One of our favorite things to do as a couple is to dine out together. We love finding new places and returning to old places. Houston is the mecca for all things food in America, (I read once that Houston edged out even NYC for number of restaurants per capita! I don’t know that that is true, but suffice it to say, there are A LOT of restaurants!)

It’s a dangerous thing for one’s waistline and wallet. I’ve come up with come creative ways to save money while dining out, even scoring free dining on some occasions!

How to dine out for free (or almost free!)

1.) Sign up for Swagbucks.

(If you read my How to get Free Bath and Body Works products, it’s the same thing). I love Swagbucks!

Make Swagbucks your default search engine, and you’ll earn Swagbucks every few times you search. They add up!

2.) Buy restaurant giftcards using your Swagbucks.

There’s a whole section of Food and Beverage options on the Rewards Store. Options include Olive Garden, Starbucks, Panera, Dominos, Cracker Barrel, On the Border and more!

Here are just some of the restaurants you can enjoy for free with Swagbucks!

It’s that easy! We’ve eaten out using Swagbucks numerous times, and it’s just so easy.

Swagbucks won’t get you free meals every time, but there are other ways to save money dining out:

Go for lunch– lunch prices are often much less expensive, and it’s just as delicious!

Split an entree– remember the calories I mentioned earlier? Splitting your meal cuts your calories, and your bill, in half!

Look for kids eat free nights and combine deals when possible– our local Steak and Shake does one free kids meal for every $8 spent on the weekend. I bought 2 $25 Giftcards from Sam’s for $40. Last weekend, our bill was $22 including 3 adult meals (our son eats like a man now!), 2 kids meals, and 2 shakes. We used one $25 giftcard, which actually only cost us $20. We still have $3 left on the card (we left our tip in cash.) Not bad at all!

Linking up: Living Well Spending Less