Discount meal

Today's savings: $90

Trying to save money by not eating out but you're really missing that dining experience? Especially when celebrating a special occasion?

Web site restaurant.com offers discounted gift certificates for meals at local restaurants. You can search the site by zip code, finding coupons for local eateries.

For instance, a search of restaurants within 30 miles of Auburn produces a $25 gift certificate, for which you pay $10, for Portland's new Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse on Commercial Street. The Lovell Village Store & Restaurant on Route 5 is offering gift certificates at half price, something to remember if you're traveling up that way for the Fryeburg Fair.

Or, if you're planning a foliage trip Down East, why not search around to find a gift certificate for a restaurant at your destination? Italian Little Anthony's on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor is offering a $10 gift certificate for $4. There is a minimum purchase of $25, but you're going to spend that much on dinner for two, anyway. Why not save a couple of bucks along the way?

If you eat out once a month, and use a coupon to buy a gift certificate worth $25 for $10, you're saving $15 per meal. Over six months, that's a tasty $90.

-- Tiphero.com

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