80% off Gift Certificates at Restaurant.com

Edited to Add:  Oops, I forgot to tell you to use the code FLAG when placing your order to get the 80% discount!

I talked about these many times before but I will sing the praises once again about Restaurant.com.  We've been using these gift certificates for years now and they have stretched our dining out budget more than anything I've done.  It's super simple to use these.  You simply purchase a gift certificate from restaurant.com at a significant discount and use it on your next time eating out.

For example: right now you can purchase a $25 gift certificate for a $35 purchase at Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse for $4.  Use the current 80% off code to pay just $0.80 for that certificate.  Use Ebates to place your order and get 15% cash back (plus if it's your first order through ebates you'll get a $5 bonus.)  Use the certificate on your next dinner out to buy $35 worth of food and you'll pay just $10 plus the initial $0.80 for the gift certificate!  That's a 69% savings on our bill and we always have plenty of leftovers to bring home for the next day!

Some of our favorites are XTapa Joe's Mexican, Rock Bottom Brewery, Pizza Picasso, ZPizza, and so many more.  What are some of your favorites?

I love Ebates.com

Do you order things online? I've never been a big online shopper with the exception of a few places. I order my photo prints/books online, I take advantage of a select few awesome deals, and I buy restaurant.com certificates online. Having said that, I still end up with a good amount of money in my ebates account each quarter. With the holidays right around the corner, there's a good chance that many of you are going to be doing shopping online. Take less than 1 minute to sign up for your own account to get paid back some of what you will spend this year. It's so easy to get your own account & I'm going to tell you exactly how to do it:

1. Go to ebates.com
2. To create a new account, simply enter your name and create a password - literally takes 15 seconds!
3. Once that is complete, simply enter the website you want (ex: restaurant.com) and that's it - really!

Upon your first order, your account will now be credited with a $5 sign-up bonus as well as a varying percentage back from your order. For example, I recently bought a comforter for my daughter's bed. I signed into my ebates account and then entered jcp.com. It took me directly to JCPenny's webpage where I ordered the comforter. Ebates was offering 3% cash back, so after my order was complete I instantly received an email notifying me of the credit I received in my account! Truly it's that simple!

Here are a few examples of online retailers and your cash back earned:

Magazines.com 21% cash back
Shutterfly.com 15% cash back
Snapfish.com 10% cash back
Restaurant.com 15% cash back
KodakGallery.com 15% cash back

And there are thousands more retailers. Even if you don't do a lot of shopping, an unexpected check in the mail is always a blessing when you aren't expecting it. and if you do shop online frequently, you can earn a good chunk of change to put back into savings or use somehow as part of the 30-Day Giving Challenge.

Regardless of how you shop, taking the 15 seconds to sign up for your account will pay you back more than you think and it's always nice to have unexpected money in the mailbox every few months :)

Let me know how much you have received from ebates by leaving a comment below.

Family Fun Magazine for $4.97

We received Family Fun as a gift several years ago and I have really enjoyed it. Most of the activities are geared for slightly older kids (my daughter is 3), but we've enjoyed a lot of the crafts and recipes! And I'm holding onto my favorite activities to try in a year or so.

Today, you can get your own subscription from Best Deal Magazines for just $4.29. These make great birthday or Christmas gifts!

Remember to go thru Ebates to get 10% back on your purchases! If you're new to Ebates, get a $5 reward for signing up & you'll make money on this deal!

JC Pennys $10 off $10

We just got back in town and received a JCPenney flyer with a coupon inside for $10 off any $10 purchase (valid 6/7 - 6/21)! I love free money, don't you! I'm guessing I received this because I signed-up for JCP Rewards, like you can do too. If you didn't get the flyer, use the coupon code GR8DAD for $10 off any $10 purchase at JCP.com. The only catch is you have to pay shipping.

Don't forget that if you shop at JCP.com to go through Ebates, and if you are new to using Ebates,sign up here and you will get a $5 bonus just for registering.

My Big Fat Ebates Check!!!

On Saturday, I picked up my mail and was so excited to see my envelope from Ebates because inside was a check for $37.49 in FREE MONEY!!! Ebates is a super simple website that I go to before making online purchases and they give a % of your purchase back to you. For example, when I order something through Shutterfly, I go to ebates.com first and I receive 13% cash back from them. When I ordered my daughter's bedspread from JCPennys.com I went to ebates first and I got a percentage back from them too! It truly is free money that I'm passing up when I don't go through ebates, and I kick myself when I forget to use it!

Here is the best part, refer your friends to Ebates.com and they will give you and your friends $5 when they sign up and become qualified members. Plus, for every five friends you refer, they give you another $5 bonus for a total of $30. There's no limit to how much you can earn so refer everyone you know to Ebates.com! If you don't have an account set up yet, use this link to get your $5 bonus!