40 devastatingly simple ways the web can save you big money

22. Prioritise your debts to cut repayments
Shifting debt to a credit card with 0% interest on balance transfers could slash your repayments; find one on Moneysupermarket or MoneyExtra.

23. Get a currency card
Travelling abroad? Pre-paid currency cards can save you a stack when you pay with plastic.

24. Find the cheapest petrol
Petrolprices.com finds the cheapest petrol stations in your area.

25. Earn more interest on your savings
Make sure you're earning maximum interest at Moneysavingexpert.com.

26. Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets
With Orange? Text 241 to get two-for-one tickets on Wednesdays.

27. See films for free
Disney's Film Factory often gives away free tickets for new movies.

28. Sell your story to the press
Did your partner leave you for a chicken? Beonpaper is where real-life mags often get their case studies - and many of them pay.

29. Get free stuff from Freecycle
Join your nearest Freecycle group and discover how you can get people's unwanted items for nowt.

30. Get cashback when you shop
Sites such as Topcashback can get you cash back when you buy from major retailers - although you should always check that the same things aren't cheaper elsewhere.

31. Stream music for free
Why buy CDs when Last.fm's streaming is so good?

32. Build a blog, not a website
Free blogging platforms such as WordPress are often better than paid-for web space.

33. Cancel the newspaper
They're all online, so subscribe to their RSS feeds with NewNewsWire or FeedDemon.

34. Find cheap restaurant deals
5pm.co.uk offers cheap same-day deals for all kinds of swanky restaurants.

35. Do a holiday house swap
Don't pay for a hotel: swap houses with someone instead.

36. Save petrol
Plan your route before you travel - it saves petrol and it's cheaper than a sat-nav.

37. Get cheaper train tickets
Book in advance and use services such as Raileasy to find the lowest fares.

38. Get bargain hotel rooms
Laterooms can save you a packet on hotel accommodation - especially if you're booking at the last minute.

39. Find free Wi-Fi
Free-hotspot.com and Wififreespot make it easy to find free Wi-Fi - although inevitably, availability is awful outside big cities.

40. Use up food before you buy more
Cooking By Numbers is brilliant: tell it what odds and sods are in your fridge and it'll come up with recipes. We got Bacon Surprise: "The surprise is that it is nothing but bacon."

Now read 12 Vista Sidebar gadgets that will save you money and 7 Firefox add-ons that will save you a fortune

Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall (Twitter) has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR.