Tightwad Tuesday: Web Deals

I haven't done a Tightwad Tuesday post in forever, but the holidays are approaching and there are some websites I need to tell you about.

(Side note -- I just slipped and typed "Tightwade" Tuesday. Flash of genius? Maybe there's a future for TightWade Tuesdays??)

Anywho, first up are local team buying sites. Each day, they email you a local deal that's only valid for that day:

• Groupon
• Twongo
• Living Social

The way most of them work is that the more people who buy the deal, the lower the price goes (until a limit is reached). Through these sites I've purchased a spa mani and pedi for $30, a $20 certificate to our favorite butcher shop for $10, Coldstone gift certificates, and a 2 hour house cleaning service for $36.

If you're not in the Raleigh-Durham area, each site offers lots of other (usually major) cities. Or, you might find a deal so good that it's worth the drive to your state's capital.

Next, there are shopping sites like Rue La La and ideeli. I'm new to ideeli, but am loving me some Rue La La. Each day you get an email telling you the sales, or "boutiques," starting that day. Sales usually last around 2-3 days, but good items will sell out fast. There are fashion brands, housewares brands, and travel/resort sales.

Lee and I had talked about upgrading our food processor, and when Rue La La had a Cuisinart boutique, I snapped up a fancy one for half off. Yesterday, they had a Kate Spade and Kate Spade Home boutique. I was *thisclose* to buying sunglasses, but they're pretty hard to buy without trying on first. And it's a really good thing that the Kate Spade Home boutique didn't have any pieces from my china pattern or I might've easily dropped a paycheck there.

There's also woot.com. They do a single daily deal as well. Sometimes it's small stuff, like today's water leak alarms for $12.99. But a lot of the time it's tech related like laptops or flat screen TVs on the cheap. There are also home goods sometimes like kitchen appliances or Dyson vacuum cleaners. If it's a really good deal, they'll sell out pretty quickly. I haven't purchased anything on here yet but I've got my eye out for Dyson, Cuisinart and KitchenAid.

I'm sure there are thousands more of each of these sites, but these are the ones I frequent and can recommend. I should also mention, each of these sites reward you for referring friends (once your friend makes a purchase you get a $10 credit, for example). So if you decide to join any of them, make sure you use my links in this post, since I was kind enough to give you the scoop ;-)

And even though this isn't a deal site per se, don't forget Wishpot. I've found it super helpful over the past few weeks as I've been thinking of things I want on my Christmas list. I've also made a private list to store gift ideas for others. And they did send me an email recently saying that one of the items on my list had dropped in price, so that's pretty helpful.

Let me know if you luck up on any good deals, and happy shopping!