Whether you’re sticking to a tight budget or just want to make your money stretch further, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can put to use when shopping online. With Christmas just a few short weeks away, there’s no better time to be watching your spending and trying to make savings where possible. Here are just some of the ways you can go about it.

Compare Prices

Unlike when you’re buying from a brick and mortar shop when it comes to online shopping you can easily compare prices. This gives you a huge advantage as it means you can buy things at the best price without getting overcharged. No need to traipse from place to place to find the best deal, it’s all available at the click of a button. When it’s so easy, why wouldn’t you?

Search For Sales

Again unlike regular shops when you’re buying online you can quickly find the best sales. You could manually click through your favourite sites to see what’s available, or you could find a site which shows you all of the best sales, such as the Money Saving Expert in the UK or EveryMarket in the US and internationally. The trick here isn’t to buy things just because they’re on sale- companies will count on you doing this as it means overall you spend more. It’s to seek out the things you need which you would have ordinarily paid full price for. Having a shopping list and sticking to it can help.

Get Cashback

Cashback websites are so easy to use. Simply click through their site to the website you’re buying from, and you get a little bit of money back- no strings attached! The only downside to this is it does take a while until you’re paid, but if you use a cashback site for all of your Christmas shopping you should get a nice chunk back at the end of January.

Use Vouchers

Vouchers and coupons are an excellent way to save money online. Before clicking the checkout button, it’s always worth having a browse to see what’s available. It could be anything from free delivery to a certain percentage off. Trawling through lots of different sites can be time-consuming so find one which has lots of vouchers all in one place. dontpayfull.co.uk is one example.

Stalk Social Media

If you follow your favourite brands on social media, you’ll be the first to hear about any sales or discount codes. Another way is to sign up to the newsletters of your favourite brands. Lots of newsletters can be annoying and clog up your inbox, so a good tip is to redirect them all to one folder within your inbox. That way it keeps them separate and you can scroll through them at your leisure. Before making a purchase, you can check out the latest newsletter and see if there are any good deals.

How do you save money when shopping online?

One way of helping a loved one who is struggling with an addiction such as alcohol is staging an intervention. During an intervention, the team helps the person accept that he or she has a problem and needs immediate help. The team brings to light the consequences of the addiction to the person and his or her loved ones. Sometimes interventions do not end up as expected for various reasons. One of the reasons is overlooking some aspects of a successful intervention. Below is a guide on how to stage a successful intervention for a loved one.

Plan the Intervention

Consider all the aspects of the intervention including rehab when developing the plan including the intervention team, place, and time. Find professionals who can help you through the process and book them for that event. A professional counselor, psychologist, or addiction specialist will help your team deal with the negative emotions that arise during interventions.

Understand the Extent of the Problem

The intervention team should meet before the set time and analyze the person’s addiction problem. The identified professional(s) in the previous step should be included in this meeting to prepare the team for the actual intervention. The goal of analyzing the extent of the problem is to identify the best approach and treatment program for the loved one.

Rehearse

Team members should learn and rehearse what to say in the intervention with the help of the professional. The choice of words is critical during an intervention because words trigger different emotions and reactions. The professional should help team members with their tones and responses to the person’s questions or reactions to their contributions.

Be Prepared for Anything

An intervention team plans the intervention and rehearses what to say with the assumption that the person will actually show up for the meeting. Addicts expect their loved ones to stage an intervention and may refuse to meet anyone when the agenda seems unclear. The person may drive off if they sense that an intervention is about to take place. An addict’s response is unpredictable. The team must be prepared for a positive and negative response. The intervention team must also prepare for high emotions and indifference from the addict.

Hold the Intervention

At this stage, the intervention team implements its plan and holds the meeting. Avoid postponing the meeting or making sudden changes on the set dates. Last minutes changes may confuse the team members and cause divisions in the team. Find a way of bringing the loved one to the meeting. The person should feel loved and not attacked during the intervention.

Follow Up

A successful intervention should end with the person accepting help. However, the process of breaking an addiction does not end with an alcohol treatment and detox program. Sometimes addicts join such programs under pressure only to relapse as soon as they leave the program. The intervention team must follow up on the person’s progress during and after the rehab program to ensure that the person has recovered completely.

The approach used to stage an intervention determines whether the process is successful or not. The intervention team must understand the person’s problem and plan for all aspects of the intervention. The team should expect and prepare for anything during the intervention. It is advisable to involve a professional counselor, doctor, psychologist or an addiction expert throughout the process.

If you are planning a long distance trip for business or leisure, making sure that you don’t leave home without the right gadgets is important for making sure that your trip runs smoothly. Whether you’re traveling by plane or are planning a long road trip, there are a number of gadgets that you’ll need to take along. These will ensure that you remain connected and have instant access to the information you need while you travel. We’ve put together a list of some popular tech tools that you shouldn’t leave behind.

Smartphone

Having a smartphone is definitely essential. If you’re flying, it can come in handy with mobile boarding passes and keeping track of your flight. As with Wi-Fi or a local 3G or 4G connection, you’ll be able to connect to the internet to search for information about your destination, directions to places that you need to go to such as your hotel. If you are driving, a mobile phone can be useful for navigation and directions. If you’re leaving your partner behind, a phone is a great tool for getting together for video calling. Alternatively, you could check out arousr.com for some sexchat.

Laptop

If you’re traveling for work, taking your laptop along with you is crucial.. There are plenty of different lightweight laptops and netbooks on the market today that are perfect for those who travel for business often, or for people who work on a freelance basis as they travel the world. If you’re going to be traveling for a long period of time or taking a series of different business trips, your laptop is al piece of kit that you won’t be able to do without.

E-Reader

When you’re traveling far by air, you’ll need to take something along on the flight to keep you occupied. Many people enjoy reading on flights. they can use the time to catch up on the latest novels that they’ve been wanting to read for a while, or perhaps finally flick through an autobiography that they’ve been wanting to sample since it was published. But, with hand luggage restrictions on many airlines, there’s a limit to how many books you can take – bad news for fast readers on long flights! But, with an e-reader, there’s no limit to how much reading material you can take along for the trip.

Smartwatch

When you’re traveling, a smartwatch can definitely come in handy. If you’re carrying a lot of luggage, wearing a smartwatch can be much more convenient than pulling out your Iphone. Smartwatches can send you reminders, notify you when you’re getting a text, and you can even answer calls on many of them, making this a great investment for those who travel a lot.

If you’re going to be traveling a really long distance, you’ll definitely need some gadgets to ensure that it’s a smooth trip.

There may have been decorations in the stores for over a month now. But if you didn’t get the memo, Christmas is nearly here! With all of the festivities that are coming up, we need to find time to do some gift shopping. You might only have a few gifts to buy this year; you might have a lot. However many you need to buy, having some ideas is always useful. So I have put together a few ideas for you this year. Hopefully, you will find this of use for all of the different friends in your life.

For the Yogi

If you have got a friend that is a keen yogi, then, believe it or not, there are plenty of options out there for them. Christmas yoga gift ideas are easier to choose than you might think. You could start buy getting them some new exercise gear. It could be new trainers, socks or leggings. You could get them some baggier yoga pants, or even some new yoga accessories. A new yoga mat is a good idea, as well a water bottle and yoga block. If they are a seasoned pro, then they probably don’t need the latter, though! If you aren’t sure exactly what they need, then you could always get them a gift card for a sports store. Victoria’s Secret do some great workout and yoga clothes too.

For the Foodie

We all have a friend that is a bit of a foodie, right? We only have to have a look through their Instagram feed to see it. The good news is, is that there are plenty of options for food related gifts. You could get them some kitchen gadgets or accessories for their home. A spiralizer is a great option these days, especially for friends that might have gluten intolerances. You could get them something fun like a waffle iron, or perhaps accessories for baking. If she is a bit of a smoothie queen, then it might be worth getting them some new mason jars or mason jar mugs. Then they can drink they smoothies or juices in style.

For the Beauty Lover

I’m sure we all have a friend that is a big beauty fan too. So how about some new beauty products for them to try out? I think that eyeshadow palettes are a great idea. They can choose a variety of colors, for a variety of different looks. If you feel like giving them something a little more thoughtful, booking them a treatment could be a good idea. Then they have something to look forward to. You could even go together to get a manicure or pedicure, for example. So it makes an extra special gift!

For the Stationary Queen

Even if you aren’t students at the moment, then you still might have a friend that is a stationery hoarder. Some cute notebooks, pens, and accessories are a great gift for anyone that likes to be organized. It is a great idea to get them stickers and things like washi tape too. Then they can be organized in style.