Frugal Friday - 15th Jan 2010

by Jane Baker on 15 January 2010  |  1 comment
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This week’s highlights include suits for men from Burton for just £49, half-price furniture in the massive Debenhams sale, 50% off Avatar: The Game, half-price Reebok Edge home gym equipment, a collection of eight Sherlock Holmes books for just £8.99, dinner and a show for just £20 and get 50% off London restaurants with a free Taste London card for the next month.

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The winter sales are really starting to hot up with many retailers offering even bigger discounts this week than they were at the beginning of the year. If you see a bargain you like, hurry because stocks are selling out fast.

Fashion and homewares

The January sales are in full swing with some great deals if you know where to look. Luckily, we've done all the hard work for you! Here's our pick of this week's best online and high street discounts:

• Barratts: Many lines now half price with 70% off selected items. Up to 40% off boots and up to 10% off wellies.
• Bhs: Up to 70% off sale while stocks last.
• Burton: Final reductions of up to 70% off selected lines, with men's suits starting at just £49 and shoes from £12!
• Coast: Up to 50% off selected fashion.
• Debenhams: Up to 70% off selected lines in the Blue Cross sale. Sale ends on Sunday.
• Dorothy Perkins: Up to 70% off selected fashion.
• Faith: Now up to 70% off selected lines in the winter sale.
• French Connection: Now up to 75% off a range of fashion.
• Hobbs: Selected items reduced by as much as 70% off.
• Jane Norman: Up to 70% off selected items.
• Marks & Spencer: You can still buy one, get one half price on men's luxury shirts this week.
• Moss Bros: Suits, jackets and coats all reduced, with prices starting at £79.
• New Look: Winter sale continues with up 70% off while stocks last.
• Next: The end of season sale continues with all items at least 50% off, with 70% off women's tall and plus sizes.
• Office: Up to a whopping 75% off a range of footwear.
• Oasis: Further reductions in the sale, with many items up to 70% off.
• River Island: Further reductions in a large sale, with some items less than £5.
• TOPMAN: Final clearance is taking place, many items half price or better.
• Urban Outfitters: Further massive reductions, with dresses starting at just £9.99 and men's coats and jackets from £39.99.
• Wallis: Up to 70% off selected lines.
• Warehouse: Up to 70% off sale with new lines added this week 

If you want to spruce up your home and you're hitting the high street sales this weekend, make sure you stop off at Debenhams where you'll find up to half price kitchenware, up to half price furniture, up to half price  bedding and so the list goes on! If you need to update your living room, check out this Soft Alicanti Two Seater Sofa with more than 50% off - down from £1,199 to just £539.10. There's a Three Seater version too.

Meanwhile there's a huge furniture event at Marks and Spencer until 26 January with top deals on sofas, armchairs, beds, mattresses and cabinet furniture, with up to 50% off selected items. Check out the special offer on this beautiful Hepworth Display Cabinet which is now just £549 with a massive saving £550 off.

Books and games

If you're going to avoid the icy weather and stay at home this weekend, you'll need some great bargain entertainment. Check out the latest top deals on bestselling books here:

• Check out Waterstones this week where can buy new and recommended books with up to 50% off. There's also 30% off new and bestselling e-books are and up to 40% off thousands of textbooks for school kids.
• If you're enjoying the recent crop of vampire books, don't miss the seventh volume in the Morganville Vampires series entitled Fade Out by Rachel Caine available at The Book Depository for the bargain basement price of £4.13 - that's 40% off.
• For a fantastic read, don't miss The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. You can pick up a copy for just £3.15, with a saving of more than 60% off from The Book Depository too.
• If you're a fan of frugal living - I'll assume you are since you're reading our Frugal Friday blog! - get your hands on a copy of Economy Gastronomy: Eat Better and Spend Less by Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett from The Book People for just £7.99 - that's a huge saving of £12.01 off the original £20 price tag. Also check out their Biggest January Book Sale Ever with prices start from £1.
• Finally, The Book People are also offering an amazing deal on a eight book Sherlock Holmes Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle which includes The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. The entire collection is just £8.99 with a brilliant saving of £46.93 off.

If gaming is more your cup of tea, why not check out these top deals on some of this week's bestsellers and new releases?

• Play.com is offering the best price on James Cameron's Avatar: The Game for the PSP. You can get your copy for just £14.99 - that's a massive saving 50% off the recommended price.
• Meanwhile if you like war games check out The Saboteur for the Xbox 360. You can order it at The Hut for just £24.73 and get 51% off the original £49.99 price tag. Also don't miss the mammoth sale where you can save up to 80% off a range of games and DVDs.
• If you fancy an adventure through a post-apocalyptic planet, try bestseller, Borderlands for the PC which is a snip at just £12.73 also from The Hut. This time you'll save a whopping 68% off original price.
• The final game of the week is new release Bayonetta for the PS3. Again The Hut has come up trumps with a saving of 31% off the original price, costing you just £34.73. Not bad for a brand new title.  

Gadgets & Gizmos

If you're looking for electrical items, electronics or household appliances, it's a good idea to check out the Price Match Promise at Dixons. If you can find a cheaper price for the item you want from a competitor website - including Amazon, Argos, John Lewis or Comet - Dixons will match it (see terms and conditions and the full list of competitors).

For fitness equipment, check out the fantastic sale on items for your home gym from Argos. Try this compact and stylish Reebok Edge Cycle which is half price at just £124.99. If you're really serious about getting in shape, you can also buy a half price Reebok Edge Cross Trainer - now just £199 and a Reebok Edge Treadmill which again is half price at £499 - down from £999.

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This week's hottest deals are highlighted in our Frugal Friday video every Friday lunchtime! Check it out...

Film and box sets

If you fancy settling down to watch a great film or DVD box set, we've got some great bargains for you this weekend. Plus some top deals on exercise DVDs for those of you who are determined to remodel themselves as fitness freaks! 

Eating out

If you don't fancy cooking for yourself this weekend, you can check out all the latest restaurant bargains in lovemoney.com's Frugal Food blog. Read more

Eating in

If you'd prefer to stay in and cook up a delicious meal without blowing the budget, check out the  original Frugal Recipes blog for some inspiration! Read more

Cheap days and evenings out

Those who love nothing better than dinner and a show should check out the great Top 20 for £20 packages at Lastminute.com. Tickets are available for just £20 per person and include 20 top London shows such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre with dinner at Kitchen Italia first, and Blood Brothers at The Phoenix Theatre with dinner at Navajo Joes restaurant.

If you don't live in London, you can buy tickets for a show and have a free night's stay in a hotel courtesy of Lastminute.com. Prices vary depending on the show you want to see. But to give you the idea, tickets for Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre, followed by one night's stay at the York House Hotel in Earl's Court on January 22 will set you back just £58.20 per person.

Also at Lastminute.com there's plenty of fun to be had while you learn how to bake and decorate delicious cupcakes while sipping an exquisite cocktail with this fantastic 2 for 1 Cupcakes and Cocktails Experience. The price is £45 and entitles you to take a friend for free.

The dreadful weather we're having lately is putting a lot of days out on the back burner. But you can find out how to have fun in the snow for less by checking out these deals on sledging and tobogganing in 17 top snow bargains.

If you live in the Midlands, VisitTheHeart.co.uk is offering a fantastic 2 for 1 tickets to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. All you need to do is print off this voucher. 2 for 1 tickets to Shakespeare's birthplace in Warwickshire are also on offer with this voucher.

Freebie of the week

Anyone who loves dining out in the capital or the Home Counties can apply for an amazing Taste London discount card. The card entitles you to 50% off in over 800 restaurants. Annual membership normally costs £69.95, but this trial lasts for a month and won't cost you anything.

All you need to do is sign up at TasteLondon.co.uk. Your card will be sent to you in seven days. Even better you can get free cards for up to five friends and family too. You'd be mad to miss this one!

Competition of the week

We all love getting something for nothing so try out this fantastic competition. This week it could be you!

Don't forget: although all prices and discounts were correct on the day this article was published, offers this good are subject to change and often sell out quickly.

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