Save big in the new year

Our best shopping tips and sites of 2011

ShopSmart: January 2012

We strive to jam pack every issue of ShopSmart with great tips to help you save money and find the best stuff. So it wasn't particularly difficult to cull those tips into a roundup of our very best advice from 2011 in the January issue, on newsstands now. Even though I report on this stuff all year, I have to say, I learned a lot!

My 5 favorite surprises from 2011:

You can automate price-comparison shopping. Install an app like InvisibleHand on your computer and it'll instantly pop up to show you if you've got the best price or if there's a better deal out there.
Amazon Prime is a no-brainer. Pay $79 and get free two-day shipping on everything you buy on Amazon, plus free streaming Netflix and now Kindle books too.
You can shop all the daily deals on one website: Deals.pricegrabber.com, which shows you the day's offerings from Groupon, Living Social, and other daily deals at a glance, saving time and preventing overbuying.
Restaurants have sales too. Find them at BiteHunter.com, EatDrinkDeals.com, or Savored.com.
You can haggle online! Try it sometime, using live chat. In our surveys, most people who ask for a better price wind up getting one.

For dozens more smart shopping tips, check out "Save big in the new year" in the new issue of ShopSmart. You'll see our staff favorite websites also. Happy shopping in 2012! And if you have a favorite tip, please share it in the comments below. Maybe we'll use it in an upcoming story.—Jody Rohlena, Senior Editor

E-mail Newsletters

FREE e-mail Newsletters!
Choose from cars, safety, health, and more!

Already signed-up?
Manage your newsletters here too.

More From Consumer Reports

WASHING MACHINE REVIEWS
The Best Matching Washers and Dryers These washer-dryer pairs cleaned up in Consumer Reports' tests.

TV REVIEWS
Best 4K TVs to Buy Right Now The top picks from the hundreds of 4K TVs we've tested.

CARS
Best New Car Deals Save money on the cars that Consumer Reports recommends.

GENERATOR REVIEWS
How to Pick the Right Size Generator for Your House Add up the items you need to power before making your choice.

Cars

Build & Buy Car Buying Service
Save thousands off MSRP with upfront dealer pricing information and a transparent car buying experience.

See your savings

Mobile

Get Ratings on the go and compare
while you shop

Learn more