Use all of your available options to shop

It's 2010, and the internet and mobile devices like smartphones are becoming preferred shopping methods for many. Sure, going to a mall or store in person has its perks. You can see the items in the flesh, but you still have to contend with crowds, parking, and it's also more tedious to compare prices that way.

Shopping online is much quicker and less painful. You can compare prices easily, search for items quickly, and some stores have cheaper online prices than they offer in stores. Sites like PriceGrabber are great if you want a consolidated breakdown of offers on a single product across various sites.

Some mobile devices have apps or alerts that will inform you of sales or deals that would be hard to find otherwise. Do you have a particular site or retailer that you enjoy shopping with? Sign up for updates on their site, and you will receive emails when one-day sales or other big discounts pop-up. If you don't mind the wait that comes with shipping, you can shop online with sites like eBay or Amazon to find excellent deals. Not only do they carry a wide variety of products, but they sometimes beat in-store prices from retailers by a considerable margin. Depending on where you shop, you may even find that shipping is free.

Social media is becoming another popular avenue for companies to market their products. Joining a company's group on Facebook is a good way for you to get an inside track on deals or discounts. This is a good step to take to save money and it requires little to no effort at all.

Now, one thing to keep in mind when shopping online is the existence of scams, viruses, hackers, and the like. Protect yourself by online shopping on trusted websites. Don't fall for ridiculous offers that seem way too good to be true, because they probably are.