Here's an awesome way to save money!

With the economy in its current state, it certainly seems like everyone's trying to buckle down and save their cash; living in Chicago can be pretty expensive, though. Couple that with the fact that a lot of us have tuition and bills to pay, and that doesn't leave a lot of money left over for food or fun. I found out about this neat website that looks like it might save you a few bucks the next time you find yourself wondering what to do with your weekend. It's called the Groupon.

Every day, the Groupon offers something different to do in Chicago at a discounted price: a lot of times it's restaurants, but sometimes it's other things like discounted Second City tickets (today, for instance, it's tickets to a boxing tournament). The deals aren't always that exciting, but it can be a nice way to A.) save money and B.) find out about new stuff to do around Chicago.

Here's how it works: you can check out whatever today's deal is by going to http://groupon.thepoint.com/. If you're interested in what they're selling that day, you sign up by giving them your information. The catch is, each event requires a certain amount of people to sign up before it'll happen: if they get the required amount (and in my experience, they ALWAYS do), you'll get an e-mail the next day with a printable coupon for whatever you just bought. It's pretty cool, because it exposes local businesses to more customers, and it saves us money.