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Bargain Hunter’s glossary
So whether you’re new to bargain hunting or an old hand, here is some useful terminology.
Auction sites – eBay is the king here and you can pick up some real bargains here.
Bargain basements – the unwanted or faulty stock found at reduced prices.
Best before date – best before dates are about quality, not safety. When the date is passed, it doesn’t mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture. If you want to save money on items that have short dates or just out of date and still taste okay, check out Approved Food.
Cashback – many shops or sites will offer cashback deals as alternative to discounts in an attempt to lure shoppers in. These can be some fantastic deals to …
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DIY divorce – saving money at a tough time
An odd post for a bargain hunter you may think, but I have two friends who have paid out a lot while getting divorced, and so am interested in finding advice for another two who are going through divorces now ;-(.
From the two recently divorced friends one paid £40,000 in solicitor’s fees to get her ex out of her house. The other got £4,000 out of a possible £30,000 because her legal costs took up the rest.
I got hold of a sort of bible I would say for all those divorcing, whether they DIY or not – DIY Divorce and Separation, an expert guide to representing yourself. It demystifies the legal process and provides the parties involved with the know-how and confidence to handle a divorce themselves or understand what your barrister …
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Twelve wines of Christmas
While doing my research for Christmas gifts, I found this great list of wine ideas. I am always stuck on what wine works well with what occasion, so this is a really handy list and makes you sound like you know what you’re talking about if you buy one of these wines and take it as a gift ;-).
This 12 wines of Christmas list includes wines that are perfect for most special Christmas meet ups…and even goes so far as to tell you what food the wines complement. These aren’t your bargain basement plonk either, so they are rather good value for money.
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18 simple Life Tips to save money and make life easier
One of my favourite Twitter feeds at the moment is @lifetipseasy. I love the practical and really simple tips and quite a few of them are about saving money or using alternative (cheaper) products to fix a problem, and some are even just simply genius.
Here are my favourite tips at the moment from the feed:
1. Measure one of your fingers and memorise the length – now you have an instant ruler.
2. Reduce nail polish clumping by running the polish bottle under hot water for 40-50 seconds.
3. Take a picture of your fridge on your phone, you’ll never struggle to remember what you need to buy at the grocery store!
4. Apples are more powerful than caffeine at helping you stay awake.
5. Want whiter teeth? Gently rub the inside of …
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Doff weedkiller vs Roundup – does cheap weedkiller do the job?
In my head to head comparison of weedkillers Doff vs Roundup, I would say the cheaper weedkiller Doff came out on top, as it does the same job for less than half the price and actually seems to do it better over a three – six week period.
I basically have weeds coming through the membrane we laid down in our garden. I bought some Doff from Aldi (£1.99) and Mr Bargain didn’t realise so bought some Roundup (£4.99) and started using it, so we couldn’t take it back. That’s when I thought of my experiment. I divided up the area and sprayed the right half with Roundup and the left half with Doff.
I must admit that in my comparison, Roundup was easier to spray as it had more than one setting, so a …
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Avoid paying higher call charges for 084/087/09 numbers
This month the new Consumer Rights Directive will end expensive premium 084 and 087 numbers for customers calling airlines, train operators and major high street and online retailers, but his still leaves a lot of organisations and companies where customer services, general enquiries and ordering still mean dialling into a premium rate number.
So if you want to avoid paying up to 16p a minute for dialling these numbers, hop along to Saynoto0870. This is an online directory of non-geographic telephone numbers and their geographic alternatives.
The website, which started as a directory of alternative to 0870 numbers (hence the name), also lists geographic alternatives for 0843, 0844, 0845, 0871, 0872, and 0873 numbers, as well as for some 0500, 0800 and 0808 freephone numbers.
Let me give you an example. I wanted to …
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Camping gear at Aldi – new Specialbuys range
If you need to replace old camping gear or looking to try out camping for the first time, Aldi is offering an alternative to traditional outdoors stores, with a new camping range, that hit the stores yesterday.
The discount store seems to want to provide the lot, from tents and tables to sleeping bags and sound systems. They’ve got bags, pillows, insect repellent socks, tripod stools and lots of useful gear coming. Here are some of the highlights of the range:
Pop Up Tent at £19.99
Quick to assemble and big enough to accommodate three adults comfortably. Its handy porch entrance is great for storing muddy boots and making meals.
Mummy style sleeping bag at £17.99
Available in dark grey with choice of beige, green or blue zip, the bag is tapered for extra snugness …
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3 great tips to save money on school holiday flights
Last night’s Watch Dog revealed three awesome tips to save money when buying flights for family holidays, and avoiding the price hike that comes with school breaks, so I thought I’d share:
1. Take advantage of Scotland or England’s different school holiday times
Scottish and English school holidays often differ. For example, in Scotland in the summer most schools break up at the end of June and pupils go back in the third week of August. This means that if you are Scottish, you could make your way down to English airports such as Manchester and Newcastle when English kids are still at school and save in flight costs. The same applies in reverse, English people can travel north for cheaper flights. According to Watch Dog, the savings offset any petrol and parking costs.
2.
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Get access to a car without the headache – Zipcar
I don’t drive my car often so schemes like easycarclub and ZipCar appeal to me. No insurance, maintenance or other overheads.
If you need access to a car, but don’t want the headache of running and maintaining a car, this deal that is running Groupon at the mo may appeal. It’s offering a year’s membership to Zipcar, with up to 60% off.
Available for the next day (so hurry up) for just £38.00, customers will get one year’s membership plus £35 of driving credit, a total saving of £56.50. Alternatively, customers can buy a one year membership plus £55 of driving credit for £49.00, saving £65.50.
Zipcar offers drivers all the convenience of car ownership without the hassle of insurance and other expensive obligations. Members can make bookings from home using the website or while …
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Getting the most out of freebie round-up websites
With so many freebie sites, how do you make your freebie hunting more effective? Here are my top six tips to ensure that you get the best of the free items that companies are willing to offer.
1) Create a second email address to use when applying for freebies. These companies tend to send lots of emails. You can setup new free email addresses at Gmail.com or Hotmail.com
2) Join the freebie round-up sites’ Facebook and Twitter pages if you want to be notified instantly about latest offers. All new offers are directly onto social media channels.
3) Subscribe to their Weekly Email Newsletter if you want round-ups of the best freebies of the week. Usually their teams handpick the offers and make a note of the day, for example LatestFreeStuff’s (my fave service) sends …
