I’m all for getting the best deal that you can get on a service or a product, and I really like using the Internet to help me with that endeavor.  However, I want to make sure that I’m not throwing my money at a foreign company if I can get a good deal locally.  After all, my livelihood depends on the local economy! 

So when I need to buy something, or obtain a service, I like to do a local search to see if I can a good deal here in my local neighborhood.  Oftentimes if I bring the local merchant proof that I can purchase the product or service somewhere else for a lower price they will offer to meet the deal.  I’m really glad that there are websites that have search engines that act like local yellowpages and help me find the local businesses.  I’ve found that sometimes they have listings that the paper version doesn’t have at all!  And it’s a lot easier to find local restaurants on the Internet than it used to be!  And what’s good about finding them on the Internet is that often you can read a review of the restaurant that you would not be able to get from the paper version!