Watch the latest video from our Channel 4 Homes experts as they give essential tips on how to outwit the credit crunch
View nowIf you want to buy a new TV, for example, but can’t face trawling through hundreds of websites to find the best deal, these two sites do all the hunting for you. Just type in the item you are looking for, and they will scan thousands of prices of goods and compare them across a vast array of retail outlets. With very little effort, you could save yourself a lot of money by letting these sites do the shopping around for you. Search for almost anything, including homewares, electricals, gifts and clothing.
A great way to get your hands on new clothes, but with a nice discount – just sign up to the Secret Sales free ‘members club’ and get invited to exclusive and private online sales of clothing brands, ranging from high street brands such as Miss Sixty and Adidas, to more upmarket designer labels such as Prada and Stella MacCartney. All this without leaving your armchair!
Sign up to this website and get emails alerting you to lots of discount offers at hundreds of online stores, such as Argos, Dixons, John Lewis and Debenhams. It can be a bit random – you might not find the discounts you want for certain stores at the exact time that you want them – but it’s worth checking back often to see what new promotions are. You can get money off anything from electricals and clothes to wine and holidays.
Think designer fashion, and you imagine seriously inflated price tags that put most items beyond the reach of many wallets. Not so with Designer Sales UK, who hold sales of top designer fashion brands five times a year, and list many bargains for sale through their website. Sign up and get invited to exclusive sales where you’ll find huge discounts on one-offs, returned orders, show room samples and prototypes from hundreds of designers, including Biba, Vivienne Westwood, FrostFrench and Orla Kiely.
When many of us are trying to consume less and recycle more, Swap Shop is a brilliant concept. It helps people to recycle things they have cluttering up their homes by enabling them to swap them for things they actually want. So if you haven’t watched your box set of Sex in the City for several years, or have too many cookbooks you’ll never use, just send them to someone who wants the items and earn points as a result. You then spend your points on things you actually want – genius eh?