Buy a Gift That Will Save Money All Year!!

Last Christmas I found one of the best money saving websites I've ever found.  It's called Restaurant.com.  A lot of my friends have expressed more than a little confusion at how this program works, so let me explain.

Restaurant.com is a service for restaurants.  By listing a restaurant with them these restaurants are able to get new customers to visit their location and receive feedback from them after they have visited.  Basically, you go to their website and put your zip code in the "Find A Restaurant And Save" box.  This will alert you to the restaurants participating in your area.  If you live near a large city you'll be surprised at how many restaurants use this service!  After choosing a restaurant you can purchase a "gift certificate" for that restaurant.  The certificates are usually anywhere from 70-80% off.  This means that a $25 gift certificate costs anywhere between $2-$3!!!!

Now, of course, there are special limitations.  Most $25 certificates require that you spend at least $35 before tip.  Many restaurants also specify that they will add the gratuity to your bill to ensure that your server gets tipped on the entire purchase before the certificate.  I'm sure all of you would do this anyway, right?
Occasionally there will be other restrictions such as no holidays, or weekends.  However, I've found this to be rare.

At Christmastime 2009, I purchased a Dinner of the Month Club Membership for my husband.  With this deal, I paid $36 for twelve $25 gift certificates and I received a $50 gift certificate as a bonus!  What a sweet deal.

Redeeming these certificates has been hassle-free as the restaurant management has to review their membership monthly.  I've never had a problem.  I do show the server my certificate when ordering.  A few days after we've dined using one of these certificates, I am e-mailed a short survey.  Honestly this survey takes less than 2 minutes.

Restaurant.com has saved us hundreds of dollars, and has allowed my husband and I to celebrate birthdays, and our anniversary by eating out, when we probably would not have been able to afford to.  Just the other night my husband, two teenagers and myself went out for a birthday dinner.  We went to a new pizza place in our neighborhood.  The food was excellent, atmosphere was great and service was superior!  We had a huge appetizer sampler plate, their largest Hawaiin pizza, and sodas.  The whole event cost us $18!!  Tip included!

Today, Restaurant.com  is offering an 80% off deal.  This means that each $25 certificate you purchase will cost you $2!!  Just enter the code GOBBLE at checkout for this amazing deal.  Stay tuned this Christmas season for more deals to come.

Date Nights on a Budget Part I - Restaurant.com

Read on to find out how you can have a chance to try Restaurant.com for FREE!

Last Christmas I found one of the best money saving websites I've ever found.  It's called Restaurant.com.  A lot of my friends have expressed more than a little confusion at how this program works, so let me explain.

Restaurant.com is a service for restaurants.  By listing a restaurant with them these restaurants are able to get new customers to visit their location and receive feedback from them after they have visited.  Basically, you go to their website and put your zip code in the "Find A Restaurant And Save" box.  This will alert you to the restaurants participating in your area.  If you live near a large city you'll be surprised at how many restaurants use this service!  After choosing a restaurant you can purchase a "gift certificate" for that restaurant.  The certificates are usually anywhere from 70-80% off.  This means that a $25 gift certificate costs anywhere between $2-$3!!!!

Now, of course, there are special limitations.  Most $25 certificates require that you spend at least $35 before tip.  Many restaurants also specify that they will add the gratuity to your bill to ensure that your server gets tipped on the entire purchase before the certificate.  I'm sure all of you would do this anyway, right?
Occasionally there will be other restrictions such as no holidays, or weekends.  However, I've found this to be rare.

At Christmastime I purchased a Dinner of the Month Club Membership for my husband.  With this deal, I paid $36 for twelve $25 gift certificates and I received a $50 gift certificate as a bonus!  What a sweet deal.

Redeeming these certificates has been hassle-free as the restaurant management has to review their membership monthly.  I've never had a problem.  I do show the server my certificate when ordering.  A few days after we've dined using one of these certificates, I am e-mailed a short survey.  Honestly this survey takes less than 2 minutes.

Restaurant.com has saved us hundreds of dollars, and has allowed my husband and I to celebrate birthdays, and our anniversary by eating out, when we probably would not have been able to afford to.  Just the other night my husband, two teenagers and myself went out for a birthday dinner.  We went to a new pizza place in our neighborhood.  The food was excellent, atmosphere was great and service was superior!  We had a huge appetizer sampler plate, their largest Hawaiin pizza, and sodas.  The whole event cost us $18!!  Tip included!

So here's the deal....One of my Blessed Readers will receive a FREE $25 Certificate! This way you will get to try it on your own.  Just leave a comment about how your family saves money.  One of the comments will be randomly chosen tomorrow at 8:30 am CST.  

Eating at Fast Food Restaurants

Let me start by saying that eating out is one of the easiest way to overspend.  Even with the drive through dollar menu, you are spending far more than you would if you had purchased food at the store and it's far less nutritious.  Many times, when I haven't been paying attention to where my dollars and cents are going I've found a huge whole in my pocket in the area of eating out.
However, it is nice to have an occasional meal out, and there are times when I find myself on the road when I didn't expect to and I must grab a bite. I'm sure you are aware that McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's have $1 menus.  What you may not know is that occasionally McDonald's and Wendy's have booklets you can purchase with a price for less than face value.  (I'll try to post this when I have found a deal like this). This means that there are times you can purchase something from the dollar menu with a coupon from a booklet that you paid less than a dollar for!  Also, Wendy's has a website where you can become a member.  Each month they have printable coupons for things like free frosties and $$ off of value meals.  The link is here.  You can check your favorite fast food to see if they have the same deals on-line.  I try to keep my fast food experiences down to once a week at most.  This means you must plan your meals around the things you have scheduled like a said last week on the blog.  Next week, I'll cover how to save on meals for date nights!!!!  Post your ideas in the comment section to share what you've learned about eating at fast food restaurants!!