You Have to Eat, Right? Find Ways to Eat Cheaper without Giving Up the Places You Love to Go

One way that many consumers have cut back on their spending is cutting down on eating out. A family of four that used to eat out 2-3 nights per week now finds themselves eating out only once a week. The good part about this behavior is that the family is using their money wisely--cutting down on unnecessary spending. The bad part? It makes the economic problem even worse because now the restaurant business is down, which means even less of a cash infusion into the economy.

What if you could eat out and still save money?

At http://www.restaurant.com/ you can do both--eat out and save money while doing it. This website refers to itself as the "matchmaker" of the restaurant world because it matches consumers with restaurants in their area. Not only does it help you locate local eats, but if you purchase an e-certificate from the site, you save money on your bill. For example, you can buy a $25 e-certificate from restaurant.com and pay only $10 for it. With your certificate in hand, you can head to your favorite eatery, or try a new one, and you're already saving $15 off your bill.

Many people are familiar with http://www.opentable.com/ as a way to make reservations online. When you create a free account on Open Table, you can also participate in their Dining Rewards program. This program allows you to earn anywhere from 100 to 1,000 points per reservation made on the Open Table website. When you reach a certain point level, you can redeem your points for a gift certificate that is good at any Open Table restaurant. If you're eating out and making reservations anyway, you might as well get rewarded for it!

Similar to Open Table is http://www.dinnerbroker.com/. The difference? For one, if you're a flexible diner, you can instantly save 30% off your bill. When you make reservations with participating restaurants for off-peak hours on the Dinner Broker website, it rewards its visitors with a 30% savings on their dinner bill. Dinner Broker also offers a rewards program.

In tough economic times, everyone has to give something up. It may be cutting down on your dinners out. Or you could be a smart diner that stretches your dollars and still gets to eat at your favorite place.