If you have an eye for a bargain, you should keep your eyes peeled at all times for sales and discounted items. Sites such as Household Saver will show you where the best of the discounts are to be had and there are other sites which do the same.

One strategy which I find serves me very well, is to sign up for newsletters for all of the major online retailers. This way you always know when they have a sale on and you can be one of the first in there to snap up the bargains – better than queuing up outside all night!

I buy the best of the deals in the sales and then keep them for birthday and Christmas presents. You can save hundreds of pounds a year in this way and you can give family and friends nicer presents than you could otherwise afford.

EBay is also another good source of finding discounted presents, although I use this far less often. Although I know many people who buy their presents this way, it is a matter of personal preference and I prefer to buy from new.

If you are regularly spending money on the internet, then make sure that you also sign up for a points scheme such as Rpoints. You get a small percentage back of the purchases you buy. Not much but certainly better than nothing and it quickly adds up at Christmas. For a double whammy pay with a credit card that also gives you a small percentage back on your purchases!