Think there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Think again! Here’s my five easy ways to get a free meal.
Trade in Tesco points
Swap Tesco Clubcard points for three times their value to boost your spending power when eating out.
Go to the Tesco Clubcard website where you can trade points for restaurant vouchers to use at places including Pizza Express, Cafe Rouge, Bella Italia and Zizzi.
Meerkat Meals
Buy any ‘qualifying’ product from Comparethemarket.com to get its Meerkat Meals deal.
Cheapest ‘qualifying’ product is a one night UK travel policy which you can pick up for under £2 so worth shelling out even if you don’t need the insurance as this way you get ‘2 for 1’ on starters, mains and desserts at restaurant chains including Frankie & Benny’s, Giraffe, Pizza Hut along with lots of independent ones.
Works from Sunday to Thursday and lasts a year.
Join the club
Sign up online with your favourite restaurant, cafe or bar and chances are you’ll get some lovely vouchers to slash the price of your meal.
I always do this if I’m going somewhere new and often get a voucher for a free glass of wine, G&T or even some bubbles with your meal and often a discount off the bill for your first visit.
Plan ahead
Bag a restaurant voucher from sites like MoneySavingExpert.com before you walk through the door.
Heaps of places including many chains like TGI Fridays, Pizza Express and Yo! Sushi seem to offer regular vouchers that you can download and show on your phone.
Grab a Tastecard
Tastecard is a restaurant discount card that means you get deals including 50% off or ‘2 for 1’ at over 6,000 places across the UK.
Usually costs £79.99 for the year, which is pretty pricey, but you can get it cheaper. Right now you can get 60 days for just £1 as part of a trial offer. So you can pay £1, make use of the discounts for two months, and cancel it at the end.