Hands up if you’re not fond of shopping.  And by that I means the physical act of dragging yourself from shop to shop, maybe in the pouring rain, falling in and out of doors as you get pushed and shoved by the crowds.  It’s even worse when you’re looking for one particular item, so you look in all the shops in the shopping centre, only to find it was cheapest in the first place you looked.  This is why I favour the Internet for shopping nowadays.

My wife and I often amaze our friends and family by the bargains we find.  But it’s not difficult, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look and being diligent to check regularly.  I have a list of 7 websites that regularly generate lists of bargains.  Some are general and some are more specialised, but they all let me know when something is available for a good price.  These sites have probably saved me hundreds of pounds over the years.

Now, the key to using these sites is use an RSS Feed Reader.  Personally I use Google Reader but there are others out there.  Both Firefox and Internet Explorer have the capability to read RSS Feeds, but personally I find these a bit clunky and unfriendly.  Google Reader is free to use and you only need a Google account to use it (if you already use one of the other Google properties, like Gmail, Google Calendar or even the personalised Google homepage, you can sign in with your existing account).  Simply add the feeds to you account and your Reader will be updated with the latest bargains and will hide any that you have already read.  No need to check each website individually - just check your RSS reader when you can.

Okay, now you have your RSS reader set up, you need to start adding your bargain feeds.  The sites I use are:

Ebay Local

This site lets you generate a feed for eBay auctions within a certain radius of your home.  Some auctions for large items are collection only, and will therefore go for much less money that if delivery was offered due to the fewer prospective buyers involved.  Others will offer a collection option, allowing you to ignore the delivery fee if its not too far away.  You can set up multiple feeds so you could have one feed for the area where you live, and another for around where you work, or near where a helpful relative lives!  This site not only generates UK local feeds, but also ones for the States and Australia.

HotUKDeals

This is possibly the best bargain site I have come across.  It works so well because all deals are submitted by the site’s user base, and then voted hot or cold to indicate how good the deal is.  This means that the main feed only contains the best deals.  Think of it as a bit like Digg for bargains.  You can use the site without registering, but if you want to vote or comment on a deal then you will need to create an account with them, which is painless.  The bargains on this site cover everything, but the site does break them down into categories if you prefer, and you can also customise feeds so that they only display certain categories or keywords.

Savy Gamer

As the title suggests, Savy Gamer is a website for the money-conscious computer gamer.  Lewie, who runs the site, trawls through all of the video game deals and posts them on his site, but only if the price of the game matches how good it is, i.e. a good game with a 30% reduction would be worth posting, but a crap game reduced by the same amount would not.  He covers all current gaming systems and even produces a very good podcast to accompany the site.

Half Price Amazon

This is an interesting one.  This feed lists any items that have been reduced by 50% or more from one of four Amazon sites: UK, US, France or Germany.  I find this feed can throw up some unusual items that I would not have any interest in, but it can also list some very low-priced bargains.  These items with such a huge reduction often run out of stock quickly (there are quite a few items reduced because they are end-of-line items anyway).

uWish Star Buys

uWish is an online CD/DVD/video game retailer that has some interesting offers now and again.  Their Star Buys feed conveniently lists these and is worth checking every now and again.

UKOffer Discount Codes

Discount Codes are every bargain hunters friend.  It can turn an ok price into a good price and all it takes is a Google search.  I’ll write in another post the best way to use discount codes, but to start with subscribe to feeds like the one at the UKOffer website.  They post the latest codes as they’re found and provide all the details in the feed.

Free Junk

As the name suggests, this site doesn’t offer discounts, it lists things you can get for free!  Some of the items on here are a bit bizarre but other are genuinely useful.  At the end of the day, if it costs nothing, then it’s worth a go.

Once you’re subscribed to these feeds then check them regularly.  I recommend at least twice a day, but ideally more often if you can.  The earlier you spot a good offer, the more chance you’ll have of bagging that item before it becomes unavailable.

Bonus Tip #1

UK reader may already know about Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert.  He has appeared on several television programs with practical tips on how to save money and his website, www.moneysavingexpert.com, has gone from strength to strength, with genuinely helpful guides and a great forum for other users.  He produces a weekly email, detailing the best deals and other offers.  I’d recommend signing up for it - it only takes a minute or so.

Bonus Tip #2

I use this site all the time - FindDVD.co.uk.  This site compare dozens of online UK retailers for give the best price for not only DVDs, but also CDs, computer games, books and more!

I hope that armed with this knowledge you will be able to find as many bargains as I have and save yourself a tidy sum.  Remember, looking for bargains doesn’t make you cheap, it just means that you are being smart and not paying more for something than you need to.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

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