Next time you’re about to toss that fast food receipt in the trash, take a second look. You might be throwing away a valuable deal.

In a recent post I described how supermarkets print coupons on the back of their receipts. These so called Catalina coupons offer valuable grocery savings.

Now it seems that fast food restaurants are getting into the game by providing offers on the back of their receipts as well. The great thing is that you don’t have to buy any newspapers or clip coupons to enjoy them. The deals are essentially handed right to you.

Now the value of the deals vary. I’ve received savings ranging from a single dollar to six dollars. As an example, here are some of the offers I’ve come across recently.

My recent Boston Market receipt featured a buy one lunch meal, get one lunch meal free. This is about a $6-$7 savings. Not bad and again no coupon clipping needed!

A Burger King receipt I received contained a toll free number. Call the toll free number, complete a quick phone survey about your visit and receive a free Whooper sandwich with the purchase of fries and a drink.

I made the call and a few minutes later, after finishing the survey, I received a code which I wrote on the receipt to use as a “coupon” for my free Whopper.

A Dunkin’ Donuts receipt offered a free donut with the purchase of a medium beverage. To get my free donut I simply visited the Dunkin Donut website and filled out a customer survey about my visit.

As with the Burger King offer I received a code at the end of the survey which I wrote on the receipt serving as my “coupon” for the free donut. It took me about three minutes to complete the online survey.

The next time you eat out, take a second to look at the receipt. It just might contain a valuable money saving coupon.

Hello. Today I’m going to take you on a little trip around the blogosphere and highlight some great frugal food articles.

Everybody is trying to eat healthy. In a down economy, however, this can become quite difficult. Vic Magary at Bargaineering.com shows you how to Eat Healthy on $10 a Day.

TipHero.com is a great website that provides personal finance tips and advice. Site moderator Ray presents 5 Ways I Save Money on Groceries. Particularly interesting is his method for substituting expensive processed foods for cheaper healthier alternatives.

A very interesting post over at Out of Debt Again. Mrs. Accountability describes her first week using a cash only system for groceries. It allows her to save money and stay under budget. She mentions seven specific frugal moves that the cash system encouraged her to make in the first week alone.

Kris at Cheap Healthy Good provides a prescription for dealing with Food Affluenza – the tendency to allow our food costs to bloat as our incomes increase.

According to Slashfood.com, substituting top-shelf alcohol with generic booze and recycling baskets of chips are a few tricks some restaurants use to pinch pennies. Check out the site for 10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets.

J.D. at Get Rich Slowly shows you how switching to store brands can be a painless way to slash your grocery bill with his real life grocery store experiment.

In a much older article (from 2005 in fact) but a timely one never-the-less, Frank at Hello Dollar presents an interesting argument for how brown bagging your lunch can earn you a half a million dollars over your lifetime!

We’ve recently participated in the following personal finance blog carnivals:

Are You Leaving Money Behind at the Supermarket included in the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Simply Forties.

Save Money by Building a More Effective Shopping List included in the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Taking Charge.

4 Supercharged Coupon Ideas That’ll Have You Smiling All the Way to the Bank included in the Money Hacks Carnival hosted by Four Pillars.

Nine Simple Ways to Avoid Supermarket Impulse Purchases included in the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights hosted by Pecuniarities.

People commonly use coupons at supermarkets to rack up huge savings. But did you know you can use coupons at many of your favorite fast food restaurants as well?

Many fast food restaurants provide coupons on their websites which you can simply print out. The great thing about these internet coupons is that you can continually print them and use them on repeat visits.

As of this writing, Del Taco, for example, is offering a buy 1 taco get 1 free coupon. Hardees is offering a $1 off a thickburger combo meal. Check your favorite fast restaurant website for online coupons.

Several fast food restaurant offer special programs that send you coupons deals by email. Boston Market sends you a coupon for $3 off when you sign up for their free email service. Wendy’s has a similar program called WendysMail where they send you email coupons and promotional offers.

Simply go to your favorite fast food restaurant’s website to see if they offer such a promotions program. The only downside to these programs is that you have to provide your email address. Many people set up a second free email account which they use for programs like these.

Finally, check the back of your fast food receipts. Some fast food places print a toll free number on the back of their receipts that allows you to complete an online survey. Once you complete the survey you’re provided with a coupon code for free food.

Recently, I called the survey phone number located on the back of my Burger King receipt. After completing an automatic survey about my dining experience at the restaurant I was given a code to on my next visit for a free whopper with the purchase of any size fries and drink.

The Starbucks fix – the daily habit of enjoying our favorite Starbucks drink can cause serious damage to any budget. Financial gurus call it the “Latte Factor”, the way small daily charges add up to cause significant financial harm. Unfortunately, this Latte Factor doesn’t just apply to Starbucks.

Are you one who just can’t refuse a daily stop for your favorite Jamba Juice smoothies? Do Dunkin Donuts hot chocolates beacon daily? Are you an addict for a daily fix of Krispy Kreme donuts?

Just consider a $4.20 Starbucks drink purchased once a day will cost you $126 a month. That’s nearly $1529 a year! Add an overpriced $1.99 muffin to your tab and you’re looking at a total yearly bill of $2253! That daily Jamba Juice smoothie will set you back $118 a month, or $1432 a year!

So how do we keep our daily food cravings from damaging our financial health? The simple answer is to spend less at our favorite Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, or Jamba Juice. But this is easier said than done. Here are a few tricks to help out.

Cut the frequency, increase the enjoyment. A simple fact of life. The more frequently you partake of any experience, the less enjoyable each individual experience becomes. If we purchase our favorite Starbucks drink just once a week, that one drink would taste extremely delicious. But if we had that same drink with every single meal, we’d probably become downright sick of it (not to mention have one heck of a caffeine rush).

Imagine how much more enjoyable your favorite Starbucks latte or Jamba Juice smoothie would be if you had it just one time per week, compared to drinking it every day. While once a week Starbucks trips would probably take more will power than humanly possible, consider this alternative. Visit your favorite coffee shop every other day, instead of daily. The days you go without increase anticipation and make the days you do buy your favorite drink that much better.

Cut out the “accessories”. Do you always buy an overpriced blueberry muffin with your Starbucks latte? How about a donut with your Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate, or apple cinnamon pretzel stick with your daily Jamba Juice smoothie? By eliminating these “accessories” you can instantly cut your costs by a third or more.

Buy yourself a gift card. Most coffee shops, restaurants, and fast food places offer gift cards. Buy a gift card for yourself every month and limit your purchases to that one card. When the card runs out so does your Starbucks fun for the month. This does several things. First it forces you to stick to a Starbucks budget. Knowing you have a spending limit will help you ration your Starbucks spending.

Second, purchasing a gift card highlights the large sums of money you are actually spending on your drinking habit. Smaller amounts of money spent daily barely register. But when you have to lay out a large some of money to purchase your gift card, you’ll realize how much your habit is actually costing you. Paying $120 for a gift card has a much bigger psychological impact than does paying $4 a day for 30 days.

In no time at all you’ll get tired of spending a hundred or more dollars per month to satisfy your habit. By using a gift card you can slowly decrease how much money you spend. Simply reduce the value placed on your gift card each month. Start with $120 gift card. The next month buy a card worth only $100, and so on.

Employ the envelope system. This is very similar to the gift card method in that each and every month you set aside a certain amount of money that you’ll spend only on your Starbucks or Jamba Juice habit. Set this cash aside in an envelope. When the cash in the envelope is used up, your Starbucks habit is done for the month.

The envelope system does the exact same thing as the gift card system – it sets you on a budget and shocks you into realizing how much money you’re actually spending on your food habit.

By taking a few simple steps to gradually reduce your Starbucks habit, you can literally save hundreds of dollars each and every year.

We all know that’s its much cheaper to cook and eat at home, but sometimes with hectic schedules, it feels good to eat out and let someone else do the cooking.

We list 7 ways to eat out with your kids without breaking the bank.

Eat at places that offer free refills on drinks. Beverages at restaurants can quickly add up, especially for a family. Many restaurants offer free refills. This allows you to buy smaller sized drinks which can be refilled, saving you money. Alternatively, simply ask for water instead of soda and save nearly $1-$2 per person.

Skip the kids menu, split an adult meal. At some restaurants, the kids meals can be relatively expensive for the amount of food that you actually get. In such cases it may be more cost efficient to order one adult entree to split between two children, or have each adult share their meal with a child.

Go to places where tips are not expected. You can find restaurants that provide a nice, casual dining experience without waiters, so no tip is expected. This saves you an instant 15-20%. The national Chipolte’s Mexican restaurant chain is one such restaurant where you can save by not having to leave a tip.

Fill up on the free bread, salad, and chips. Restaurants often offer free bread, salad, or salsa chips while you wait for your main meal. These items are relatively cheap for the restaurant to prepare and can be quite tasty.

They’re also a great way to fill up without having to order expensive appetizers.  Many restaurants will even gladly offer you extra bread or salad for free or for a nominal fee.

Go on nights when kids eat free. Many restaurants offer special nights where kids eat free. Usually the free child’s entree is restricted to the kids menu and the child must be eating with a paying adult. This is terrific way to save money.

Just double check how many kids can eat free per paying adult and during which hours of the day the deal applies. The website coupondivas has a great list of restaurants offering kids eat free nights, as does the website mykidseatfree.com

Join birthday clubs. Some restaurants have birthday clubs which provide children with a free meal on their birthday. All you have to do is sign up ahead of time. Check out MommySavers.com (list is halfway down the website page) to find a great list of restaurants offering birthday meal savings .

Eat dessert some place else. Why pay $4-$5 a piece for expensive restaurant desserts when you can make a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home and pick up a gallon of ice cream for a fraction of the price. Alternatively, a stop by McDonald’s can net you hot fudge sundaes from the value meal for only $1 a piece!

While everyone knows that its cheaper to cook and eat at home, sometimes you just want to enjoy the convenience or experience of dining out.

Even when dining out, however, you can still find ways to save money. Below we reveal insider secrets to saving while dining out.

Watch Out for Those Menus. When ordering from the menu don’t be deceived by the extra emphasis placed on certain menu items. Restaurants often emphasize menu items that bring the restaurant the greatest profit. They may place a box around such a high profit item, feature it with larger type, or place it near the top of the menu.

Another technique involves using more descriptive language to describe higher margin items. Studies have illustrated that we tend to expect food with more lavish descriptions to taste better.  Which sounds better: “Delicious 10 ounce filet mignon” or “Succulent, large filet mignon grilled by our renowned chefs to the brink of mouth watering perfection.”  Same steak but which one would you be willing to pay more for?

Try a Lunch or Early Bird Menu. Restaurants have significant overhead costs. They must keep their tables full in order to remain profitable.  As a result, many offer great lunch and early evening deals when fewer people are eating out.  This is a fantastic way to get a great dining experience on the cheap. Portions are generally smaller but the prices can be significantly cheaper.  You’ll get the same delicious food and atmosphere but pay less money.

Check the Bathroom. Restaurants provide a great dining experience by paying attention to details, whether in regards to how well the food is prepared, how well the dishes are cleaned, or how the dining table is arranged. One way to gauge your restaurant before you eat is to check the bathroom. A meticulously maintained bathroom suggests you’ll have a great experience while a dirty, smelly, or downright nasty bathroom may cause you to take pause. If they can’t keep the bathroom clean, how clean is the kitchen where your food is being prepared?

According to food blogger Michael Bauer,  “When a restaurant minds the bathroom, it makes me believe the staff has been trained to have an equally serious and healthy attitude about food safety. ”

Visit During the Restaurant Sweet Spot – Tuesday Through Thursday. Fridays and Saturdays may not be the best time to visit your favorite restaurant. The fact that many people dine out on the weekends is the exact reason you may not want to. Restaurants packed to capacity may be prone to poor service  and it may take longer for you to get your food.

Sundays and Mondays may not be so good either. With higher fuel costs many restaurants are receiving fewer weekly deliveries from their distributors. Restaurants commonly receive food and supplies on Friday which last throughout the weekend. Eat Sunday afternoon and you’re likely to eat food delivered on Friday. Eating on Monday is even worse as you’re getting served the last of the food stuffs that were delivered on Friday.

For these reasons, the most optimal eating experience can be enjoyed by eating Tuesday through Thursday. You’re served food that is delivered closer to the time its prepared and the restaurants are usually less crowded. Additionally, many restaurants offer mid-week specials to attract more diners.

Beware, That Daily Special May Not be so Special. Understand what you’re buying when you select that daily special. With food prices rising, chefs attempt to use every last bit of the ingredients they have. Left-overs can be used to create a “daily special”. Be especially careful if the daily special is a soup, or contains a sauce served over rice or pasta. Soups and sauces are common repositories for left-over meat and other foods. That crab chowder, for example, may contain the left-over crab from the day before.

Ask If That’s Real Maryland Crab. To save money in hard economic times many restaurants are substituting more expensive foods with less expensive substitutes.  This happens commonly with seafood. Some restaurants, for example, substitute Maryland crabs with crab species from other areas of the Atlantic ocean or, worse yet, import crabs from other countries.   When the menu lists “Maryland-like” crab be very suspicious.

Always Examine Your Bill. Many restaurants have standard gratuity fees that they tack onto the end of the bill. Usually mandatory gratuity fees are applied for large groups, but restaurants may have policies that apply a mandatory tip for groups as small as four or six people. Check your bill before you pay to make sure that you don’t pay a gratuity twice.

Update: We’d like to thank Consumer Boomer for including this article in the recent Money Hacks Blog Carnival.

Nearly 47% of our food dollars are spent outside the home. While these meals are more convenient, they tend to be less healthy and much more expensive.  So in tough economic times, why do we spend so much eating out?

The surprising truth is that we simply don’t realize the effect eating out is having on our budget.

Its said that if you place a frog in boiling water it will immediately jump out.  However, if you place a frog in cool water but very slowly turn up the heat, the frog will just sit there, and may even boil to death if you don’t intervene.

This same principle of not noticing small changes until its too late applies to our finances as well. Like a frog in slowly warming water we don’t notice the small amounts of daily spending that slowly add up to destroy our budgets.

Three dollars for a morning Starbucks coffee, $7.50 for lunch, and $2 for a rush hour soda may not seem like much until you realize that this works out to over $240 a month.

If each member of a family of four spent just $4 a day eating outside the home, the bill would come to nearly $480! That’s more than most utility bills, telephone bills, and cable bills combined.

Once we see how much is actually spent eating outside the home, we are more inclined to act like the frog placed into boiling water – we jump into action to correct our spending behavior.

Try determining what your monthly bill is.  Its easier than you think. Every time you eat out, put all your receipts in one central place – your purse, wallet or car glove compartment.  Buy a latte at Starbucks, save the receipt. Lunch at McDonalds, save the receipt. Nice dining at a 5 star restaurant, save the receipt.

At the end of the month add up all the receipts and you’ll have your monthly “eating out bill”.  When you realize how high this “bill” is, you’ll be much more motivated to reduce your out of home eating expenses.

According to the National Restaurant Association, Americans spend nearly 47% of their yearly food budget in restaurants.  This can take a big bite out of anyone’s budget.

Easily cut your bill by 20-30% by simply paying attention to costs not related to your main dinner course.  Extras like appetizers, sodas, mixed drinks, and desserts create huge profits for restaurants at your expense.

Consider, for example, that the $2 coke you pay for costs the restaurant about 25 cents in raw materials, a nearly 800% mark-up! Adding insult to injury, drinks are often full of ice, making it necessary to order more than one with your meal.

Save money by simply asking for water instead of overpriced drinks. If water is not for you, ask the waiter to go easy on the ice in your drink.  Another great suggestion is to ask that drinks be served with your dinner.  By casually sipping and finishing your drink before dinner, you’re forced to order another drink when your meal arrives.

With the large main courses served by most restaurants, few people leave hungry. That’s why overpriced appetizers can be an unnecessary drain to your dining dollars.

Still have the urge for that appetizer, order a few and share amongst all your fellow diners.  This concept works for desserts as well. Many restaurant desserts are either large or very rich in flavor. After a large main meal, just a touch of sweetness is often all you need, making sharing a dessert a smart choice.

One final note – Don’t forget to get a take home bag for your restaurant leftovers.  These leftovers make great lunches for work the next day, saving you an additional $5-$7 in lunch costs!