New Parent Magazine's "Bargain Babe" shares tips on how to dine out cheaply, which includes utilizing Restaurant.com for discounted gift certificates.

Half of diners say they’re spending less at restaurants this year compared with last year, and 80% are cooking more at home, according to market research firm Mintel. With tables empty and tabs smaller, restaurants are looking to fill seats by cutting prices and tweaking menus.

Restaurant.com has created a new "Dinner & Movie" promotional package, a business-to-business effort to get businesses to buy promo packages that can be passed on to consumers.

The temptation is hard to resist -- sign up with Restaurant.com, and every week the site e-mails you codes that take 60 percent and 80 percent off the price of gift certificates for thousands of restaurants across the country.

Restaurant.com, which has more than 11,000 partners, mostly independents, recently expanded its online-coupon service to include chain restaurants, supplying systemwide custom reports so brands can track offers for specific locations or all their units. Casual-dining chain Ted’s Montana Grill has been the site’s test multiunit partner since June 2008, and Phillips Seafood and Sagebrush Steakhouse recently signed on.