I used to always grocery shop with a list. It helped me remember everything I needed at the grocery store. But I still found myself navigating almost every aisle of the grocery store. Except those 2 or 3 in the middle that are always empty, who uses those? By the time I ended up in the checkout line my cart looked like it belonged to a contestant in a shopping spree. It was chock full of stuff that I didn’t need. If you don’t believe me, open up your fridge and take a look at the inside door. How many different salad dressings do you have? Way more than you could ever possibly need. I was wasting valuable money on unplanned purchases. I finally decided to try something I have been putting off for a while: grocery shopping with a menu.

Did you know that you could earn cash back and rewards when you go out to eat? Not many people know about dining rewards so I though I would share them with you. I have been using two free dining reward programs for a couple of years – http://www.opentable.com/ and www.rewardsnetwork.com. Open Table is a restaurant reservation website that you can earn reservation points that are in turn redeemable for restaurant gift certificates. Rewards Network is a program in which you choose your reward program such as cash back or airline miles and receive these rewards when you dine at participating restaurants.