Look out For Daily Deals!

This year Cloud Bite has come up with some tips on getting the best value for money and some great presents for unbelievable prices. Using these tips you can save quite a bit of “dosh” which either means this can still be a great Christmas but with smaller expense or you can get lots more for your usual budget! Also there is a free letter and video from Santa Claus himself!

This year retailers are out to make as much money as possible. Don’t forget they are struggling in this economic climate like we are, so they are doing anything to draw you in and spend that hard earned money!

Free Santa Letter!

Santa loves to send letters to those who send him one. So write Santa a letter asking him what you would like for Christmas, and how you have been good and he will send you a letter back. Just be sure to include your address and put a stamp on the envelope when sending the letter. This is a free service from the Santa Department of the Royal Mail.

You need to send the letter to..

Santa,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1

with a first or second class stamp and you will receive a lovely letter from Santa! You have until 15th Debcember 2010!

For Children who are Blind Santa is clever and can send them a letter too! Just write to:

Santa Clause,
RNIB,
PO BOX 173
Peterborough
PE2 6WS

But be Quick you only have until the 6th December 2010. For more info see RNIB

Free Video from Santa

Letters are great but Santa is now hooked up to the world wide web just like me and you! So head over to Portable North Pole. All you need to do is fill in the form and it can be for kids and adults and you will get a personalised video made within seconds to send to whoever you wish. You can even upload a photo of the recipient and if its for kids upload pics of the toys they wish. We have tried it and love it! You can even get Santa to say he isnt happy and you need to be good to get anything. I can see parents loving this feature!

Tips for Christmas….

Make a Budget and Stick to it!

So many people spend far too much at Christmas that makes them feel good for 1 day, Christmas Day, but then start to worry about their finances for the rest of the new year. Therefore set yourself a budget that you know you can afford. If its £50 stick to £50 if it’s £300 stick to £300! You can get some great stuff no matter what your budget is! The last thing you want to do is spend £300 when you only have £50! Along with setting a budget make sure you are adding up what your spending as you go along.

Don’t buy on Impulse – Shop Around!

The last thing you should ever do is walk into a shop or go on the first website you see and buy something. Firstly decide wether this is an ideal gift and be sure this is what you want. Next Shop Around! Remember High Street stores are usually more expensive than online. Use price comparison websites in order to find the cheapest price, just remember if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. The following sites are great to help you find the cheapest price.

• Google Product Search – Great for all types of products but doesn’t search everywhere.
• Price Runner – Again great for all types of products just not everywhere is listed.
• Games Tracker – Best website I have found for finding the cheapest video game prices. Cloud Bite Blog Post: How to Find the Cheapest Priced Video Games
• Red Laser – This is an iPhone/iTouch app. Scan the Barcode on the back of a product and it will search online for the cheapest. Great when your in a shop and not sure if its cheaper online!
• Find DVD - This site is great for finding the cheapest Blu-rays and DVDs!
• Hot UK Deals - User submitted deals that can save you a fortune worth checking at least daily!

Get Cashback!

I know it might sound crazy but logging into a website before making those purchases can get you cashback! Simply sign up find the store you wish to buy from click the link and make your purchase. Usually within a few days the product will track and in around a month you will be paid. So far I have got £524 cashback using this scheme! Anything from Home insurance, to a mobile phone to DVDs and even broadband can all give you cashback. Plus anyone buying stuff from Apple can also get cashback!  Also remember to firstly use a product search to find the cheapest price of a product, then look on the cashback sites to see how much they give. Also make sure a product shown at a higher price in product search doesn’t give more cashback than the cheapest. For example the cheapest on product search may give 2% cashback but the £5 more one on product search may give 15% cashback which could work out cheaper! Make sure you check this!

• TopCashBack – All the cashback you make is yours i.e. they don’t take any money from you. (This is the one I use and have got £140 so far back)
• Quidco – Quidco takes your first £5 cashback in order to cover their costs the rest is yours.

Daily / Weekly Deals!

Around Christmas time online Stores like to do daily deals. Why? Well they hope that it means every single day you will take a look at their website and spot something you like! Remember though often the best deals have limited stock and only last a day or until that stock is all gone so try and check on the sites nice and early. I find setting your browser to automatically open tabs to the following sites is the best way to remember!

The number 1 place for Deals is Hot UK Deals! Here users upload fantastic deals they have found. We recommend you visit at least daily as the deals stack up or sell out quickly!

• Play.com – Currently have Weekly and Daily Deals. Seen some great offers on here.
• Ebay – Currently have Weekly and Daily Deals. Ebay are listing their most trusted sellers and listing weekly and daily deals they have. The Sellers have all be checked so you are safe to buy from them. They had iPod Nanos with £30 off a few days ago. Somewhat better than Apples £7 off for one day promotion!
• TheHut and Zavvi - The Hut and Zavvi are part of the same group both alot like play selling DVDS, Blu-rays, Games etc. as Trees to Mobile Phones.
• Ebuyer – Currently running Deals of the Day a few days a week. Used Ebuyer many times great store great prices.

Other Sites with Deals/Sales!

Some other websites, infact most, either have Christmas Deals or Sales on. Here are a few worth checking out…

• Argos – Big Winter Sale – Lots of products on offer.
• HMV – Deals for Christmas. Some really cheap DVD boxsets available.
• Amazon – Deals for Christmas. Lots of products with competitive prices.
• FireBox – Deals For Christmas. Big Gadget store. Sells lots of cool stuff from wacky gizmo’s to useful gadgets oh and sweeties too!

Twitter!

Daily Deals / Weekly Deals and All around Yearly Deals are often Tweeted out as soon as they are available. This therefore is a great way to stay on top of those deals epically when they are limited stock. A tip when using this is to create an alternative twitter account that just follows stores who do the deals. This way your personal Twitter account doesn’t get too clogged up which could mean you miss these great deals. Tweetdeck for Mac, Linux and Windows allows you to get updates from multiple accounts as does Tweetie for the iPhone/iTouch. Below I have listed some stores that give out deals over Twitter…

• @ebuyer – Ebuyer
• @firebox – Firebox
• @maplintweet – Maplin Electronics
• @ebay_uk – Ebay UK
• @hotukdeals – They list the trending deals from the HUKD website!
• @Misco_UK – Hot Misco Deals.
• @UKShoppingDeals – UK Shopping Deal
• @Gamedigital – Game, Video Game Store.
• @PlayCom – Play.com
• @MobileFun – Mobile Phone Accessory Retailer
• @Dealspwn – Great deals for gamers!

Be Smart!

Being smart and using the tips above will hopefully save you some money and help make this a great Christmas! All the links above are included as I have personally used these companies and feel they all offer great value and give a good experience. I have not received any sort of reward for providing any of these links other than the TopCashBack link which uses my referral ID. However you can omit this from the link if you wish.

I hope this has helped you somewhat and if you have any comments regarding the post or any other money saving tips then feel free to provide the info in the comments.

Merry Christmas