Who said there is no such thing as free lunch??

With the start of the New Year, many are thinking more about resolutions, and those resolutions often involve MONEY.   Resolving to do better with finances for many means less eating out. Never fear, help is on the way! There are still some ways to satisfy that thirst or hunger fix when you are out and about. Did you know there are many restaurants that will GIVE you food just for signing up to get their emails? Remember, you can always unsubscribe at any time. I honestly can't count the number of things I have eaten for free this past year, but somehow, things TASTE BETTER when you don't have to shell out hard earned cashola for it *wink*. Some of the offers that I took advantage of last year, such as a free Frisch's Big Boy and a free Fish Meal from Captain D's are expired, sadly. BUT..........

Here is the list of places that I have personally found to still be offering deals. It is certainly not an all-inclusive list, as I have really only included the places that are available to me locally in Somerset, Kentucky. If you plan on doing any travelling and want to save money on meals, it is worth doing a simple google search for restaurants in that area that may offer free food with email signups.

1.  Penn Station:  "Sign up Today for a Free Sub"

Go to http://www.penn-station.com. On the right side of the screen, there is a drop down menu where you can select a location. Penn Station restaurants appear to only be located in KY, IN, VA, WV, TN, MI, MO, SC and OH. Once you have selected a city, fill in the information requested. Within minutes, a printable coupon for a free sub will arrive in your inbox. Here's the good part: if your family members also have email, they, too, can sign up to receive a toasty and delicious sub! It is one per person. So - - as long as each person has their own separate coupon when they order, everyone can eat for free! This may be TOO frugal for some of you, but if you want to dine in TOTALLY free, you can always order ice water. I prefer it most of the time anyway....

2.  Fazoli's:  Join the Fazoli's eFamily for FREE spaghetti!

Simply go to http://www.fazolis.com/efamily to sign up for their email club. Not only will you receive a printable coupon for a FREE spaghetti with marinara or meat sauce AND breadsticks (two if you carry out, but UNLIMITED if you dine in ), but you will also receive a free printable dessert coupon on your birthday plus other coupons and promotional info throughout the year. like the Penn Station offer, family members may sign up as well. Again, dine in, order ice water and enjoy as many breadsticks you want with your meal. And, for the record, no dirty looks from Fazoli's staff!  They were all very nice and helpful.

3.  Dunkin' Donuts: FREE medium beverages

When you visit http://www.dunkindonuts.com, you will see a tab at the top right hand corner that says My Dunkin'. Sign up to become a member and you will receive not one, but TWO medium drinks of your choice! They are sent via postal mail with the first arriving a couple of weeks after requested, and the second one arriving near your birthday. Don't like coffee? No problem. Dunkin Donuts has sweet tea, hot chocolate, and a variety of Coolattas such as the very yummy Berry Blast. And they even pile on the whipped cream if you want!

4. Firehouse Subs: Birthday FREE sub

When your birthday does roll around, you can throw back that free Dunkin Donuts Coolatta with a tasty Firehouse Sub. From their website: "Just show an I.D. with your birth date on your birthday and you'll get a FREE medium celebratory sub". Nothing to print, so this one is the easiest of all. Well, okay! Will do!

5. Kroger Free Friday Downloads

Okay, so this isn't restaurant food or drink, but it is FREE, nonetheless. Maybe you are tired of running the roads and just wanna eat your lunch at home. If you shop at Kroger and have a Kroger Plus card (it's free, so why not?), one of the perks is the Free Friday Download. Each Friday there is a new coupon for a free item that you can download THAT DAY ONLY, no other purchase required. Today, it happens to be a free Jeno's Pizza. Other Fridays may offer non-food items such as shampoo. Simply go to http://www.kroger.com to sign up to link your card to the account. There are many other advantages of signing up besides the Free Friday Download - - tons of coupons to load directly to the card instead of searching and clipping, easily keep track of fuel points and view the sales circular.

Alrighty, that's it for now.  I will certainly keep you posted if something new comes about, and you can let ME know in the comment section below if you know of other tasty deals. Happy munching!