Are Entertainment Books Worth It?

2010 Entertainment Book Now Up For Sale

Entertainment Book Shopping Tag

Are Entertainment Books worth the investment of $25.00 to $45.00 depending on where you live? After all, each book boasts coupons containing $15,000 in savings. For sure it is a great way to help out a charity and most of these coupon books are used as fund raisers for students and civic associations.

Offers from A to Z are listed in the index . Each book is location specific, but universal advertisers such as Borders, Sears, GNC Live Well, Target and Petsmart offer coupons and special discounts in all books. The same goes with car rental ads such as Avis, Hertz and others as well as airlines and hotels. Local restaurants most commonly offer 2-for-1 discounts, local attractions have 50% off coupons and there is online access to even more printable coupons once you purchase the book and register your identification card.

Before you purchase your book, you can go on their website, enter in your zip code, select a book and look for the discounts to decide if you want to purchase one and if it is worth the money. Two reasons Entertainment Books don’t pay… you’ll normally spend more because you now have the coupons. If it is a buy one and get one free and there happen to be three of you going out to dinner, there is no savings either. Sometimes you forget about the book, so if you don’t carry the coupons in your purse, you likely will not use them on those spur of the moment dining out trips.

entertainment-booksEntertainment Books can also make you gain weight. On the days when some coupons expire, for instance for McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza and Burger King, you may find yourself running out to make use of the coupons. As Ben Franklin often quoted, “Waste not want not,” and with the economy as tight as it is, the expiration dates gone by can mean a wasted investment.

Many high profile restaurants do not participate and some restaurants even renege on the deal after they get their coupons in the book. Some will change their policies as to when the coupons are valid and commonly Friday and Saturday evenings are specifically excluded. Always remember to read the fine print before sitting down if you are expecting to make use of the coupons, and it is always best to confirm that the restaurant is honoring the coupons prior to anyone orders.

It’s not all bad news though. You’re helping some very worthwhile causes. You get to dine at some restaurants that you probably would not have tried. There are lots of great deals, and if you wait a few months, the cost of the book usually decreases to as low as $10.00. You also get to try activities you might never have had the opportunity or desire to try in the past. I was able to get 20% off a lesson at Karate America … an activity I never would have tried without the coupon offer. And at the end of the day when my son and I sat down for the Carvel 2-for-1 classic sundae, we had no regrets.

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