April 3, 2014

Thrifty Thursday tips

I'm not a coupon cutter for grocery items--the places I shop at the most (no-frills Aldi and Sam's Club) don't take them.  But I do collect restaurant coupons, mostly for fast food like Wendy's and White Castle, which come in handy when I'm out and about and want some lunch, and occasionally for chain restaurants like Applebee's.  Nothing annoys me more than when the coupon expires before I can use them.  Then I started asking the employees if I can use them anyway, and the answer is usually yes, provided it's only been a few days since the expiration.  I got a free sub when I bought two at Cousin's Subs the other day.  So don't toss a recently expired coupon; ask if they will still accept it.

One coupon I always toss is anything that requires you to buy a sandwich, large drink, and fries to get a free sandwich...when you add up the cost of the drink and fries (both low-cost, high-profit items for the restaurant), you are practically paying for that extra sandwich.  It's not worth it to save a quarter.