The Entertainment Book Review

The Verdict:  Still the best way to get buy one get one free meals, tickets and snacks. 

Just the Facts: As far back as I can recall my family always had an Entertainment book.  We weren't rich but did OK for a family of four and were able to dine out for half price using coupons from our book. 

I still get an Entertainment book every year from my church or my nephew's school as they are sold as fundraisers for organizations.  For about $20 I get a book that contains hundreds of coupons for restaurants of all types, ice cream stands, snacky places and stores in the mall, golf, bowling, and all kinds of other things like the symphony, museums, and concerts.  There are also national discounts for car rentals, hotels, and stores.

The book pays for itself after just a few uses.  I got mine for a terrific price this year.  Regular price is $25 but Entertainment.com sent me an offer to buy one for $20 and since I bought it thru Ebates.com I got $6 cash back and the net price was only $14!  The book came out 3 weeks ago and it's already paid for itself.  We tried a new Chinese place for lunch on Saturday and saved $8, got a free ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and a discounted car wash on Sunday and saved $7, and just today I met a friend for lunch at a new Italian restaurant and we saved $12! 

Another great idea is to buy an Entertainment book for cities you may be visiting while on vacation.  My neighbor does this and saves tons of money on dining out while on vacation just by investing $20 into the book.  My mom goes out with her friends every other Monday and they make sure to go to a restaurant that has a coupon in the book so they can save money as you can usually use multiple coupons at the same table. 

The only issues I've had with using Entertainment coupons is not with the company or the book, but with the merchant.  For whatever reason merchants occasionally decide to not honor the coupons after the book has been printed and released.  Entertainment does keep a list of merchants on their website who decide to not honor or have placed restrictions on their coupons so that it helpful but the list is not all inclusive.  I know of one restaurant who has decided to change their coupon and it's not listed.

One other nice thing is that when you register an Entertainment book online there are printable coupons that can be used for additional discounts.

Star Power: 5 stars.  I'm dining out anyway so it's a bonus to save money and spend it on other things like lip gloss or LUSH.  I keep my Entertainment book in my car in case I need it for something and it's saved me tons of money over the years.