Some gift cards give more for your money

I am always on the hunt for ways to get more than my money's worth, and this year there are a multitude of offers from restaurants and a few other businesses that feature more than your money's worth in gift cards.

Some come in reward bucks, where if you purchase a certain amount in gift cards, you are rewarded with a free $5 or $10 gift card for yourself.

Others offer a nice bonus in the gift card itself, like being able to purchase a $25 gift card for $20.

Nice, either way.

Most people buy these as gifts for friends, relatives, employees or clients. And, of course, lots of folks stock up on the cards as a treat for themselves at their favorite restaurants.

I have even heard of people strategically purchasing them for big events in the future, such as a forward-thinking, super-frugal mom, who was planning a rehearsal dinner at Maggiano's for her son, who was getting married in the coming year. She stocked up on Maggiano's 20 percent-off gift cards to pay for the special dinner, saving herself hundreds.

The only word of caution is that some of these bonus bucks and kickback cards have an early expiration or other stipulations that you need to know. So, as always, read the fine print before you get carried away.

Here are some of the bonus offers that got my attention:

•Jimmy Kelly's Steak House has a holiday gift certificate sale, where you can buy a $100 gift certificate for $80 through Christmas Eve. 615-329-4349 or www.jimmykellys.com.

•Midtown Cafe and Sunset Grill have a promotion through Christmas Eve where you can get 25 percent off their gift certificates. www.midtowncafe.com, sunsetgrill.com or call 615-320-7176.

•With The Palm's gift-card promotion, you get an additional $25 card that is valid for one year for every $250 you spend. www.thepalm.com.

•Until Christmas, receive a $100 Prima gift certificate when you purchase a $500 Prima gift certificate or for every $500 spent in the restaurant. Prima is the new restaurant in the Gulch. www.primanashville.com.

•O'Charley's gives a $5 reward card for every $25 gift card purchased through Dec. 15.

•Chili's will give you a free $10 holiday bucks card when you buy $50 in gift cards. www.chilis.com.

•Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar has a deal through the end of the year in which you can get a $20 bonus card for every $100 in gift cards you buy. www.flemingssteakhouse.com.

•Outback Steakhouse is offering a $20 bonus card for every $100 gift card purchased by Dec. 31. www.outback.com.

• Maggiano's has a deal where if you buy $100 in gift cards, you get a $20 bonus card. www.maggianos.com.

•If you purchase $100 in PF Chang gift cards, they will give you $20 in bonus cards.

•Ruth's Chris Steak House gives you a 10 percent bonus on purchases of more than $250 in gift cards.

•At Applebee's you get $10 in gift cards for every $50 in gift cards purchased.

•TGIFridays is giving "bonus bites" for every $25 you spend on gift cards.

•Noelle will give you $20 in gift certificates for every $100 in certificates you buy.

•Golden Corral has a gift card offer where you can get a $5 gift card for every $25 in cards you buy.

•Lucky Bamboo, on Charlotte, is having a gift certificate sale where you can get a $25 gift certificate for $20.

•At Cici's Pizza, if you buy $25 in Cici's gift cards, you earn a free buffet in January.

•Nashville Originals, which represents 60 local restaurants, has a deal, too: Once each quarter, a limited number of virtual gift certificates are offered at 30 percent off in $25 and $50 denominations to member restaurants. The fourth quarter sale is Dec. 10. Details: https://nashvilleoriginals.instagift.com/discount-sale.

•It is not just restaurants making these bonus offers. L.L. Bean offers a free $10 gift card with every $50 spent through Christmas Eve. www.llbean.com.

•AAA members can buy Regal movie tickets for $8.70 plus tax instead of the $11 or $12 for full-price movie tickets.

•ThriftSmart thrift shop has a one-day deal on Christmas Eve where you can buy $20 gift cards for $10, for use after Christmas. There is a limit of five per customer on this one. www.thriftsmart.com.

•Great Clips has a $9.99 prepaid "great card" that you can buy and use for a future haircut that would normally cost $14. www.greatclips.com.

•I have written about the Kroger corporate gift card deal that allows you to buy Kroger gift cards at a 6 percent discount if you purchase $500 or more before the end of the year. You cannot buy these in the stores, but it is easy to order them by phone at 1-800-331-5304.

Another good thing you should know about Kroger is that they are offering four times the fuel points on third party gift cards that you buy in Kroger stores through Tuesday.

If you know of other good gift card deals, email me or post them on my Ms. Cheap Facebook page (Facebook.com/mscheap) so that all of us can enjoy the savings and bonuses.

Stay cheap!

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282. Follow her at www.tennessean.com/mscheap, at Facebook.com/mscheap and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5's "Talk of the Town.