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How to use deal hunting communities – interview with HotUKDeals
See that picture below. It’s one shopper’s haul of discounted tic tacs! Now what has a bunch of tic tacs got to do with a hot deal? Well this is how one HotUKDeals community member found a bargain and stocked up on tic tacs. He then shared the deal so that others can benefit too.
Here’s another example – remember a couple of years back when a software glitch meant that shoppers could buy Terry’s Chocolate Oranges at Tesco for just 29p? UK stores quickly sold out of the product, and that was down to a HotUKDeals member spreading the deal.
This is community spirit at its best. A community of deal hunters, now that sounds awesome. Lots of people finding, sharing and voting on deals they find.
I had to know more, so got …
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8 quick ways to save cash for Christmas
So who better to give tips to save money before Christmas? As well as me, of course ;-), there are plenty of firms out there that earn money from saving consumers money.
I like these tips from money saving specialist Gareth Robinson who heads up www.discountvouchers.co.uk, a site that offers discount vouchers and impartial money saving advice. Here are his top 8 tips on how to save cash in time for Christmas Day, with of course, a few of my own comments.
1. Go online
Get into the mind-set that you don’t need to pay full price for anything. If you see something you want, note the brand, the name, the barcode – then get online and search until you find it online somewhere cheaper. You may find a free delivery code, or a …
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Make money – see what unwanted things I have sold on eBay
Now I love to grab a bargain on eBay, but I don’t like to use use “my” money to do it.
So to pay for my eBay purchases, I also sell on eBay and at the moment I have 10 items listed as now is the perfect time to sell, especially as buyers are looking for presents.
I don’t like clutter (much) and try to rid myself of stuff that is lying idle in a cupboard somewhere on a regular basis…maybe once a week if I have the time. I could list anything between two and ten items. I mostly list from my phone as it’s quicker.
I search for other similar items in the completed items tab to determine the price at which I’ll sell.
Since July I have sold quite a lot …
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Love skiing but don’t want to splash out – cut the cost of skiing
Now why is a post about skiing on a bargain blog you may think? Well if you read my About page, I do say that I am not about frugal living and all the pennies I save on a daily basis go towards treats…and one of these is skiing.
Now skiing is not a cheap holiday, but we and friends of ours do it as cheaply as possible and have learnt some tricks, so if you want to hit the slopes without breaking the bank, here are some ideas.
Hit the artificial slopes
Even before going out on a ski holiday, get on the artificial slopes in the UK. The lessons are nowhere near as expensive as on the real mountain, but give you a little confidence before you go and that can save …
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£10 facial, £7 haircut – local colleges offer cheaper beauty and hair than high street salons
Well with party season around the corner…we have our first one on 8 November…eeks, I need to think of ways to look great without spending loads.
My last cut and colour was a staggering £91 (sharp intake of breath!). That has happened once and let’s just say, I have now switched to Casting Creme Gloss from Superdrug at £5 a pop, once a month for colour, but cut I really can’t do at home.
So with my friend Google, I went exploring and discovered that my local college can offer discounted treatments and that is going to be a real godsend. I have booked in my first facial and took a sneak peak at the facilities …they are just like a posh high street salon. Most colleges offer a wide range of services from a …
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Grocery shopping on a budget – save up to £40 a week
I would love to shop at M&S every day for my food stuffs, but that just isn’t feasible. Sometimes they have fruit and veg that is reduced in price because its sell by date is that day and they have also introduced a “basics range, but the other stuff is too tempting. When I do get a bargain and tell my hubby that I have bought some Maris Pipers that look good enough to eat raw for just over a £1, my excitement never seems to rub off on him.
Anyway, I received a £500 phone bill – no fault of my own (honest – my wi-fi problem!) – and decided that if I had to pay it, I needed to make some cut backs. I ended up paying only £5 of the bill. My …
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Tips for saving with coupons and vouchers
I am a couponer I must admit. Not an extreme one though. You know the types that can get their shopping for £5 a week and have stacks of stuff that they didn’t really want just because it was free or cost next to nothing – that is too much effort for me.
I do however save coupons, look out for them in the post and in magazines, readily accept them when handed out around town and have no problem rummaging in my bag to save 20p off an item, get a bogof or some free loyalty points on a purchase.
Invariably I have some coupons floating around in my bag or purse at all times. I do cull them and remove the out of date ones. I also stick ones that are not really …
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Get paid to shop with Top CashBack
A website that pays you money as you shop, now I wasn’t sure at first, but what did I have to lose?
I was already signed up to Quidco. While I did use Quidco for two years and got paid £732, I did have to pay for the privilege, so I switched. BTW, the amount is high as I brought quite a few electricals and expensive bits of gear.
I came across Top CashBack and made the move. There are other similar sites around, but Top CashBack doesn’t charge you. It makes money from ads, whereas sites like Quidco charge, if only a little bit, but it’s a charge and I like things for free. I hear that now, however, that Quidco has also introduced a free service, so that may be worth checking out.…
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Using showrooming to beat high street prices
Now showrooming to get cheaper prices sometimes doesn’t feel too moral. It’s the practice of going into a high street retailer and then using your smart phone to surf the internet and locate a lower price, often online or where you can order online and pick up from store.
I don’t always use showrooming, for example, if I’m in M&S and they are offering new season stock, I just buy it. I think it’s really only worth it on large purchases. Once I was in a dress shop and the frock was going to set me back £150, so I was having second thoughts. I searched for the said dress on eBay and bought it for £40.
I’ve used showrooming at Homebase too, where I found that a Karcher pressure washer cheaper online at Argos …
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Get away – getting a low cost holiday
I can’t afford a £4,000 holiday, nice as it would be, so I’ve been focusing on getting away for next to nothing this summer.
We won’t be going anywhere exotic; instead, we’re going to Paris.
I wanted to find the cheapest way of travelling there, so I searched online for cheap flights and found that Flybe comes in with flights at just over £400 for four of us from the Midlands. Wow, with entry to EuroDisney and food, I wanted to cut flight costs some more.
I used to collect Airmiles and they are now Avios, so I checked in and low and behold I have over 50,000. Using these points has got me four returns to Paris on the Eurostar. We’re visiting Eurodisney and staying in a 4* hotel, with breakfast, less than 10 …
