2009 Entertainment Books on sale - good deal or waste of money?
Filed under: Bargains
I've probably bought 20 or more Entertainment Books over the years, those collections of coupons hawked by not-for-profit groups that promise to save the user many times the cost of the book. Now the company that makes these books is offering an on-line deal for the 2009 version, $5 off plus free shipping. They are available for most sizable communities in the U.S.
I wonder, however, if these are really a value. The cost to me is only $20 with this deal, but, looking back, I doubt I've recouped the price of a book more than a couple of times. Why? Because I'm human. I forget, or I don't want to eat at the restaurant offering the deal, or I don't want to eat within the time limitations, or no movies are playing that I want to see. Pretty soon, I've lost track of the book.
For me, this falls in the realm of good intention purchases. I know that I can save money, but I fail to concede my inability to remember to make use of it. Much like gym memberships and DVD foreign language lessons, it speaks to the person I wish I was, not the one I am.
I'd be very interested in your experience with Entertainment books. Do you buy them? Use them? Save more than the purchase price? Take a moment to take the poll below, and I'll report back on the results.
Thanks, Cash Money Life
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-14-2008 @ 3:43PM
pwanless said...
I find one great thing you can do is what is often done with season tickets...split the cost of the book between one or more people and then have a "coupon choosing" party. Since I live in California in the bay area, this is easily done with people who live on the other side of the bay from me...whats close to them is a 20 mile drive for me, and vice versa, so we can easily choose what we want without too much disagreement, and keep them in our wallets...and then using just one coupon for one place will almost always recoup your partial investment. You might not be able to save a full $30, but you can easily save $15.
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11-17-2008 @ 10:21PM
Kat said...
I live in the memphis area, so the coupons are always worth while. It give me a great opportunity to try new restaurants & I don't have to pay full price. Bad thing is, if you don't have someone to go with you (all buy on get one free), you can't really use it unless you want two whoppers. It gives me a chance to go to attractions that I normally wouldn't want to pay full price for. I keep mine in the car so there's always an opportunity to make a last minute choice of where to go eat, if we see a restaurant that we want to go, we have the book to look & see if there is a coupon. Now, I have to admit, I have a lot of coupons that expired, but I got my money's worth. The thing I hate most about it is it's not good thru the end of the year, they all expire 11/1. Other books are thru 12/31.
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11-16-2008 @ 9:42PM
nancita said...
My favorite grocery store accepts any supermarket coupons so I always get my $20 back by using the coupons in the book. The 2009 edition came with an insert of monthly $5 coupons for a local grocery so i more than will make up the cost of the book.
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