The BudgeX Blog

If you haven’t done so, read The Secrets of Bargain Hunting Part 1 and Part 2 first before continuing.

Let’s recap.  In your arsenal of bargain hunting skills, you have learned special techniques in:

• comparison shopping
• basic online search strategies
• developing price indexes
• taking advantage of rebates

All of these will help you greatly in finding the best deals around for the products you want, and regular practice is always a good idea. For the final piece of the puzzle, we will explore advanced online search techniques. This branch is so crucial that it deserves its own post. So without further ado, let’s get started!

Rule #6: Optimizing your Online Searches

I mentioned in Part 1 that searching for your products on Google Products will help you in comparison shopping. This is a good way to start, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were dedicated websites that focused strictly on posting deals? This would be a bargain hunter’s dream come true. Well, it appears as though those prayers were answered.

There are several websites out there that focus on posting deals. Some are more comprehensive than others, but all of them are going to be helpful to you when searching for deals. Here are my two favorites:

• SlickDeals probably has the largest community of deal-seekers on the Internet. Their site is very clean and organized as well.
• FatWallet is another great site. They post a respectable amount of deals every day, but they also give you cash back from online purchases at hundreds of stores.

Websites like these two will likely have some sort of deal listed for the product you are looking for. The deal might be dead, but viewing it will help you develop a more aggressive price index for the product. That reason alone should make spending time on these websites worth your while. Tapping into these deal community sites is the best way at gaining experience in the art of deal hunting.

So there you have it—the secrets of bargain hunting in three chapters. The strategies I have taught you in this blog will help the casual deal-searcher find a really good deal, and will help the dedicated hunter find a great deal. It is a matter of how much time you can contribute to your efforts that will ultimately govern the quality of the deal you find, so my final advice to you is to practice, practice, practice! If you ever have any questions, or would like personal assistance in finding a deal, feel free to email me and I will be glad to help you. Good luck!

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