The average American household spends up to 40 percent of its total food spending on food eaten away from the home.  As much as I enjoy eating out, I have to admit it can take a toll on my family's budget.  I always try to find easy ways to save money so we can still enjoy eating out with our kids.

Check restaurant Web sites for special offers available for children.  You may find links to sign up for kids' birthday clubs or get information about "kids eat free" days.  Sites like Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Coldstone Creamery, Bob Evans, Dennys, California Pizza Kitchen and others are happy to provide freebies for kids.  Of course, the parents need to be the ones to sign up for these programs.

Before you order a pizza, check for printable pizza coupons online. Many major chains such as Pizza Hut have coupons you can print immediately.  You can find many links to pizza coupons in the Restaurant Coupon section of www.couponmom.com.

Look for discount coupons for your favorite kid-friendly restaurants in mailers, community magazines, newspapers, the phone book and local coupon Web sites.  Go to a search engine and enter the terms "restaurant coupon" with the name of your city or suburb.  You may find small community Web sites that have great coupons for local restaurants.  You can also find coupons for local restaurants in the Sunday newspaper coupon circular.  We always find "buy one, get one free" coupons for popular chains like Subway, Quiznos Subs and TCBY as well as local restaurants we like.

If you have favorite restaurants that are national chains, you can visit their Web sites and sign up for their regular email newsletters to be sent coupons and special offers. Some examples of restaurants with attractive offers are Fridays, Champs, and Houlihans.  Even local mom and pop restaurants have Web sites with their own printable coupons. Check out your favorite restaurants' sites to see what they offer.

Check to see if there are special theme nights at local restaurants at a bargain price.  For example, one of our favorite spots has "All You Can Eat Pasta" night that my teenage sons enjoy, and the price is right for me.

If you belong to Upromise, a free program that helps save money for college, you will earn free money in a college savings account when you eat at participating restaurants.  Rebates average 10 percent of your restaurant bill.  Enjoy eating with your kids and save for their education at the same time! You can check out the program details at www.upromise.com.