Local Savings

Who doesn’t like to save money nowadays? Frugal living is the new chic thing to do. There are lots of great resources that help you save money at local restaurants and businesses; you just have to know where to look to find coupons and advertised deals. I’ve scouted out several resources to use to find savings at local restaurants, for local services and local grocery stores.

Restaurant Savings

Use these sites to get coupons for local restaurant savings:

Restaurant.com allows you to purchase gift certificates to local restaurants for a fraction of the price. Many coupons are good for $25 worth of food, with the cost of the gift certificate being only $10 (or possibly even less than that) when using an online coupon code.

halfoffrichmond.com is brought to you by local station WRIC, which has worked out deals with local Richmond merchants to give you gift certificates for half price. 

804halfoff.com is very similar to Half Off Richmond, in that you can purchase certificates for half off the price to many different local Richmond merchants. The merchants and deals change all the time, so you’ll want to check back often.

Business Savings

Use these sites for local business savings:

Groupon.com features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat and buy in a variety of cities across the U.S. and in a few other countries, too. Each day they feature a local deal for something to do in your local area at an unbeatable price. However, you only get the deal if enough people sign up for it. If enough people have signed up for the deal, it will display that information; if more people are needed to sign up, it will also let you know. Check back every day for a new deal.

Livingsocial.com is similar to groupon.com in that they offer deals in cities across the U.S., except there is no quota for the amount of people that must sign up for the deal. They feature a local daily deal with discounts of up to 90 percent at local restaurants, bars, spas, theaters and more. After clicking on, and purchasing, the daily deal, you will receive an email with a link to your voucher the next business day. In addition, they have a feature that lets you share the link you get and if three other people buy the deal using your link, you get the deal free. Check back every day for a new deal.

By Mail

Don’t miss the great deals in the free coupon magazines that are delivered through the mail. Many households in the Richmond area already receive these magazines, and while you might think they are just junk mail, they include coupons to local businesses and restaurants. Here are local coupon magazines to be on the lookout for:

Valpak.com offers local coupons and savings both online and in a mailed coupon packet. They offer savings on restaurants, groceries, auto care and more. Go to Valpak’s website to print coupons to local businesses or use coupons that are mailed to you for savings. For example, you can get a family value combo package to Omaha Steaks for only $29.99, and you’ll get six free burgers.

Check your mail for Clipper magazine or go online to couponclipper.com to view and print coupons for the Richmond area. They’re currently offering a $10 ticket, good for three different attractions at Putt-Putt Fun Center in Midlothian. For $10 per person, you can have fun all day and enjoy putt-putt golf, go-karts and bumper boats.

Reach magazine offers coupons in their magazine as well as online at eReach.com. They are currently offering a good deal through Hix Heating & Air Conditioning. They offer a coupon for comprehensive maintenance service for only $59.95.

Money Clip magazine is also a direct mail magazine offering coupons to local businesses. They are currently offering a great deal on a haircut at Great Clips for only $5.99 using a coupon.

By Phone

There are also local text message deals through Mobi Deals (http://www.mobideals.info/site/) where you can sign up to receive coupons via a text message. You can sign up for coupons for local deals in the Richmond area targeted to your zip code. There is an app you can download or you can browse to it in your mobile phone.

Also, Food Lion will text you about deals you can sign up for by replying via text message and automatically load coupons to your Food Lion shopper’s card. Text Food Lion at 467467 or sign up at Foodlion.com.

Blogs

There are many coupon savings blogs you can follow to find local deals and lots of other frugal stuff, too. Many coupon and frugal living blogs offer coupon match-ups, which mean they match available coupons to sales at different stores like Kroger and Food Lion to help you save the most money when shopping for groceries, household products and health and beauty products. Here are some blogs you might want to check out:

Southern Savers, is not a local blog, but it does cover Kroger and Food Lion coupon/sale match-ups for the mid-Atlantic area. Matching weekly sales at each store with available coupons gives you the best opportunity to shop wisely and save money. Southern Savers also lists a coupon preview every week to let you know which coupons to expect in the Sunday newspaper and links to online coupons to print.

Richmond Bargains blog lists free and cheap events around Richmond, retail store discounts and sales and deals on dining out and bargains on kids clothing and other needs.

Young & Frugal in Virginia is a local Richmond blog that lists coupon match-ups for local Martin’s stores and offers various other blog postings for coupons and deals.

Coupon Clippin Mommy is a local Richmond blog that lists great giveaways, freebies, a weekly roundup of deals to stores in the area and local promotions.

All Frugal Stuff is a local Richmond blog covering frugal living, freebies, coupons, local sales and frugal advice.

Companies on Facebook occasionally offer coupons to local companies or for local use. For example, a local business may offer a coupon to print or a coupon code to use to get a percentage off a purchase. Also, you can sign up for freebies, occasionally, from many national companies that are on Facebook and offer their "Friends" or "Followers" freebies for "Liking" them on Facebook.