Mom and Pop shops, and sometimes corporate places in your area that are willing to give you gift cards for next to nothing.  For example, there’s a little Mexican restaurant on the corner of my street.  I was able to get a $10 gift card for $1.20!  If you’re going to purchase from this site, make sure that you read the fine print with the restaurants, and also make sure that you search for coupon codes before you buy from them!

#3 – eBay!

I love eBay for just about anything.  I can find coupons, gift cards at a discount, and so much more.  Think of some of your favorite restaurants, and check what’s available on eBay.  For example, a few months ago, I was able to snag 6 free appetizers to Outback Steakhouse.  I only had to pay $3.39 for 6.  If I would have bought 6 appetizers, this would have set me back at least $40-50.  It never hurts to check, because you never know what you can find!

#4 – Free stuff via e-mail

Just about every restaurant out there has an e-mail club.  Did you know that you can get free stuff just for signing up?  I’ve done this countless times for just about every restaurant imaginable.  For example, you can get a free appetizer at Texas Roadhouse for signing up, and other places offer Buy One, Get One free, and more!

#5 – Do a simple search

In this technological age, you can soon find out that there are countless printable coupons out there that you can grab right from your computer.  If you want to eat out at Chili’s tonight, do a search online, and see what comes up.  I just did it, and found that I could get free chips and queso for giving them my e-mail.  Sounds like a good enough deal to me!

#6 – Entertainment book

The last thing that I will recommend is the Entertainment book.  I love this book, and every year I honestly save $100s.  Just this year alone, I’ve save $55.  I know, I’m a nerd for keeping track, but I want to make sure that it’s worth it.  In my neighborhood alone, there are hundreds of restaurants that I can head to and use buy one, get one free, and more!

I can almost guarantee you that if you work hard, and use these tips, you’ll be able to save a fortune the next time you go out, and eat.  Sure, it’s going to take some planning, but you will soon find out that it will be well worth it!