The best bank accounts for students

With banks battling for new student customers, choosing the best student account can be tricky. I've dedicated this post to students, because i know how hard it can be coping with finances. Here I will  reveal what you should look for when signing up for a student bank account and also what popular providers are offering.It can be quite complicated when choosing the right bank, so please read and decide for yourself what you should go for.
    
If you’re one of the lucky ones who got a place at a University this year, then you’re bound to be over the moon.
Most of us know someone who’s venturing off to University in a quest to learn both an academic subject and partying skills but before anyone leaves for Uni, they should definitely take time to plan their personal finances.
After all, those text books don’t come cheap and, believe me, neither do drunken nights out!
So, if you’re off to Uni in September, the first thing you should do is open a student bank account and I’m going to take you through what you should look for when signing up for one.

 

Interest free overdrafts

Personally, my student account overdraft was a financial lifeline whilst I was at University. The great thing is, most of them are interest free for the duration of your academic course, as long as you stay within the limits set by your provider.
The use of your overdraft can help you put down a deposit on your student accommodation or help you through the crucial weeks before your student loan comes in.
Of course, you shouldn’t look at your overdraft as ‘free money’ because sooner or later you’ll have to pay it back, so it’s a good idea to spend only what you need to.
Before you get out a student bank account, have a good look at the interest free overdraft limit. Some banks, like Santander, offer you a set rate that increases every year, so you gradually get more leeway.Others, like Barclays, only increase your overdraft limit if you apply for each limit increase successfully and this depends on how good your credit rating is.
Check out the terms and conditions before you sign up, as some providers expect you to deposit a minimum monthly instalment into your current account and if you don’t do this, you could be charged for your overdraft.
Generally, if you think you’ll need financial helping hand at Uni, my advice is to opt for the biggest guaranteed interest free overdraft, which is currently The co-operative bank’s student account at £2,000 (see table below).
As long as you’re responsible with your spending, you’ll have money to help you through your time at Uni and you’ll also enjoy an interest-free period throughout your time as a student.
But beware, overdrafts can be dangerous if you’re irresponsible with them.
If you go over your overdraft limit without notifying your bank beforehand, you’ll be charged with an unauthorised overdraft charge, which is usually around 20% APR  - but more on that later.

 

Breaking the limit

If you really need to extend your set overdraft limit, some providers will allow you to do this if you ask them directly.
They will charge an authorised overdraft interest rate however, which varies depending on which provider you’re with.
It’s best to avoid getting to this stage, as this is how you can rake up big debts. If you don't pay off these debts, it will affect your credit rating, so you’ll find it harder to get credit when you leave University.
However, the most expensive danger to avoid is if you exceed your overdraft limit without telling your bank.
If you do this, you will be in the dangerous territory of unauthorised overdrafts.
This means you will be hit with hefty charges which vary from around £15 per transaction to a jaw dropping £30 per transaction.
So, you should avoid an unauthorised overdraft at all costs, as this could lead you down the slippery spiral of a financial disaster.

 

The run down

So now you know the ins and outs about student overdrafts, let’s take a look at what the most popular student accounts are offering.

Provider	Account	Interest free overdraft	Authorised overdraft interest rate (EAR)	Other incentives
Santander	Student current account	1st year £1000 2nd year £1250 3rd year £1500	9.9%	Mobile, gadget and laptop insurance worth £243.72 each year
Lloyds TSB	Student account	First 6 months £500 7-9 months £1000 12 months+ £1500	8.2%	Free three year NUS extra card (normally costs £11 per year) Three year Three year YHA membership, 40 free downloads from eMusic and free LAVA mini speakers
Halifax	Student current account	Immediately- £500, then apply for more when you wish to increase your limit (maximum is £3000)	7.2%	Commission free foreign currency and traveller’s cheques, 25% discount on AA break down cover, 20% discount on Card Care card protection insurance
Barclays	Student additions account	Immediately- £200 then up to £2000, depending on each application	8.9%	Access to deals at Phones 4u (Until Dec 2010)
HSBC	Student bank account	1st year £1000 2nd year £1250 3rd year £1500	3.6%* * 3% over their base rate	Two years free Worldwide travel insurance, including winter sports, Free TalkMobile SIM card with £5 preloaded credit.
NatWest	Student current account	1st year £1000 2nd year £1250 3rd year £1500	n/a	Free three year 16-25 railcard (normally costing £130) student discount card, £100 saving on ASUS laptops
The co-operative bank	Standard student account	1st year £1400 2nd year £1700 3rd year £2000	9.9%	£100 cheque guarantee card

As I mentioned earlier, The co-operative bank’s Standard student account offers highest guaranteed overdraft, although Halifax potentially could offer you more depending on your circumstances.
HSBC offer a really low authorised overdraft rate at 3.6% and Santander implement a steady yearly increase in their overdraft limits, which could help with your budgeting.
Most providers lure in potential customers with the allure of freebies, but are these just a distraction?

Freebies and offers

One of the most important things to remember when looking for a student account, is to not be drawn in by freebies.
These may look good at a glance, but you should first consider your overdraft limit before you get mesmerised by the potential additional goodies.
Saying that, some providers offer some decent incentives that could really help your finances at Uni.
The best of the bunch is NatWest’s five year 16-25 railcard, which you get when you sign up for their student current account.This is really useful, as it saves you 1/3 off rail travel and is worth £130.
So the bottom line is, there’s no secret answer to choosing the best student bank account because it completely depends on your individual financial needs.
However, keeping in your overdraft limit and reading the full terms and conditions of your account before signing up, could mean the difference between a financially smooth first year at Uni or a dangerous plunge into the depths of financial uncertainty.
After all, one bad financial decision now could have negative repercussions on your money for the rest of your life.

Another Ingenious Idea: Prepaid Credit Cards

 A lot of us tend to spend a lot of money when buying clothes and accessories, however I have solution to make sure that we don't spend too much money and start saving! TheIntroduction of prepaid credit cards has helped me cut down on how much I spend and also to manage what I buy. It is a great idea and works just like a sim card, you only spend what you have. There are a quite a lot of companies thesedays who offer prepaid credit cards, but not all are good.

What are prepaid cards and how do they work?

Prepaid cards look like credit and debit cards and they offer the same ability to purchase products and services but with a crucial difference – you can only spend the balance that has been preloaded onto the card. This means there is no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility.

You will be give a Pin number when you purchase a card, and once money has been credited, it can be used in the same way as a debit or credit card – for high street, online or telephone purchases, as well as cash withdrawals from ATMs.

Money can be loaded onto a prepaid card by cash at a bank, Post Office, at Payzone or PayPoint terminals or via a bank transfer. However, not all prepaid providers offer all of these loading options, so you need to bear this in mind when comparing deals as some are more flexible than others.

What are the advantages of prepaid cards?

The main advantages of prepaid cards include:

• Availability - there are no credit checks, which means you can get a card without worrying about your credit history. All prepaid card providers will carry out an identity check to confirm you are who you say you are.
• Control - prepaid cards are an ideal way to budget for yourself or help to manage your children's spending. Like a credit card you get a full breakdown of spending on the card so you can see what has been purchased, who from and when.
• No debt risk - with a prepaid card there is no chance of spending too much as you are limited to the amount you put on your card.
• The card for travel – prepaid cards are a good option if you are going overseas. They are popular with students heading off on gap years and children who go abroad on school trips as parents can load them up here in the UK. However, the benefits are not restricted solely to young travellers - any holidaymaker can take advantage: prepaid cards offer a good alternative to travellers' cheques. They are safe and you will probably be offered a better rate of exchange as you spend.

Food shopping: save money

Food shopping: save money without losing quality

February 23rd 2009

Food shopping is one kind of shopping we all have to do whether we like it or not.  It can also be a big drain on finances; with tantalising products available for us in the supermarkets that were not around even 10 years ago, there’s more choice and temptation when we shop for food.

• Reduce your food bills by shopping online, working the reduced-price section, going to the market, buying wholesale and avoiding convenience foods.
• Save £££s by using MySupermarket to do your shopping online.

There’s also a strong market now for convenience products: green beans that have been topped and tailed, packaged lettuce leaves and diced chicken for which we pay considerably more than the effort it would take us to prepare them ourselves. However just because they are available doesn’t mean we can afford them.
There are simple rules to reduce your food shopping bills, like avoid buying things you don’t need and things you simply can’t afford because you want them, but we thought we’d investigate other ways to cut down on your food shopping that will let you buy pretty much the same products, just at a lower cost. Here are some quick tips to get you started:

Quick tips

•Don’t visit the supermarket. The only way you can really avoid the real evils of the supermarket layout is by shopping online. This is all cleverly arranged to make you walk back and forward to get a good look at all those things you really don’t need! Thanks to the wonder of comparison websites it’s all been made very easy. Simply log on to MySupermarket.com, make your shopping list and they’ll tell you which supermarket can give you the best price. They’ll then send your shopping basket over to the right store’s website and they can take it from there!

•Budget your spending. No we don’t mean buying every no frills item you can see! What we mean is; do you honestly and truthfully need to buy premium brands every time? Of course not. Half the time, the only difference is the packaging. Challenge yourself to take a step down in brands on some staple products, i.e. if you normally buy Andrex’s Softie toilet tissue, switch it for Tesco’s own brand and save yourself a bundle. Only those with particularly sensitive bottoms should be able to really tell the difference.

• Eat before you shop. The first thing you smell when you walk through the supermarket doors is the bakery – this is no coincidence! The big supermarket bosses know that hungry people buy more food. Prepare yourself and stuff yourself before you get there.

•Avoid impulse buys. Chocolate and magazines are strategically placed at the till for some last-minute attention grabbing, leading to the inevitable impulse buy. Exercise some self-control and ignore the treats the next time you’re queuing!

•Look high and low. Another sneaky marketing trick is that supermarkets place their most expensive items in yours (and your children’s!) line of sight on the shelves. As you’ve probably guessed – this doesn’t always necessarily mean the best quality.

•Buy in bulk. Don’t do this from your regular supermarket, but from the cheaper stores like Aldi, Lidl or Netto. They do sometimes have some good deals on items like crisps, frozen foods and meat so they’re perfect if you’re planning a party. Also, for products like rice, flour, eggs, salt etc. you can buy in bulk and save an awful lot. Only do this if you can store the items somewhere or you know they’ll be used soon.

•Use a loyalty card. By using a loyalty card it doesn’t mean you pay any more, but simply earn ‘points’ for every pound you spend in the store. You can later redeem these for free stuff or money off your shopping trips so there’s no harm in signing up. We all love free stuff! The Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar Card are the most popular.

Step one: shop online

Our first solution to the food shopping money drain is simply do not go shopping at all.  Of course, we don’t mean starving yourself, just be as lazy as possible and do all of your shopping on the internet.  All of the major supermarkets now have online shopping services where you can browse through their products, make up a list and then get it all delivered to your house at your convenience. To make the best savings, visit MySupermarket.com where you can create your shopping list and the lovely lot will tell you which of the major supermarkets can get your groceries to you for the cheapest price. Yes, there is a charge for delivery for each supermarket (normally between £4-£6), but there are a number of reasons why it’s cheaper than shopping in the supermarket building:

• You can’t be tempted by offers that you see whilst walking around that otherwise you wouldn’t notice.  If you don’t need fruit, then you won’t even look in the fruits section online, so you won’t come home with starfruit or a prickly pear just because it’s buy one get one free.
• You can keep an eye on the cost of your shopping all the time, so you can accurately plan exactly how much you are spending and not just rock up to the checkout praying that all the food you’ve chosen is going to come in under your budget.
• Once you’ve shopped online once, you can save your list and then buy the same things each week, with just a few adjustments.  This means that you only have to look for a few products to add to the list each week, depending on what you want to eat, and so there is much less temptation to spend.

Hopefully, using online shopping will help you make fewer impulse purchases and budget carefully so you make savings even when the delivery charge is taken into account.  To try to reduce the delivery cost, mid-week charges are often less than the weekends and because online you have the leisure of shopping whenever you want, try to avoid weekends at all costs as there will be more choice during the week.

Great ways to save money

I've posted a few tmes already about ways to save money, but now in this post i wanted to keep everything simple and straightforward. Everything hs been put under sub headings so if you want to look up travelling offers, you'll find all the retailers (which are great for saving) under one roof. also I'd like to thank everyone who has used this blog to search for ways to 'save money online', and If ou would like to make any suggestions to me please post comments.I also want to thank anyone who has purchased amazon goods from my blog(and a lot of people do), it took me a lot of time and effort to think of what to write in each blog and I put amazon products there so people can find what there looking for,safely from a reputable company easily without the hassle. A lot of my time and effort have gone into my posts, so anyone who likes reading please continue, all the time consuming 'looking for' has been done, so enjoy!

Shopping

quidco.com
A cashback website that has saved me hundreds of pounds. When you buy something from one of 1,200 online shops (including Play.com), you receive a percentage of the price back. Normally a site such as Google receives a referral fee - through this "online cooperative", the cash is paid into your bank account. For example, there's 5% back from shopping at M&S. Other cashback sites - each covers some different retailers - include pigsback.com and greasy-palm.co.uk
chemistdirect.co.uk
Online pharmacy that promises to beat any other UK chemist's price on prescriptions.
kelkoo.co.uk
Scours the net to find the cheapest price for a huge range of items, from electronics to handbags. For a big purchase, compare several sites. Others include savebuckets.co.uk and pricerunner.co.uk
cosmeticresearchonline.co.uk
Instead of buying new cosmetics, sign up here as a volunteer to trial new beauty ranges. The products have all been declared safe.
pricecutreview.com/UK/
Lists Amazon items that are half-price or less.
bookbrain.co.uk
A specialist price-comparison service for books.
fatfingers.co.uk
Save money on eBay bids: type in your desired item and the site searches eBay for listings with common typos, so you uncover items with low bids.
furnituredeal.co.uk Online furniture retailer that cuts out the storeroom salesmen and offers low prices on a wide range.
retaileyes.co.uk
One of the several online mystery shopping companies that pay cash when members sign up to test their clients. Retail Eyes' companies include Virgin Active gyms - you receive free membership and a small payment when you join the gym and compile reports on your experiences.
mydigitalprints.co.uk
Finds the cheapest online photo developer for the exact quantity and size of prints for your needs. It also compares the cost of photo gifts such as mugs, calendars and greeting cards.

Eating in and out

moneysavingexpert.com/tipnote/cheap-restaurant-deals
Lists current offers at hundreds of restaurants, including buy-one-get-one-free deals. Includes nationwide chains and, in the forums, area-specific dining-out bargains.
5pm.co.uk Restaurant-reservation site with discounted deals available if you book to eat on the same day, after 5pm.
mysupermarket.co.uk
Compare the price of any single item or the price of your whole (online) supermarket trolley here. It will calculate the total cost at Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Ocado (Waitrose) and you send the order to the supermarket you choose.
fixtureferrets.co.uk
Lists promotions on groceries at major supermarkets including Waitrose, Tesco and Asda. Search via shop, brand, promotion or category.
quaffersoffers.co.uk
Compiles details of up-to-date wine offers at major supermarkets and off-licence chains. Search via grape, shop, country, price or colour.

Travel and days out

liftshare.org
Sign up for free and enter your journey, then find someone else to share it with. The nationwide car-sharing scheme now also includes cycling and walking groups and routes.
petrolprices.com
Search via town or postcode to find the cheapest petrol near you.
carrentals.co.uk
Compares the prices of 40 car-rental suppliers in the UK and abroad to find you the cheapest.
daysoutuk.com
Has around 300 discount vouchers for days out in the UK and Ireland, including theme parks and attractions, such as Cadbury's World (£10 off a family ticket) and the London Dungeons (free child entry).

Vouchers

myvouchercodes.co.uk
This site has discount coupons for thousands of stores, including Comet, Asda and Next. Some are online offers, others can be used in-store.
oscaruk.co.uk
Features discount deals and concessions especially for over-60s.
studentbeans.co.uk
Search via your university (or home) town for student offers.

Insurance and utilities

moneysupermarket.com
One part of this massive site finds you the cheapest motor, home, travel and life insurance deals; another focuses on utilities; another shows credit card and mortgage offers.
simplifydigital.co.uk
An Ofcom-accredited specialist in phone, broadband and digital TV offers and bundles. Compare prices and buy digital deals from this impartial site.
onecompare.com
Finds cheap mobile deals, including pay-as-you-go options and best-value contracts. Search by phone, features or inclusive minutes/text bundles.
confused.com, CompareTheMarket.com, uSwitch.com
The cheapest quotes for home, life, car and van insurance.
energysavingtrust.org.uk/calculator/checklist
A government-backed site providing tips on how to cut fuel bills.

Info

saynoto0870.co.uk
Don't call expensive numbers such as 0870s - use this site to find a local-rate alternative or freephone option.
entitledto.co.uk
A simple, useful site to help you calculate your benefits and tax credits.
thephonebook.bt.com
Search online instead of using expensive directory inquiries.
niftylist.co.uk/calls
Don't call an international number straight from your BT phoneline - search the destination here and find an access code to dial first and save cash. Alternatively, use an online telephony service such as www.voipcheap.co.uk
to make cheap or even international calls from your computer.

Holidays

halfpricehotels.co.uk Cheap UK deals.
hotelscomparison.com
Compare hotel prices in one place - this site searches others including AlphaRooms and Hotel Club to find best value rooms worldwide.
hotwire.com
Very cheap, top quality US hotel rates are available at this site selling anonymous rooms. You're told about the hotel's facilities, rough location and star rating before booking, but the hotel name remains a secret until you have paid. In the UK and elsewhere, lastminute.com/topsecret offers a similar service.
priceline.co.uk
A travel specialist with a twist: its "name your own price" feature allows customers to bid for a hotel rate. A low bid can bag a bargain, but you can only bid once a day.
kayak.co.uk
Another travel search engine which hunts through other sites for cheapest deals. Best for flight searches.
couchsurfing.com
Find a place to stay for free at home and abroad when you register on this free, international site and request to "couchsurf" at members'

Swapping

readitswapit.co.uk
List the books you own but don't want on this free site, then search the online library of 20,000 books listed by other users to swap your unwanted reads.
uk.freecycle.org
Get rid of your junk or pick up a bargain for free. The site is organised by area, then you browse by item, so it's like a giant car boot sale - from your computer.
teamuphere.com
A free skills-exchange forum. Search by area for the skill you require (when I last looked, they included accounting, babysitting and tattooing), and register your skills to swap.
whatsmineisyours.com
Swap, buy, sell or barter for fashion, beauty and furniture. Divided into vintage, new and designer goods as well as by specific items of clothes.
swapmyticket.co.uk
A free ticket exchange for sports, theatre, music and travel passes. Users can buy, sell or swap tickets, but this is a marketplace: there are no assurances against fraudsters so be careful.

101 ways to save money

hi, recently I was chatting to a friend of mine and I told him about my blog 'save money on online shopping'. He was quite surprised because he thought I was quite extravangant when it comes to shopping anyway, lol!
Anyway he told me that there were a lot of ways you could save money , it didn't have to be on the internet. These are the exact words he siad, 'well how many times you really gonna shop on the web'. We had a laugh and then he said to me that he actually tries to reuse everything he buys, he told me his wife only buys second hand furniture! I was shocked, all theses days I'd known him and he didn't mention it to me before.
    This gave me an idea, I thought i'll create a long list of things we can do were we save money by paying attention to small details, 'every little helps'!

Saving Money

If you are running into debts, going broke, it is time to find some ways to save up some money. The ways of saving money as listed below should not be use for long term. You should try to increase your income, learn and read up on investing and financial management at the same time. These ideas of save money is to ride through difficult time only.

101 ways to saving money 

1. Train your cats to use the water closet. You will save a lot of money on cat litters.
2. Breastfeed your baby as long as possible. You will save a lot of money from formula milk powder.
3. Potty train your baby as early as possible. You can save a lot on diapers.
4. Sleep early. Turn off all the lights, radio, TV by 10pm.
5. Sleep in a natural ventilation condition. No air-con, heater whenever possible. Use lots of blankets and hot water bottle if necessary. Use a fan if it get too hot.
6. Pay off all your credit cards the next day you receive the bills. If you cannot control your spending, do not use a credit card.
7. If you can control your spending on your credit cards and have a habit of paying them on time, use them whenever possible. Credit cards give you discounts, allow you to accumulate points and exchange for goodies and they usually have travel insurance when you use them to pay for your traveling tickets.
8. If public transport is easily accessible in your area, do not own a car. A car needs maintenance, petrol, taxes, servicing, fines that you can get and insurance.
9. Recycle the water from your washing machine. Collect them and use them to wash your water closet, basin, toilet floor and even flush your water closet.
10. Recycle water from washing your rice, vegetables, fruits. Collect these water to water your plants if you have any, wash or flush your toilet.
11. Go through the list of TV channel that you have subscribe. If you are working full time outside, do you really need to watch so much TV? Reading books borrow from the library will be a much better option.
12. Borrow books from the library. Quit buying books and quit thinking that you will have the time to read them one day. If you need the information, try looking them through the internet. The internet is overloaded with information, news and even recipes.
13. Is it really a must to spend money on a course that gives you information on a classroom? If what you want to learn can be found in a library or the internet, why waste your money on a classroom?
14. Quit sugar drinks, snacks, junk food, cigarettes & alcohol. They are not good for your health and waste your money anyway.
15. Buy only what you need, not what you want.
16. Quit all designer labels. With a good sense of fashion, you do not need designer labels.
17. Sell what you do not need. One's junk might be other people treasure. Make money from the stuffs that you do not want.
18. Quit gambling, buying loto, 4D, toto, bets whatever lucky draws that you have to buy your chances. Chances are you do not win anything.
19. Look for a part-time job to earn more money.
20. Start an online business. Example: Affiliate marketing, ebay, auction, esty, Cafepress, Printfection and more.
21. Quit going for vacation.
22. If you really want to travel, travel during off peak season.
23. Rent out your spare rooms.
24. Rent out your house, find a smaller house to rent and stay.
25. Quit eating out, cook for your whole family.
26. Bring your own lunch and water to work. Must sure your kids bring their own lunch and water to school too.
27. Ask for hand me down clothes for your children. If you do not mind wearing second hand clothing, you will save even more.
28. Ask for hand me down books and toys for your children.
29. Use a kettle to boil water, then store the hot water in a good vacuum flask. If you use electrical water heater and water boilers, it will cost you more.
30. Buy in bulk for grocery and daily essentials when there is a discount or sale going on. Stock up stuffs that do not have expiry dates, example: toilet papers or detergents.
31. Do not set your refrigerator to the coldest setting.
32. Do not set your air-conditioning to the coldest setting.
33. Switch off router, modem, computer, TV, radio, any other electrical and electronics products when not in use. Do not leave them at standby mode.
34. Walk or take a public bus or use a bike instead of getting a cab.
35. Wash your laundry only when you get a full load.
36. Use a mug or a cup and fill it up with water when brushing your teeth. Do not leave the tap on when brushing your teeth.
37. Switch off your shower tap when you are soaping yourself during your bath.
38. Try not to use a running hose to wash your car. Use a pail instead.
39. Wash your vegetables and fruit with a tub of water instead of running water from a tap.
40. Buy at warehouse sales. You can get almost anything from different warehouse sales.
41. Get into the habit of keeping a record on how much you have spend daily. You can use a spreadsheet to do that. Check for stuffs that you have spend unnecessary. Examine what you have spend to see which areas you can cut down.
42. Try to use free softwares. Example: Open Office, GIMP and many more.
43. Do not buy the latest cellphone, any other electrical and electronics products just because they are the latest technology. Replace them only when the old one is broken or too expensive to maintenance.
44. If your company allow you to convert your annual leave to cash, then try not to take leave to stay at home and waste water and electricity.
45. Put a brick or 2 into your water closet water tank to reduce the amount of water you are flushing away. Fill and use a used bottle with water if you cannot get a brick.
46. Avoid expensive and non-profitable hobbies.
47. Try not to date unless you are ready to get marry.
48. Reduce the amount of soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, facial wash and more. If you have the habit of pumping twice from the shampoo bottle, try to get into the habit of pumping once.
49. Add some water to shampoo bottle and shake them when you can hardly pump any shampoo out. This method can be apply to conditioner, body lotion, facial wash and more.
50. Recycle old perfume. They make good air freshener for the toilet, shoe cabinet, drawers, and more. You can spray some perfume onto cotton balls and throw these cotton balls into your wardrobe.
    

One Deal a Day Sites

One deal a day sites are springing up all over the internet. Why? Because they're fun! You can find out about a bargain without being overwhelmed by choices. You can check them very quickly once a day. And there's always the chance you'll find just what you were looking for at a great price!
But you'll always need to act fast, because when they sell out, they're gone. Quantities are always limited, and featured items and discounts are only available for one day.

woot! 

The Best and Most Popular

The best of these is unarguably woot!. One of the most popular sites on the internet, woot! features brilliant writing, a popular discussion group, and an amazingly loyal audience. So loyal that when woot! lists their famous "bag of crap", it sells out literally in minutes.

They primarily sell electronics, usually things like computers and peripherals, or sound equipment and accessories, but some cooking- related items too. They've recently featured a lot of toasters.

Items are sold directly from woot.com to the purchasers, and you must be a woot! member to buy anything. All previous feature descriptions remain in their blog and discussion area, though of course not for purchase.

All the writing on their site is extremely entertaining: not only the product descriptions, but also podcasts, their weekly web roundup, and even their FAQs. And they have the only clever Google ad I've ever seen, in years of ad reading.

Yugster 

Electronics

Another favorite - very well done and very popular - one deal a day site is Yugster.com. Well written, well designed, it also features a limited number of one item per day. But there's also a "Second Chance Offer" when the original product is sold out. Yugster ships to the U.S. and Canada, and changes their product at 6:00 a.m. eastern time.

Bits du Jour 

Windows and Mobile Software

Bits du Jour primarily features Windows software, but also occasionally has applications and games for iPods, Palm Handhelds, and Windows Mobile PDAs and Smartphones. Bits du Jour offers instant gratification to bargain-hunters looking for deals on software.

All software is purchased right from each product's own vendor, providing a welcome assurance that copies are legal and current.

MacZot! 

Software for Macintosh

Another popular software site, MacZot!, features software for the Macintosh platform, plus discussions of the featured apps. Their popular MysteryZot features several low-priced (but unnamed until after the feature is complete) programs in one package, and usually sells out.

The software is sold by MacZot, not by the products' individual vendors. Unlike the other sites described here, products that aren't sold out during their feature day remain for sale on the site's discussion page.

Great Roundups 

There are a lot of new One Deal a Day sites popping up. I can't keep up with them, but the roundups below are doing it for me.

Deal of the Day Tracker

Deal of the Day sites by category, popularity and more. There's a ton of information here - over 100 sites tracked.

Bargain Jack

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DealSucker

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Zero Day Deals

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21 Great Sites to Help Save Money When Shopping Online

We all love saving money and online shopping has revolutionized the way we do so. Back in the pre-internet age, if you wanted to save a few bucks, you either had to drive to the edge of town to compare prices or spend an entire Sunday afternoon cutting those darn coupons.
Thanks to the internet revolution, saving money shopping online has never been easier. With more retailers setting up shop on the web, all it takes is a click of a button to compare prices and find the best deals. If you know what you’re doing, there are ways to save even more money. Here are some online tools guaranteed to save you some of that hard earned cash. Shop away!

Buy Cheap Books Online

You’ve probably noticed, but books are expensive! As an avid reader myself, I know how some of you feel about buying books at the bookstore. You want to support the author, but just can’t bear to part with so much money. Luckily, there are lots of online websites that let you buy books for cheap, so hurry up and get that book you’ve always wanted!

Half.com

Half.com is an E-bay company that used to specialize in books transactions but now also sells music, DVDs, and Video Games. Like E-bay, Half.com lets you buy or sell books from other people. A feature I really like is the Bargain Bin, which lists items at outrageously low prices. You can buy books for less than $1*, CDs for less than $3*, and DVDs for less than $8*. But like E-bay, be sure you check the seller’s feedback to prevent getting scammed.
*Shipping costs not included (sadly)

eCampus

Education may be free, but textbooks certainly aren’t. Being a student means shelling out loads of cash for textbooks every semester. If you’re still a college student looking for some cheap textbooks, look no further. eCampus is for you.
At eCampus, students can buy, sell, and even rent textbooks online. Best of all? Free shipping! Just search for the book you want and compare prices between multiple sellers. Don’t want to buy the book? No problem, you can pay less and rent the book for a specific amount of time (usually one semester). Be warned, if you don’t return the book you’re going to be charged extra so don’t try to scam the system!

Project Gutenberg

What’s better than a cheap book? A free book, of course! Project Gutenberg is the oldest and largest archive of public domain books. They have a collection of over 32,000 free e-books for you to download and claim millions of downloads each month. You also have access to free audiobooks and even some old DVDs, so what are you waiting for? Go check it out! This is definitely the first place to look for those classical pieces of literature.

Get Online Coupons 

Believe it or not, retailers have promotions all the time. You just might not know about them! All you have to do is enter a coupon code and you could have free shipping or 50% off for that new gadget you want to buy. Thanks to the generous shopping community, you can find many of these coupons online.

 

FatWallet

FatWallet is an online community where you can find tons of coupons and deals from your favorite online stores. Just type in the name of your favorite retailer and find those coupons. The best feature about FatWallet is its Cash Back program. Basically, you get paid to shop! Just sign up for an account and shop at a retailer that offers Cash Back. When your purchase is completed, just wait a few days and if everything went smoothly, you’ll have some money in your Cash Back account. Earn money while saving money. Awesome!

RetailMeNot

RetailMeNot is also a coupon aggregating website, like FatWallet, but it doesn’t offer the Cash Back program. However,it does seem to have a larger selection of coupons since all coupons are submitted by the community. Users can vote on which coupons worked for them and which didn’t, so you can be sure that your coupon is genuine. RetailMeNot also features a section for printable coupons and grocery coupons. Just input your ZIP address and perhaps you’ll be dining on cheap pizza tonight!

Get New Deals Daily

While the above websites are great ways to save some money, they are quite time consuming to use. Wouldn’t it be better if the best deals were just presented to you? Here are some websites that find the best deals for you, updated daily.

SlickDeals

SlickDeals offers a section for coupons, but I prefer using the site for its fantastic front page deals. Every day, the best deals decided on by a combination of the community and editors are featured on the front page for you to sift through. Vote on your favorites and see what others have to say about each product.

Giveaway Of The Day

As the name suggests, this websites has a giveaway every day. Each day, GOTD offers a free download for licensed software you’d normally have to pay for. This is easily the best way to save hundreds of dollars on computer software! There are only two downsides to this amazing website. The first is that you won’t receive any technical support and can’t upgrade the software. The only other problem is that you only have 24 hours to download the program, so act fast!

Woot!

 Woot! has a slogan that says it all: “One day, one deal!” Woot! only sells one item a day (albeit at an amazing deal), and at 11:59pm CST the item will disappear forever to be replaced by another item. Since the deals at Woot! are so amazing, many of the popular items sell out fast so if you see something that you really like, don’t hesitate, just buy it. If you don’t buy it that day, you may never get such a good deal again. If you like the Woot! deals, be sure to check out its other branches: shirt.woot!, deals.woot!, kids.woot!, and wine.woot!.

Compare Prices Online

A downside to shopping online is that there are so many sources to buy the same item from, all sold at different prices. Use these websites to compare prices and make sure you’re getting the most out of your Benjamins.

PriceGrabber

PriceGrabber is the place to compare prices, and many “deals” websites use the PG engine. Search for your favorite product and compare with hundreds of online merchants to find the price that’s right for you. You can optimize the search by filtering certain stores, technical specs, or specific price ranges. Still can’t find the right price? Just enter your e-mail and a target price and PriceGrabber will e-mail you when your target price is met. Make sure your target price is reasonable though, as I never got a response back for that $5 iPhone (rats!)

FreeShipping

I think the one thing that all online shoppers hate is the shipping fees. I don’t know how many times I’ve been tricked into thinking how I’m going to get a great deal, only to find out that shipping costs $200. With FreeShipping, you don’t have to worry about being overcharged for shipping ever again. You can find thousands of coupons codes for free shipping and compare product prices without worrying about the shipping.

Firefox Addons

 As a bonus, here are some Firefox Addons that will enhance your shopping experience even more.

 

InvisibleHand

InvisibleHand is an addon that functions like PriceGrabber. When you’re browsing at one of their hundreds of supported retailers, InvisibleHand notifies you if they find a cheaper price elsewhere. This addon is still in beta so it’s not perfect yet, but it can save you some trouble searching on PriceGrabber.

RetailMeNot

This is just the RetailMeNot addon for Firefox. When you shop at a website with RetailMeNot coupons available, you’ll be notified. It’ll save you lazy peeps some time and energy.

Ookong

All tech savvy consumers know that Amazon is one of the best places to buy things for cheap. Due to the price fluctuations at Amazon, it’s hard to know when to buy. Ookong is Firefox addon specifically designed to help you get the best deals at Amazon. You can view the price history of any product in a nifty graph, track price changes, and be notified when prices drop. This addon makes Amazon even better (Yep, it’s possible).

Conclusion

When it comes to online shopping, there are so many different ways to save money. The next time you want to buy something online, just grab a cup of coffee, fire up one of these websites, and start saving cash! Keep in mind that many of these tools have similar functions and can work hand in hand so be sure to browse them all.
Did I miss an awesome money saving tool that you use? Do you have any tips on saving money online? Let me know about it in the comments 
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How do cashback sites work?

Set up a free account (don’t use any that require payment) with cashback sites such as Topcashback, Quidco* or Cashbackkings*, log-in and then click on the product you’re interested in. When you make a transaction such as buying something or signing up to a new credit or insurance policy, it’s recorded and you’re paid cash for doing so.

Cashback Sites: Typical Payments

Currys	3% of product's cost	Tesco Direct	3% of product's cost
Aviva Home Insurance	£70 per policy	HMV	5% of product's cost
HSBC Bank Account	£20 per account	Marks & Spencers	5% of product's cost

Why do they pay out?

Cashback sites take advantage of the way commercial payments from one website to another work. They simply list product providers and retailers, and when you click through to these websites, they get paid for ‘providing leads’; in a similar, but not identical way to how most web-adverts usually work.
Yet with a cashback site, when you’re logged in, the revenue raised from your click is attributed to you so the site can pay you some or all of the money it receives.
The technology’s rather simple: ready-made paying links are available from ‘links warehouses’ such as Trade Doubler or Affiliate Network, which primarily allow normal website owners to pick the adverts they put on their sites. These do all the liaison with the product providers; though the big cashback sites also have their own direct relationships, so they can offer a wider range of providers or earn more.

Cashback on the high street

It’s very likely that the next stage in cashback sites' development is cashback when you shop on the high-street. Cashback sites Quidco* and Greasy Palm* are already doing this. Here you register your debit or credit card and when it's used in store that generates cashback; the list of retailers is currently limited with only a few big names such as Superdrug, Halfords and JJB Sports. Yet this is likely to grow.

Use a cashback credit card too

To further increase your gain, you can earn up to 5% on top every time you spend by using a cashback credit card, although always ensure you pay it off in full so you’re not charged interest.
There’s no conflict between cashback sites and cashback cards, as when you spend money, whomever it’s spent with, the cashback credit card gives you some of it back.

Cashback’s great, but only with the right deal

It’s easy to be seduced by £50 cashback for signing up to an insurance provider or credit card, or an extra 5% discount when shopping. Yet don’t let the tail wag the dog e.g.

• Deirdre Deal wants a telly. A cashback site brings up Asteroid Electricals, offering 5% cashback; meaning a £20 discount off a £399 TV. Yet two minutes using a shopbot would’ve found her the same TV on sale at £299.
• Borris Bargain wants car insurance. Borris Bargain spots the Suffolk Mutual’s £100 cashback offer, so grabs its £540 policy. Yet using car insurance comparison websites he’d have found Hippo Insurance at £370, and then could’ve returned to the cashback site and got a further £25 off.

Plus, just as importantly, you need to understand that these deals don't work like cashback from a retailer.

Never count the cash as yours until it’s in your bank account; things can & do go wrong.

The reason for this is simple. The cashback sites can only pay you if they get the money from the retailers or product providers, but disputes in this area are common, so sometimes they're not paid. Even if they are there can be problems with tracking. Thankfully, most times, it's fine, but it's why cashback should be seen as a useful added extra not a core. 

How to make £1,000s & get the best products

A few MoneySavers have reported being over £1,000 a year better off just from using cashback sites and they’re using the right products.
Yet it’s using them in isolation I worry about; especially with financial products like credit cards and bank accounts, where if you’re trapped into the wrong product it costs you much more over the long run. So follow these four simple steps.

• Step 1: Ensure you've found the right product
  
  Read the detailed articles or look in the Forum for things including Best Balance Transfers, Online Shopping Cost Cutting, Best Bank Account, Cheapest Car Insurance, Cheapest Home Insurance, Best Cashback Cards
• Step 2: See if cashback’s available.
  
  Then nip to a cashback site(s) to see if you can go through it, and get the top product and cashback. If you can ... hoopla! It’s a double whammy. Yet never count the cashback as your money until it's in your bank account; many things can go wrong, either with the cashback site itself or if the advertiser refuses to pay it.
  
• Step 3: Clear your cookies.
  
  If you've clicked through to several different sites that collect cookies, which will often include the product site itself, through a comparison site, this site, or another cashback site, it may not track unless you clear your computer's cookies first. Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at AboutCookies.
  
  
• Step 4: Can you finesse the deal with better cashback?
  
  For some things a big cashback pay-out may make another product cheaper (this is often true with home insurance). Yet if you’re not sure, err on the safety of getting the right product, rather than the biggest cashback. 

Overall winner: Topcashback

TopCashBack is one of a number of sites paying out 100% of the cashback it receives. It’s top because most of the other 100% payers keep the first £5 you earn a year; it doesn’t.
This, of course, raises the ‘how does it make any money?’ question. My assumption is it works in two ways; firstly because it’s likely to receive bonus payouts, which can’t be assigned to any individuals, when it hits sales target amounts of specific products. Secondly it's building a big, well visited, reputable website and that in itself accrues value.
Yet just because it pays 100% doesn’t mean it always wins. Others may beat it because they include different suppliers or have negotiated themselves larger commissions.

save money on your car insurance

Step 1: Ensure you're getting the correct cover 

Insurance premiums (the name of payments made to insurance companies) depend on the insurer, the level of cover and how risky you're perceived to be. Therefore start by defining your cover and ensuring you’re as low a risk as possible.
Things often aren’t as straightforward as you think, for example counter logically fully comprehensive cover can be cheaper than third party policies, so always check. Full info on this, lowering risks and picking an excess level, are in the extra Car Insurance: picking your policy guide.

Beware monthly payment plans

Beware 'pay monthly' options - usually the insurer actually just loans you the annual cost and then charges interest at hideous rates on top. So either pay in full, or if you can't afford it, use a credit card with a lower APR rate (or better still, a 0% credit card for spending ensuring your repayments are big enough to clear it within a year.)

Tweaking your job description to save money

Insurers decide prices depending on historic risk assessments, and your occupation plays an important part in this.

Step 2: Correctly combine comparison sites

Moneysupermarket*

Using Moneysup alone is 55% of the full combined search

Pros: After a recent update there's a few nice features, such as a predictive occupation search, mileage calculator and info on how much your car is estimated to be worth. You can also tweak your quote on the results page (eg change the default £250 excess).

Cons: Untick the boxes in 'getting back to you' to stop follow up calls and emails.

Try it: Moneysupermarket*

Average time taken: 5 mins
Quotes returned: 94 from providers searched
Add feedback/read others: MoneySup Car Ins

Brokers

87

Direct Insurers

30

GoCompare*

Using GoCompare alone is 57% of the full combined search

Pros: GoCompare allows you to compare and customise your quote results to get the best policy for your needs (eg if you want breakdown or a courtesy car included).

Cons: If you don’t want it to contact you afterwards ensure you tick the 'please click here' link on the last page. Plus always check the excess quoted is correct for you.

Try it : GoCompare*

Average time taken: 5 mins
Quotes returned: 98 from providers searched
Add feedback/read others: GoCompare Car Ins

Brokers

89

Direct Insurers

32

The 'Big Two' Comparison Sites Miss

Average time taken 2 mins each

Worth checking separately as not in comparisons

Two competative insurers refuse to be included by any comparison site, and sometimes have special offers, so are worth checking separately. The sites are:

Aviva: Currently offering new customers with 4 or more years' no claims discount 2 months free cover, plus up to 15% off online. Try it: Aviva*

Direct Line: Get an online quote before 30 Sep 2010 and get 15% off. Try it: Direct Line*

 

 

 

Alternative 'quick £25 cashback' route

Average time taken 4 mins each

Warning: For larger cashback see Step 3
Adds 12% more to the search... Total so far 84%

The truly record breaking savings come from following the full four step plan; using the comparison sites above then checking for hidden cashback as explained in step 3 which can be in the £100s.

However for a quick hit, two comparison sites give £25 cashback automatically if you compare then get a policy through them. These sites include less insurers than those above but argue the cashback makes up for it. Both sites do not have an overall marketing opt out so you are likely to get follow up phone calls and emails. The sites are:

Beatthatquote: You'll only get the cashback via special links like this, you won't get it direct, which you need to claim 60 days after buying a policy. Try it: BTQ*

MoneyExpert: This smaller site has set its default excess to £400 and includes some assumptions, so be careful to check the quotes are right for you. Try it: MoneyExpert*.

If you're following the full system, it's worth checking these sites anyway, as they add over twenty providers to the comparisons above and give you a decent benchmark for the cashback available. Though only using these leaves you over fifty short of the two above.

 

Still not found cheap, try more...

Average time taken 5 mins each

Searching further sites to those above adds 35 more providers to the coverage... Total so far 100%

If you still haven’t found a deal you’re happy with or want to push the envelope there are many more options to try.

These other comparison sites between them will add more than thirty providers; QuoteZone*, Confused*, CompareTM*, TescoComp*, Uswitch*. Though there are more standalone insurers

 

 

Once you've found the cheapest

Once you’ve found the cheapest from the screenscrapers; there are two important checks to make:

• Double check the quotes
  Click through to the insurance provider's own website to double check the quotes, as to speed up searches some comparison sites make a few assumptions (see what to check).
• Examine the policy's coverage
  Check whether it's suitable. So if you want "free car hire" if your car is being fixed, is it included? Plus while you’re there it's worth playing with the policy details to see if you can finesse the price down; look at the excess, and whether adding drivers cuts the cost .
  This tool by Find* allows you to check the coverage of two different polices side by side.
  
  
  

  Young, low use drivers or provisional licence holders

  As a first port of call young drivers should always follow the same system, using the comparison services and trying to get cashback. However, if that hasn't cut costs there are further options which may help.
  

  • Pay-As-You Go insurance
    There are a couple of policies that use GPS or tracking devices that look at when and where you drive. If you're a low use driver these can cut costs.
    Coverbox's* Pay As You Drive cover varies the price per mile according to the time of the day or night you drive. It is currently offering some drivers under 30 a £50 cashback and price match* deal (details will be on your quote if your qualify). A free GPS tracking device is fitted to your car so it can be tracked if stolen and you can monitor when and where you drive on a secure internet site
    New site Insurethebox gives the first 6,000 miles for a fixed price and then sells top up miles if you go over. You can also earn 100 bonus miles a month for safe driving (which you can monitor online).
    More Than's Drive Time, Tel 0800 294 8911, (for 18-25 year olds who don't often drive between 11pm and 6am) and i-kube (for 17-25 year olds who don't often drive between 11pm and 5am) base their price on when you drive. There's an extra fee for driving outside the set hours making the cost prohibative if you do so.
    
  • Specific Young Driver Policies
    Swinton's Young Driver is worth checking out as it's a bespoke policy, yet just because it's specialist doesn't mean it will automatically be cheaper.
    As a more radical alternative YoungMarmalade* is worth a look. Here you get the insurance policy alongside low risk new or nearly new cars on a 2 to 5 year hire purchase or personal contract plan. This can bring the insurance cost down dramatically but obviously you're buying a car at the same time, do the numbers very carefully with this.
    
  • Provisional licence insurance
    If you're a learner, it often means being added to parents or friends car insurance as an additional driver which can up the cost, and put no claims bonuses at risk.
    However it is possible to get specific policies just for the provisional driver which protect this, such as ProvisionalMarmalade*. Endsleigh can also quote for learner drivers.
    
  • Don’t ‘front’ on your insurance it’s illegal
    Young car owners who list parents as the main driver to cut insurance costs are doing what’s called ‘fronting’ and it’s ILLEGAL. It invalidates insurance and can lead to prosecution so don't do it.
    However one easy trick to cut costs is to add a good SECOND driver to your policy, even if they’re not going to use the car. It doesn’t always work, so it's a case of trial and error on quotes.
    
    
    If you've two or more vehicles between friends or family members in your household
    
    (Vans can be included in this but Bikes usually aren't), some providers offer discounts if you insure them all together.
    Comparison sites don’t have the technology to do these searches, so you need to compare manually.
    

    • First use comparisons for each car separately
      The discounts are usually around 10%, so often it's likely just finding the cheapest standalone insurer will win anway, so always do a comparison first, then try the deals below to compare.
      
    • Get all cars on one policy
      Cover two cars and Admiral* will give a 10% discount, cover four or five and you could get a 23% discount. All cars will then be covered on one policy so the renewal date will be aligned to end at the same time.
      
    • Separate policies but still get the discount
      Other insurers allow cars to have separate policies but give a discount as long as the vehicles are in the same household. Privilege* give 10% off, Direct Line* 10% off and Aviva* 5% off.
      While they say they give reductions, neither Tesco* or Churchill* (who also cover named drivers on another Churchill policy) say how much the discount will be, so check before you buy.
      

 

 

Other tricks to cut the cost

If you aren't a young driver, but still want to look for an even better deal, try some of the following...

• Prices change at different times of the month
  There's a technique to see if you can get cheaper cover at different times of the month; but it's a little time consuming...
  Run your quotes a month before renewal and click through to the cheapest three insurers' sites making sure you save the quotes. Some, although not all, hold their prices for up to 28 days. Then, nearer your renewal date go back to check the price and buy if it's cheaper, or revert back to the saved quote if it's not.
  
• Guarantee to beat your renewal by 10%
  If the comparison services above haven’t found a policy cheaper than your existing quote, First Direct says it will beat new customer's renewal quote from their previous insurer by at least 10%, providing your annual premium is over £200 for comprehensive or £120 for non-comprehensive.
  
• Temporary Car Insurance
  It's possible to get temporary insurance for 1 to 28 days, such as to to drive a friends car protecting their policy and no claims. Budget's Temporary Insurance, Insure Daily, TempCover.com* and RAC are amongst some of the available policies.
  
  
  
  

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