2009 Archive

We all need to cut down on our electricity consumption – to keep our bills down, and to do our bit for the planet.

Getting a Home Energy Meter is a great way to start, as these let you see how much power you’re consuming in real-time, and work out what you need to turn off to save on energy. These meters are a fantastic way to keep an eye on your costs, and offer a fascinating insight into your power habits.

Provider npower has just started a special deal – sign up to their Go Fix tariff, and they’ll send you a free energy meter for your home (worth £40).

This is an exclusive online deal only, and will only run for a limited time.

Full details on how to switch and get an energy meter: npower Home Energy Monitor Deal

ConsumerDeals is pleased to announce the addition of a new content section to our site.

We have teamed up with Pleasing Presents to offer their unique content on our site. Pleasing Presents is written by the fairer sex, and provides advice to men on how to shop for the ladies in the their lives – something we’re told men struggle with!

On our site, you’ll now find the Pleasing Presents section offering advice on what to look for when buying flowers, how to match the perfect anniversary present, underwear shopping ideas, and how to find that perfect little present that will make all the difference.

We welcome Pleasing Presents on board.

Looking for a nifty family gadget? Consider the o2 Joggler. o2 has just dropped the price of this device to £99.99, making it something of a bargain bearing in mind what it can do. Discounted price until 31st December 2009 only.

The Joggler can show photo slideshows, play audio and video, keep you up to date with news, sport, travel and weather, and now has a built-in Internet radio service. It’s main selling point, at least as o2 is concerned, is that it’s a device for keeping your family in touch with each other, using a shared family calendar.

Find out more about the o2 Joggler at o2.co.uk/shop/joggler

Looking to get Mobile Broadband on your laptop? o2’s Mobile Broadband contract-free USB dongle is half-price.

Get the O2 Pay & Go Mobile Broadband Dongle for just £14.67 – but only until 24th November 2009.

Full details at broadband.o2.co.uk/mobile

Looing to get Sky TV in time for Christmas? Sign up to any Sky Digital package before the 17th of December 2009, and get a £50 Marks and Spencer voucher. The voucher will be sent within 30 days of your Sky service being activated.

Sky’s also offering a free HD Box, if you’re interested in signing up to Sky Movies.

Details of both offers at packages.sky.com/offers/skytv

Cashback credit card deals are few and far between these days, but this one is worth a look.

Get a BT Credit Card, and you’ll be awarded points each time you use your credit card. Use these points for money off your BT phone, BT Broadband or BT Vision bill.

See our BT Credit Card review for more details, or check out the card at BT Credit Card site.

We’re sure you’re aware of the various services that let you return your old mobile phones in return for some cash…

Well, we’ve found a handy little tool that will allow you to check which of the phone recycling services will give you the best deal.

To try it out, go to www.sellyouroldphone.co.uk , stick in the make and model, and see if it’s worth getting a little cash for it.

If you’re considering buying a Sony Reader, the gadget that holds hundreds of paperbacks, you can get £20 off the purchase of this electronic book by using the magic code R27736 at Waterstones: Sony Reader at Waterstones

In case you’d missed the news… Tiscali’s being taken over by Carphone Warehouse, who offer their TalkTalk broadband service.

BT’s been quick to jump in and offer £50 to Tiscali users if they switch to BT. BT’s also just about to roll out a speed hike to “up to 20 mbps”, which is another good reason to look at shifting.

The “switch from Tiscali” offer is available online until 30 June 2009. Details at More on BT Broadband

If you have an old mobile that’s sitting in a drawer gathering dust, find out how much cash you can get for trading it in and recycling your old handset.

You can get cash, Argos vouchers or Nectar points by posting off your old handset.

We’ve added a new page showing what’s on offer – see http://www.consumerdeals.co.uk/oldmobile.html

Those looking for a mobile phone bargain way want to give 3’s “Free calls forever” a look.

Rather than the usual “free minutes” offer, 3 is letting users of selected mobile phones get free voice calls and instant messaging using the Skype network. There are over 400 million Skype users in the world, and this offer lets you talk to them all without paying for the call. You can get the offer on around 20 handsets, including the Skypephone, INQ Facebook phone, the SonyEricsson C510, the Samsung Tocco Ultra and the Nokia E63 and N96. Offer’s open to contract and pay-as-you go customers.

Pick up a cheap pay-as-you-go handset for your free calls.

Full details at www.three.co.uk/skype

This month, Homebase dumps its ‘Spend and Save’ programme and joins up with Nectar. Get 2 Nectar points for each pound you spend instore or online at homebase.co.uk

Until 31st May 2009, you’ll get double points – 4 points for every pound (up to £500).

From now on, you can’t earn Homebase Spend and Save points. If you have any Spend and Save vouchers due, you should get a final voucher in July 2009, then it’s Nectar all the way.

For more ways to earn Nectar points, see our Nectar Points page.

Sky’s just announced a massive price drop on the cost of their Sky+ HD set-top box, the box that combines a Sky+ hard disk recorder with a high-definition receiver.

You can get the Sky+HD box for £49 – previously £149 if you order online. www.sky.com/shop/boxes/sky-hd-box for more on this offer and to find out about the 31 HD channels now available with Sky