Save money on cars, travel, clothes, appliances and more. Here's our guide to finding good bargains...

General

Get rewarded for shopping

Credit card reward schemes are starting to take root in South Africa. For example, eBucks is a loyalty currency linked to First National Bank. Ten eBucks is worth one rand. By buyingwith one of its partners, you can earn points that can be spent on further discounted items such as flights from kulula air or Ster Kinekor movie tickets. You can also transfer eBucks to other members or donate them to designated charities.

Other loyalty schemes include Nedbank's Greenback and Absa's reward programmes. Make sure you check the fine print, and factor in how long you plan to carry the credit card balance. Some companies may have limits on the number of reward points you can earn or attach expiry dates.

For more research, www.thinkmoney.co.za has comparison charts.

Store cards

It's been estimated that retail store cards are used by nearly five million South Africans. It's a way for stores to keep their existing customers as well as enticing new ones. A typical example of a retail grocery card is Pick n Pay's Go Banking card. You can draw cash for a small fee, getmoney back on selected items and discounts on others. You can also use the card for internet shopping through www.picknpay.co.za, hopefully saving on the impulse buys by beingmore selective.

For children's purchases, Woolworths has just introduced its LittleWorld card for parents and family members, which offers giveaways and special offers. Before signing up to any new card, however, remember to ask yourself questions such as:

• Do I have to pay an annual fee or a linkage fee to belong to the programme? How much is it?
• What is the range of choice among rewards?
• Is the expenditure needed to obtain a reward within reach?

Rewardclubcards Cards such as the Exclusive Books Fanatics card and the Clicks Clubcard enable shoppers to claim rewards depending on how many points are earned.

Parents can also sign up for MySchool supporter cards at no cost (www.myschool.co.za), which allocate a small percentage of their transaction at participating stores to their beneficiary school.

Discount vouchers

Keep an eye out for discount vouchers and sales advertisements in the mail, in-store circulars and club magazines. Online, Amazing Vouchers (www.amazingvouchers.com) has free offers and specials from shops and restaurants across the country.

Clothing

Buy at the right time Department stores will often mark down goods that don't move within a month or two. "If it's been an exceptionally warmwinter, coats will go on sale earlier," says Kathryn Finney, author of 'How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less' (Ballantine Books, R182).

Another trick is to buy summer gear at the start of winter and vice versa. With stocktake sales, Sara Goldstein from www.thebargainqueen.com. Swap or barter skills.

The Talent Exchange is a community-based trading system where users buy and sell with "talents" rather than money. A global concept, there are at least 2000 members in Cape Town alone. You can swap and barter goods including fresh produce or homemade clothes, and offer services such as childcare, karate lessons, computer programming or gardening in exchange for "talents" from other members. Visit www.ces.org.za.

Codes

Ever bought something online from overseas and been prompted to key in the discount code? Just what are these secret codes and where can you find them?

The discounts work for online sales only and allow you to take typically 10-25 percent off at the checkout. While not widely used in South Africa, you can use these codes when ordering overseas products.

Look for codes at www.retailmenot.com, a company that lists more than 20 000 international stores in alphabetical order, ranging from Amazon to Victoria's Secret.

Comparisons

If you're short on time, use shopping bots (search engines that look for deals) to make price comparisons online. For instance, at www.pricecheck.co.za you can compare prices on electronics and home appliances. The site works by comparing online databases formember stores. It won't catch every deal, but it provides a good overview.

We found a Canon digital camera priced from R1046 to R1881 at five different shops. Another good comparison site is Jump Shopping (www.jump.co.za).

Auctions

Online auctions do go beyond eBay. South Africans are getting in on the action with sites such as www.bidorbuy.co.za, which has an average of nearly 148 000 items for sale and over 325 000 registered users. The site has auctions starting from R1 with no reserve.

If you like the addictive atmosphere of a live auction, be it for property or general products, take a look at www.auctionpages.co.za. Auctioneers add their upcoming events to it and potential buyers can search according to areas, auctioneers or type of auction.

But if you love eBay, check out www.missing-auctions.com, which finds commonly misspelt items such as PlayStations.

Look out for our next insert in this series on the best deals on cars, clothes and travel...

This article is from Reader's Digest

For part two click here.