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FOOL'S EYE VIEW
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I've been using this new-fangled InterWeb thingy for over ten years, and I'm certain that it's saved me tens of thousands of pounds over that time. Back in the mists of 1995, my employer was acquired by a giant American firm. As part of a business-improvement programme, our US parent gave some staff Internet access, and I was one of the lucky few. Initially, British companies and consumers were slow to catch on to the power of the Web, so the Internet wasn't that useful as a business tool. However, when we finally got the surfing bug, a flood of useful websites made my working life massively easier, and helped me to manage my finances better. Here are some of the websites, as well as the Fool of course, that I use today. In no particular order: Moneyfacts Way back in 1992, when I first started working in financial services marketing, my monthly copy of Moneyfacts magazine was my holy book. Thanks to its comprehensive Best Buy tables, I rarely had to slog from bank to bank in order to conduct my market research. Today, Moneyfacts' tables are recognised as the best of their kind: independent, unbiased and trustworthy. Indeed, the Fool now uses Moneyfacts' search wizards to power our credit card, personal loan and savings centres. More super-searches are coming soon, so watch this space! Which? Which? magazine was launched by independent charity the Consumers' Association in 1957 in order to campaign for consumers' rights. Last year, the organisation re-branded itself under the Which? name. Which? has fought a 45-year battle to improve products and customer service, prevent rip-offs, and help us to make better buying decisions. It has done - and continues to do - a magnificent job. Defaqto Defaqto produces independent research into financial products and services, providing access to this information through its gigantic Aequos database, which is used by leading financial firms. These data are used to produce Best Buy tables for a wide range of financial products, plus hard-hitting reports with in-depth analysis of, for example, home, motor and travel insurance, etc. I never buy any financial product without first checking out Defaqto's market report. Fixture Ferrets I first came across Fixture Ferrets in our Living Below Your Means discussion board. It lists supermarket promotions by store, product category or type of special offer. Also, you can search for a single product, or view every promotional deal at seven major supermarkets. Fixture Ferrets could save you hundreds of pounds a year when you stock up with food and drink, especially at this time of year! Two other websites in this vein are Mad About Bargains and Trollydolly. Price-comparison websites Rather than pick out any particular favourites, here's a list of the websites that I often use to find bargains: General: DealTime | Froogle | Kelkoo | Pricerunner. For books: Best Book Price | BookBrain | BookButler | BookkooB. For DVDs: Best DVD Price | DVDPriceCheck | Find-DVD. Leisure and travel websites Work hard, play hard, pay less is my motto! I use these websites to cut the cost of flight, hotels, holidays, car hire and so on: Cheapflights | ebookers | Expedia | Lastminute | Opodo |Teletext Holidays | Travelocity | TravelSupermarket. Online retailers I love a bargain as much as the next person, so here are five e-tailers (online retailers) which I frequently visit: Amazon | CD Wow! | Hughes Direct | Play | Swotbooks. Finally, when I shop online, I save even more money by always paying with a Best Buy cashback credit card and using these cashback websites. Happy shopping, everyone! More: Let the Fool help you to find better credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, savings accounts, bank accounts, insurance and investments!