Eat Out a Lot? Save Money with No Effort with Rewards Network

I rarely cook. By rarely, I mean I make food at home at most once a month. Otherwise, I go out to eat, get carry out, or delivery. As I've mentioned before, though I know I should really learn to spend less and save more, I love my lifestyle and do not want to change my habits. That's why I was super psyched when I learned about Rewards Network. I just signed up for free and told them what credit card I wanted to enroll and that was it! Whenever I dine at any restaurant on their list and use that credit card, I automatically get 5-10% of my bill including tax and tip back credited to my credit card about 2 days later. I don't have to carry a membership card or a coupon. I don't have to notify the waiters or the restaurant that I'm part of this program. I don't have to request my money after I reach a certain amount of credit or anything since I get credited directly on my credit card no matter how small the amount. Really, once I'm enrolled, I don't have to do a thing but just do what I normally do.

True, I could save more money by actually looking online ahead of time and seeing what restaurants are part of this program and only going to those, but like I said, I don't want to change my habits and I want to dine where I want. But I'm surprised to find that many of the restaurants I already dine at are already part of the program! I have no clue even until I do my regular check on mint.com to see how my budget is looking, and am surprised to find money credited to my account thanks to this program!

What was the most amazing thing was that the day I signed up, I happened to dine at one of the restaurants in their program, and I was credited! I didn't expect my account to be activated and working so quickly.

Honestly, I'm not completely certain how they make money off this program. I assume restaurants pay the program an amount greater than we get back each time we dine there. Perhaps other people really do change their habits and purposely look up restaurants on their list and it does draw business for the restaurants, but I dine out all the time so it will not personally draw me to be more likely to go to their restaurants. All I know is that I found another way to save money without exerting effort. And that excites me.