Can Group Buying & Voucher Codes Get Me Through Maternity Leave? Err...

Readers of my blog since December will know that, in attempt to reduce my outgoings in preparation for maternity leave, I've been dabbling in the whole group-buying experience. It has worked for me on one or two occasions but the problem I find is that very rarely when I actually need or want to buy something, is that something available on a group-buying site. It isn't like a normal online shopping experience... you can't just search for the thing you want to buy and know that there is someone somewhere who wants to sell it to you. You can only buy the things currently on offer and more often than not, the offers are totally irrelevant to me.

However, being someone who naturally refuses to buy anything at full price unless she ABSOLUTELY has to, I'm exercising my right to search for voucher codes. Once again I think you have to pick and choose when it comes to online vouchers and discount codes. In recent weeks I've found really useful vouchers for fabric softener and nappies (both things I actively needed to buy) but then received another one for brie (hmmm, not that useful when pregnant).

My ultimate challenge when it comes to finding a bargain during 2012 is to source discounts on all of the elements of my epic family road trip in July. Finding discount codes for hotels in the UK is relatively easy, in fact, I have a couple of weekend trips already planned with a Travelodge Discount Code that means we can stay near friends for less than £20. However, finding discount codes for hotels on the continent is proving slightly harder.

So, if you know of any places that offer voucher codes for european hotels, car hire or ferry crossings that are valid for bookings in July then PLEASE let me know! Thank you.

Gumtree Daily Deals - Bargains for the New Year

As I mentioned just before Christmas, I have been experimenting with group buying sites in order to find a few bargains. Gumtree did some research and found that while 92% of Brits enjoy a bargain, only 68% can be bothered to look for one so they created Gumtree Daily Deals which has reduced-price offers and sends you an email with a summary of offers on a daily basis.

Just before Christmas I was planning a big party for both of our families - we were going to need to buy a WHOLE lot of booze! Thankfully, Gumtree Daily Deals asked me to be one of their guinea pigs and try out their service. I noticed that they had a phenomenal deal of Virgin wines so I went for it - a case worth over £120 was on offer for £60. Half price!

Ordering was soooooo easy. The Gumtree deal gave me a voucher code and a direct link to the Virgin Wines site. I didn't need to browse or faff about selecting specific bottles (it was for a party, people get what they're given!). I had registered with Virgin wines, paid and checked out within about 3 minutes.

Our wine was delivered 48 hours later. Speedy.

We got a really pleasant surprise in that the case of 12 bottles of wine were all wines we would be happy drinking ourselves (based on grape variety... we haven't drunk them all quite yet!) and the case came with a free gift of two large Dartington Crystal red wine glasses. Obviously I haven't been drinking a lot of wine lately but Mr. B and my guests from the day haven't come across a bad wine yet from the bunch. My only slight grudge is that the deal was one of Virgin Wines' regular boxes so we are effectively signed up for a regular wine delivery now and we will have to cancel the contract - I didn't think it made that very clear on the Gumtree site (although it was clear when I logged into Virgin Wines to redeem my voucher).

I receive my daily emails from Gumtree (just one... unlike other group buying sites I know who send you upto 5 a day. Ug) and although I haven't yet been tempted by another offer, the emails haven't annoyed me yet.

I'm hoping to find some good bargains on Gumtree Daily Deals in the new year.