I was trying to find another gift to give my parents for Christmas. My father has only the use of one arm and is either stuck in a special bed or a special power-chair. My mom takes care of him 34/7. They have a handicapped vehicle and usually only get out of the house for visits to the doctor or an occasional meal close by. She does not like driving at night. I searched one othe reward programs I use and thought about a restaurant gift card at a restaurant near their home. I earn 10% back with my rewards credit card and an additional 4% back from this restaurant. And during the months of November and December the reward site gives me an extra $5 if I visit any of the restaurants they have listed two times.

I drove over to the restaurant I selected that was less than a 3 minute drive from my parents house and bought them a gift card. While I was waiting to pay I noticed a paper sitting on the counter stating that Santa was visiting them on Saturday between 4-6pm. Children could have their picture taken with Santa and they would also receive a gift. I decided to make the return trip on Saturday. We arrived around 5pm and walked right up to Santa. Both of my children sat on his lap and had their picture taken by a professional photographer the restaurant had hired. They both received a gift too. Miranda received the “memory game” and Nick received “cootie”. All this was free. I was told to come back on Tuesday to pick up my pictures and they would be free too. I am so glad I tried a new place – in doing so I discovered a really nice family restaurant that I will probably frequent myself. We stayed for dinner. It was awesome.

Filed under: Secrets to Saving Money

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