Why pay more when you can pay less?
From price comparison to new ways to recycle, there are lots of money saving websites you can use.
While sites like eBay and Lastminute.com are familiar to many of you, here are some others that the MoneyHospital can recommend:
mySupermarket.co.uk
This site compares the cost of your trolley contents from your local Tesco, Asda, Ocado and Sainsbury's online supermarkets.
It even offers to switch the products you choose for others if there are cheaper brands or alternatives available, and it will also tell you about healthier options.
When you have chosen what to buy (and where to buy it) you can send your order to the shop and wait for it to be delivered.
mySupermarket.co.uk lets you store your shopping list, so you can go back many times. Even if you don't order your groceries online, it will help you work out how much money you could save by switching to a different supermarket.
Quidco.com
If you do lots of online shopping, Quidco.com could be the site for you as it offers you cashback from a range of popular retailers.
For example, click on the link to Tesco.com and you can earn up to 10% cashback.
The amount offered differs between retailers, and some offer a percentage of your purchase price back while others offer a fixed cash sum.
You have to register by entering your name and address but you don't have to give any credit card or bank details. It costs £5 a year to be a member but this is taken out of the money you earn through using the site.
Give Or Take
You can shop both ethically and economically at Giveortake.com. You can buy discounted goods from about 500 online retailers including Marks & Spencer and Figleaves, and choose whether to keep the savings as cashback or to give the money to charity.
Over 50 charities are registered on the site, including Shelter, Barnados, Crisis and RNID.
Bonuses of up to £60 cash or up to 20% of the value of an item can be claimed or donated on all kinds of purchases, including hotel bookings and clothes.
Rpoints.com
Rpoints.com is another cashback site and it promises to give you up to 30% of the purchase price at almost 2,000 online stores.
As well as providing details of good deals and cashback offers on partner sites, it has forums where bargain hunters exchange tips on tokens and offers they have found elsewhere.
Say No To 0870
This is a site we have mentioned before on MoneyHospital.
To avoid calling expensive 0870 numbers, (which can cost up to 15p a minute) you can use this independent site to see find an alternative. Type in the name of the company you want to call and you get a list of its cheaper geographical numbers and even some free 0800 numbers.
envirofone.com
A popular one with the staff of the MoneyHospital (we can vouch for their simple and reliable service), you can recycle your mobile phone handset through envirofone, who claim to have paid out more than £1.5million to users so far.
Depending on the make and model of the phone you trade in, you receive a choice of cash or Argos credits from £40 to over £100.
It's simple and free to register with envirofone, and they send you a pack in which to return your phone; if you have six or more handsets, they offer you a free courier service.
The Little House Company
Why pay thousands to an estate agent for them to market and sell your house, when you can arrange your sale independently through this site?
For £89, you can place a full-page listing with photograph and get access to a hits counter, an online guide to selling property and a telephone helpline.
Any buyer enquiries are automatically forwarded to you and you deal with them yourself from then on.
For £135, your property is listed on some of the leading property portals such as Fish4Homes, HotProperty and Homes and Property. However, if you choose not to use an estate agent, you will be responsible for showing your home and dealing with buyers yourself.
entitledto.co.uk
By taking five minutes filling in some basic details about yourself, your pay and status, you can see if you are entitled to any government benefits.
The site, which is free and funded by the sales of software to local authorities and other organisations, will list all the tax credits and benefits you should be claiming. It is definitely worth a look considering the amount of benefits going unclaimed.
Energy Saving Trust
Why not help the planet while saving money?
It is claimed the average household could save up to £250 a year on energy bills by being more energy efficient.
The Energy Saving Trust site has loads of energy saving tips, such as turning down your thermostat by 1C, which could cut your heating bills by 10%. You can also get advice on where to buy energy saving fridges, dishwashers and washing machines, and what to look for when comparing these.
Read It-Swap It
If you are an avid bookworm, you can save a tidy sum using this free site, which has more than 100,000 books available in all genres for book swappers.
Once you have registered as a member, you list the books you have and are willing to swap, simply by typing in the book's ISDN code. However, you need to add a brief description of the book's condition and you can write a review too. You can browse the latest books added to the site, or search for your favourite title or author.
When you find one you want, contact the member who listed it, and then they can see if any of your books appeal to them. The only cost is about £1.40 in postage for each book. Once a swap has been confirmed, books are expected to arrive within seven days.
We're sure that these money saving sites mentioned above will prove useful to some of you.
If you know of any other great money saving sites, why not let us know in the comments?
Sourced from Guardian Money