Don’t throw away your junk mail without looking at it!

That’s right, BUY NOW! FREE STUFF! YOU TOO CAN WIN! I sound like a commercial. But anyhow, hidden in the depths of the junk mail that you get everyday can be some interesting free food coupons. More often than not, it is a “limited” local area eatery coupon that you should be looking for. I mean, sure the Pizza Hut coupons (2 medium for $10) and Arby’s coupons(4 for 5 coupons) are worth saving if you ever eat there. The Subway Coupons that say “Buy a sandwich and get a drink free” aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on usually.

But the best food coupons ones are ones that give you something completely free. The other day I got a mailer for a local eatery (Pickup Stix) that just opened. These Grand Openings are often when you’ll find the good coupons, where they’re just trying to attract a crowd. This coupon said come in and get a free House Chicken special. No gimmicks, no need to buy anything! I sound like a commercial again. But that’s damn Cheap Eats.

I used that coupon before I could take a picture of it (incidentally, the House Chicken sucked big time, but hey it was free). But instead I’ve scanned in another type of coupon that is pretty decent, though not as good as the ones that are completely free with no strings attached. Sometimes grocery stores have these “Celebration” type booklets where you buy $10 of groceries or so and then get an item free.

For me, this is basically like just getting the item free, because every week of the year I go to the grocery store and spend over $10 each time. If this isn’t you, then it’s not such a good deal. It depends what is your “usual amount” of spending. If you have to go out of your way in ANY respect to spend more money to get the free item, then it ain’t worth it. For instance, around the holidays, they always have a “Buy $50 of groceries and get a free ham”. This is not good for me, because I don’t spend $50 on an average trip so I’d have to go out of my way to purchase items I might not need. Plus, I can’t use a whole ham. But it might be good if you usually buy up in bulk in the holidays anyways.

You’ve got to search through the booklets to find the “true” free things… many are just $5 off of a special (like buckets of chicken). You want the ones that say “Spend 10 dollars, get a free X”. These particular 3 coupons pictured here give you free Apple Juice, free Hot Dogs, and free 12 packs of soda respectively. Not too shabby.

I gave this such a high score because it’s free… but not a perfect score because it might not apply to everyone. It all depends what you spend at the grocery store on a weekly basis.

Cheap Eats Score: 9.5/10