Summer on a budget: money saving websites and top tips! [July 2012]

I know many bloggers are around my age and the majority are students, so despite loving all things fashion and beauty related; money is often a problem. However, there are many websites out there that can help by offering cheap clothing as well as discount codes and vouchers. My mum has brought me up to be money conscience so I am the sort of person that will shop around until I find a discount or something on sale.This blog post will express some of my favorite websites to receive discounts from as well as top tips on saving money whilst shopping.

                                         


FashionVouchers - This website contains vouchers for almost anything from clothing stores like Urban Oufitters to Beauty places like Boots. The designer brand Radley is included, as well as online stores like MotelRocksand BooHoo. It's very easy to work with: you simply click 'Reveal code' - love it.

Humbara - This website is an online clothing store where everything is literally around the £5 mark. Yes, I will admit that there are some tacky things on there but there are also some little gems. I really love this dress here.. amazing for only £5!

Everything5pounds - Just like Humbara and as the name suggests: everything is a fiver. I'd say the pieces on this website are a little classier and girlier than many of Humbara's items.

Secret Sales - There are a huge list of luxury and designer brands on this website that you can choose to sign up to in order to gain discounts for. These range from American Apparel to Adidas to Dior.

Group On - Despite this website being based on getting days out and trips for low prices; you can also get some fashion and beauty discounts; many involving teeth whitening and hair treatments.



As well as fashion, I thought I'd drop in some fantastic websites to buy cosmetics and beauty bits from. I loveCheap Smells , Beauty Bay and Feel Unique. All 3 of them have free delivery and offer all sorts of from skincare to makeup to nails; I am literally in heaven when shopping on these websites!

TOP TIPS WHEN SHOPPING

Use and Abuse your Student Discount: If you are a student or even studying at A level, you are entitled to a student discount card.  I am an A level student and not yet at university so I have to pay £12 a year for an NUS card, but you really do get your money back! Everywhere you shop, check if they take the discount because you can get some real bargains. Topshop, New Look, Schuh and ASOS entitle you to 10% off and at certain times of the year you can get up to 20% off. If you are looking to get some VANS shoes, they do 15% in the VANS store so you would be better off purchasing them from there as opposed to office, schuh etc.

Visit Outlet Villages: Many outlets have designer and high street brands with a discount and these savings can really add up. 'York Designer Outlet' and 'Junction 32' may be familiar if you live near/in the Yorkshire region of the UK.

Sign up to mailing lists: Some websites give certain discounts for signing up to their mailing list. Done in around 5 minutes and taa daa: you have 15% off your first order of that dress you adore. I know this is apparent with American Apparel at the moment. Websites such as MissGuided.co.uk have had 10% off in the past if you like their Facebook page - Just look out for simple deals like that.

Go to Charity Shops: Despite having to wade through the tedious amounts of bric brac on display in many of todays charity shops, you are likely to eventually find a really nice piece of clothing. This is perfect for those who are a lover of the vintage trend where snug jumpers can be bought for about £2 that would be around £40 in Urban Outfitters.

Shop on eBay: I have become quite addicted lately but it really is amazing! You can buy second hand clothes from ordinary people that may have bought from Topshop etc for a small fraction of the price. Many pieces are hardly worn anyway. There are also shops within eBay which sell brand new clothes for really incredible prices. The best part is, you can also sell your unwanted clothes to gain money in your Paypal account which can then buy you things from eBay but many online stores take Paypal money too.
 

Look for Free Shipping: Try go for websites that have free shipping, as all these pounds do add up. Amazon do super saver delivery which is free so try buying things from there; Amazon can also be cheaper too.

Design your own clothes: I recently cut some old jeans into shorts and studded them so now they look really cool. I bought a pack of 100 studs from ebay for about £1.50. Making new clothes from old clothes is a fantastic way of saving money and you may just get a new hobby out of it!



Hope you enjoyed this post; something a little different from my review and hauls. Hope you are all having an amazing summer even if the weather is rubbish.
Love Alice xox