Love Culver’s? Don’t miss out on these 6 easy ways to save money at Culver’s!
{Also be sure to check out 16 Ways to Save More at Restaurants and our Master List of Restaurants Where Kids Eat Free!}
Guest post from Brigitte of BrigitteBrulz.com
Ask anyone in my immediate family what their favorite restaurant is and Culver’s is the answer! It’s something we all agree on!
What’s not to love about ButterBurgers and fresh frozen custard? Well, if you are on a tight budget… possibly the price.
On the rare occasion my family does go out to eat, we often end up at Culver’s. As a result, I have learned a few tips to save money on those Culver’s visits.
1. Buy kid’s meals.
One of the easiest ways to save money at Culver’s is to eat kid’s meals.
Even adults can purchase a kid’s meal at all of the Culver’s I have visited. Less calories, less cost, and enough to fill my belly (but not my husband’s who does order from the “adult” menu).
Each kid’s meal automatically comes with a coupon for a free scoop of custard and a Scoopie token. Just don’t forget to take the coupon and token off the side of the kid’s meal bag before throwing it away!
You can save ten Scoopie tokens to get a free kid’s meal later. You can also save the free scoop of custard coupon for a future visit. It’s nice being able to go out as a treat for just custard and not having to pay anything! I keep the coupons and tokens in an envelope in my purse (along with gift cards) until I am ready to use them.
If you are automatically charged for a drink with the kid’s meal but prefer water, you can ask for a cup for water (free) and bring the carton of milk (included in the meal) home to use later.
2. Sign up for their e-mail list.
If you want to save money at Culver’s, be sure to sign up for their email list!
Those signed up for a free MyCulver’s account receive coupons, updates, a monthly flavor forecast, and coupons for free custard on each family member’s birthday by email.
The monthly flavor forecast gives you a calendar of the “flavor of the day” for each day of the month for your local Culver’s. Just keep in mind those flavors are only for your local Culver’s. If you are traveling, you can find the flavor of the day for any other Culver’s on the Culver’s website or the Culver’s App.
3. Purchase Culver’s gift cards during the holidays.
Culver’s typically runs a promotional deal on gift cards just before Christmas. For each gift card you purchase (at the amount required), you receive a free value basket coupon.
You can keep the free value basket coupon for yourself and give the gift card to someone else for Christmas. You can also purchase the gift cards for yourself to use throughout the year (and still keep the free value basket coupons)!
4. Use expired coupons.
One of my tricks to save money at Culver’s is to not throw away my expired Culver’s coupons!
You may want to ask your local Culver’s if they will accept expired coupons, but all of the ones I have asked have accepted them.
The birthday coupons for free custard typically state they expire in two weeks. The free value basket coupons received with the gift cards at the end of the year typically state they expire at the end of February. BUT, since my local Culver’s accepts expired coupons, I don’t have to use them (or throw them away) until we are ready to use them.
5. Fill out the survey on your receipt.
Sometimes the receipts will have information about taking an online survey. If your receipt does, you can go online, answer the questions about your recent visit, and receive a code for a free scoop of custard.
Write the code at the bottom of the receipt and bring it in the next time you want a a scoop of custard (possibly on a day that has your favorite flavor of the day).
6. Only go if you have coupons and/or gift cards.
I typically purchase a set number of gift cards at the end of the year (when Culver’s has their gift card promotion) using money set aside for that.
We also get Culver’s gift cards as gifts from others who know we enjoy Culver’s. Those gift cards and coupons last us for the entire next year of Culver’s visits.
If we don’t have a gift card or free custard/free value basket coupons, we don’t go!
What are your best tips to save money at Culver’s — or your favorite restaurant?
Brigitte Brulz is a homeschooling mom, creator of Reading Journals for kids, author of the book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles, and freelance writer. She offers free coloring pages, activity ideas, and more on her website at www.brigittebrulz.com.
Are you discontinuing the kids meal bags with the free scoop or and token on them? I got a plain brown bag the other day = sad granddaughter. Today I asked and was told they cannot order them, but are to give out a token coin with it…. I didn’t get that either. Sad to see it go if that’s your plan.
Unfortunately we aren’t affiliated with Culver’s. We are a blog that posts articles on how to save money, living frugally, and compiles great daily deals. You will need to reach out directly to Culver’s for any help and support regarding your question. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any assistance! -Jordan, MSM Team
Because of the supply chain issues many restaurants are facing these days, sometimes we have to change things up. The Culvers I work at has coupon cards with the free scoop and scoopie token that we give out when we don’t have kids bags.
At some locations, the owners will let you combine coupons. This is great if you have a big family and don’t want to have to send every family member inside with coupons to get a great deal on their Delicious, Fresh Frozen Custard. lol
Look at your receipt, complete the brief survey @www.tellculvers.com, recognize the employee(s) who helped make your visit special, at the end of only a few questions, write the validation number on your receipt to receive a FREE single dish or cake cone on your next visit. Survey takes less than 5 minutes & you get to make someone else happy plus you get free custard & it makes you feel good. We always complete the surveys, order from the kid’s menu, we’re 68 yrs young plus we drive 30 miles from our home to visit the closest Culver’s. Our favorite restaurant.
What an amazing way to recognize the employees and get a little something in return! Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
I love all the comments and the fact that they get water for the kids and take the milk home to use later. Yes! I love these frugal mom tips. Frugal ladies, I implore you to submit more fun articles like these. It makes us feel like we aren’t alone in our frugal journey and presses us to think outside the box.
Culver’s is almost always our choice for fast food. We have been getting kids meals for years even before we had kids because they are a full meal for a good price and we save the tokens.
I don’t know if they still add people but I am part of the Culvers Delicious Council. They send out an email once a month with a survey or discussion question and then you receive a coupon for a full free meal and free custard in the mail!
I’ll definitely have to look into that! I’ve never heard of the Culver’s Delicious Council.
I live in central Indiana. There’s a coupon book called Discover Indy that has several BOGO coupon s for the meal baskets.
Honestly, my best decision was to work there. 50% off after every shift and free custard pints! I saved so much money since I started. I was definitely a regular customer before I worked there.
Free custard pints?! That’s great! Thanks for sharing your experience! -Jordan, MSM Team
We love Culvers & we save money by buying the kids meals too! My husband fills out the receipt survey while we’re eating (he usually finishes before us) & then takes that receipt/survey code up to get free ice cream for dessert:) The rest of us get the free ice cream from the kids meal coupon.
It sounds like your family has their savings plan mastered! Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
You can also add one free topping with your free custard coupon.
I didn’t know that! Thanks for the tip! -Jordan, MSM Team
Yes! I love that you can get a free topping on top of your custard choice or the flavor of the day with the free custard coupon. I believe there is an additional charge for nuts, though. I’ve even asked if I could have the flavor of the day with one ingredient changed out, and they did it for me using the free custard coupon! They seem to be very accommodating!
Out Culver’s has BOGO deals from 2-5 M-f for happy hour!
Sounds like the perfect time to go! -Jordan, MSM Team
I’ll have to see if my local Culver’s has BOGO deals. That does sound like a great time to go!
If you want a Bacon Deluxe, but don’t want to spend the money, it’s cheaper to buy a normal Deluxe and ask to add bacon on it
That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
I buy Culver’s calendars heavily discounted right after Christmas/New Years which contain some great deals!
That’s a really great idea! Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
The bacon is added as an additional charge and matches the cost of a Bacon deluxe. And the cashiers are trained to ring up the burger that best represents your choice.
Thank you for sharing! I’ll have to keep that in mind. I thought they charged extra for adding the bacon (but maybe not as much as they charge for the actual bacon deluxe?). I know I like to have tomato on my burger and they charge extra for that on my kid’s meal Butterburger.
The best way to save money is to work there or have a child living with you work there. 🙂 You can’t beat the employee and family discounts and the bonus is that the kid can bring home custard, cheese curds, or whatever you like when they get off work. Working at Culver’s has been a great experience for our son and this is his first job.
That’s a great idea! 😉 -Jordan, MSM Team
I’m trying to convince at least one of my daughters to work there when old enough. 🙂 I guess we’ll see!
Not true. Depends on franchise. Family member is actually a manager and gets zero discount. Free meal during shift,but no discount if not working. No free food can be given out to any employee.
My family loves Culver’s too! We buy kids meals and save the ice cream for another day usually until we can all get one and we also stock up on gift cards at Christmas time. Its so great. We just keep the gift cards for ourselves because then most of the year long (we buy quite a few!) we have gift cards when we go and we also get the free value baskets which is a treat because we usually don’t buy the more expensive meals.
That’s a great idea with the ice cream! -Jordan, MSM Team
My family likes to save the custard for another day, too! We have also used a free value basket coupon (given to us after purchasing a gift card) for the 5 chicken tenders meal and split it between my daughters when they were younger. Got two meals for free!
Number 7 way to save money. Don’t live near one with the delicious burgers and awesome root beer. :(. :(. :(. I was just thinking of them and saw this awesome post. We have signed up for the BOGO when traveling. Love me some Culver’s!
PS maybe they don’t have the BOGO meals anymore since it wasn’t mentioned.
We purchase a school discount card where merchants offer special value items…our Culvers gives us 10 percent off every purchase.
Ask for the senior discount if you qualify.
Great tip! Definitely something that should have been mentioned.
Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
Interesting! That’s something I’ll have to look into. How much does the school discount card cost?
Does Culvers give veteran discounts?
Yes they do just ask and show them your ID and your good to go.
Hahaha! 😉 -Jordan, MSM Team
Very true! I’d miss Culver’s if we didn’t live near one.
Does Culvers give veteran discounts?