Hi gang…hope you had a great week. I know ours was crazy busy. Why does it always get so busy as the school year draws to a close? And more expensive instead of less? Well this week I want to talk about a way for you to save money and have a little break at the same time. Sound good?

You may have heard of Restaurants.com but if you have yet to try them, well, you are in for a fun surprise. Restaurants.com is a website where you can access heavily discounted gift certificates to restaurants near you and across the nation. Let me give you an example. There is a yummy Mexican restaurant near us called Aparicio’s. Normally, our family of five will eat there for about $50. If we buy a gift certificate for their restaurant from Restaurants.com, we can purchase a $25 gift certificate at the beginning of the month for $10… a nice savings. However, as the month progresses, so do the discounts – 30%, 50%, 60%, 75%, even 80%. That means that I can buy that same $25 gift certificate at the end of the month for $2. Yes, you read that right, $2. Now of course, each restaurant makes their own rules as to how they can be used. For instance, Aparicio’s says: Min purchase of $50 or more with party of 2 or more. Dine in only. Not valid for alcohol. 20% gratuity added before discount. Present before ordering. That is easy enough when our meal that would have easily cost us $50 now costs us about $27. Total. You really cannot beat that! So take a look and see if this is something you might want to use. Then you can give yourself the night off from cooking and be kind to your wallet at the same time!

Top Five Frugal Finds for This Week:

5 – Coupon Divas Complete Listing of When & Where Kids Eat Free

4 – Now through May 30th, Office Depot is offering 25 free single-sided prints of your resume. They will also fax up to 25 pages to five different domestic numbers. See the details here.

3 – Amazon.com – Save $25 when you spend $69 or more on Stacy’s, Quaker, and more. Use coupon code: ALLPEPSI

2 – Barnes and Noble has a Summer Reading program where your children can earn a FREE book when you they read 8 books this summer.

And the Number One Find for the week…..

Get a free copy of the Leap Frog Learning Rhythms CD that features 15 songs to get children ages 0 to 3 learning, moving and growing. Get your free copy when you register your details, add the Leapfrog items you own, and link your baby’s LeapFrog toy to the Learning Path.

So there ya have it, this weeks edition of Frugal Finds! Now go and save some money!

Your Frugal Friend,

Alyson