Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half! with Stephanie Nelson, The Coupon Mom
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You can have fun entertaining your children or grandchildren without breaking the bank if you take advantage of freebies and coupons.   Save money on just about anything--whether your family likes to bowl, play miniature golf, go to the movies, visit museums, go to theme parks or go out for ice cream. 

 

 

 

 

Start by visiting the websites of local attractions and visitor bureaus to see if they offer an email newsletter with coupons, any special summer discount programs, or even freebies for students who bring in good report cards.  You can also give a call to the attraction to ask if they have any special discounts or good grade bonuses available. 

 

Many movie theaters have free or very inexpensive summer movie series generally held one or two mornings per week.  Find out more information at regcinemas.com ,  amctheatres.com,  and cinemark.com.  Also look in the movie listings of your newspaper to see if local theaters have similar programs.  You may discover you have a good dollar theater nearby.

 

If your children like to bowl, you can sign up for the “Brunswick Bonus Zone” at brunswickbowling.com to get a coupon for a free hour of bowling (when you rent shoes).  The coupon is good for the person who signed up and up to four friends.   I took my sons bowling and we bowled two games in one hour, so that offer was worth about $19.50 for the three of us.  A group of five would save $32 with this offer.  If you bowl faster than our group, you would save even more! 

 

If your student has good grades, cash in on freebies.  Some Brunswick Bowling Centers will also give one free game of bowling for every A on a report card (offers vary by area, ask your local center what their offer is).  At $3.19 per game at my local bowling alley, it’s worth asking if this program is available.  Chuck E. Cheese also gives free tokens for good grades, Blockbuster gives free video rentals for good grades, and Krispy Kreme Donuts gives free donuts for good grades.  Ask your local stores about their “Good Grades” programs to see if they participate.

 

Most people I know like ice cream, and free ice cream is even better. Both kids and adults can sign up for the Dairy Queen Blizzard Fan Club to get a “buy one, get one free” coupon for their Blizzards.  Learn more at blizzardfanclub.com .  Be sure to sign up for the Birthday Club at Baskin Robbins to be emailed a free ice cream cone coupon at baskinrobbins.com.   You can also get a free Coldstone Creation from Coldstone Creamery on your birthday when you register for their birthday club at coldstonecreamery.com.  If you have a favorite ice cream store, be sure to find their website to see if they offer coupons, freebies or birthday bonuses.

 

Younger children love going to Chuck E. Cheese.  At chuckecheese.com you can sign up for their email newsletter to be sent coupons and special offers. Also check the grocery coupon circulars for discount coupons to Chuck E. Cheese. 

 

If you plan to visit your local theme park or water park, you do not need to pay full price at the gate!  Be sure to look for coupon promotions from local fast food restaurants, soda cans, or call the theme park to ask where you can find a discount coupon.  For example, this year Six Flags theme parks gave $15 off at the gate when visitors presented their gas receipts.  Many grocery stores sell discounted tickets for their local theme parks, and you can usually buy and print discounted tickets from the theme park’s own website.

 

If you plan to visit your local theme park more than once in a season, it may make sense to buy a season pass.  Season passes may come with generous coupon books with “bring a free guest” or “bring a guest for $9.99” coupons.  You can call the theme park sales office to find out what their coupon book discounts are before you buy the pass.  It may make sense to buy one season pass for every two family members and use a coupon book discount for the other family members if you only plan to go a few times in a season.

 

Take advantage of free concerts, free movies and free events in your own town.  Visit the free website citysearch.com to take advantage of free entertainment you may not have known about.  When I searched “free museum” for my city, I discovered three art museums I did not know about but had excellent reviews from other site visitors.  And when I entered the word “free” by itself, it surfaced many businesses that offered some sort of free bonus when I mentioned that I saw them on Citysearch.  For example, a very nice bakery near me will give a free muffin if I mention Citysearch.  Another restaurant had a printable coupon for a free appetizer with the purchase of an entrée and another favorite local restaurant offers bottles of wine for half price on Tuesdays.  Try it for your city and see what you find!

 

You can also visit the website of that city’s local newspaper to find information about local events, free concerts, free performances and popular festivals.