Do you know of Restaurant.com yet?  Well, now you should.  Our friends turned us on to this amazing little resource, guaranteed to save you lots of dough the next time you go out to eat.  And just this morning, I got an email saying they’re having another 80% off special, which has happened twice before for one-day only each time, but this time it’s lasting a whole five days (until Halloween on Friday).  It’s the perfect time to get introduced to this money saver.

Here’s the deal:  Go to Restaurant.com, create an account (free), then browse the participating restaurants in your area.  Add the gift certificates you want to purchase, then check out.  And here’s the amazing thing:  A $10 gift certificate is only $3, and a $25 is $10!  And these are NORMAL prices.  Don’t do like me and pick them up at this rate the first time visiting the site, because they have 50% and 60% specials all the time (just get on the email list to be notified) - then you get them for even cheaper with special checkout codes.  And right now, they’re 80% off - which means that $25 gift certificate to favorites Montage or Wild Abandon or whatever other amazing restaurant that participates will only cost you $2.  And you have a whole year to use it.  The code for this current 80% special is: TREATS. Last time they had this 80% deal, we stocked up!

Once you complete your purhcase, you can print the certificates from your computer right away, and take them with you to use immediately, so it’s great to check to see if a restaurant participates just before heading out the door to meet up with your party.  A minor caveat - make sure you read the fine print for each one you consider.  Some don’t allow these during happy hour times or for alcohol, and, for the most part, a $25 GC must be used for $35+ worth of food (sometimes $50) and a $10 GC for $20+ worth of food.  Entirely worth it, but it generally is better when you have a few people in your party, since you’ll find yourself ordering more food than you need to make it work.

I love a good bargain.