Somebody started a conversation with me yesterday with the question Have you been credit crunched?

It took me a bit by surprise especially since they asked me in a somewhat Tango-esque fashion.

We have all heard about shoe repair business Timpson having a resurgence (sales are up nearly 10% and they are to open up to 40 new shops next year). Other big winners include Auctions, second hand sales and takeaway pizza websites .

So for those of us that love lists, and I do, here are some other winners we have noticed here at Shopsafe.co.uk

• Voucher Codes
• Home Safes and Home Security
• Freezers
• Bicycle Shops
• Budget Supermarkets

Safe online shopping is at the heart of what we do here at Shopsafe.co.uk .

We check that shops have the correct policies to protect you the consumer, we check that they deal with your payments in the right way as well as a number of other checks.

So as the credit crunch gets into every bit of our life we urge you to buy your Christmas Shopping and Presents online with a Credit Card.

Why?

Well, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act says that if you buy something that costs more than £100 (and less than £30,000) your credit card company has to give you the money back if it goes wrong.

So lets say you buy something and the company goes bust before they deliver it to you - a big fear - then you will get your money back.

There are some things to remember

• Yes this does cover non-UK purchases too
• The £100 can't include delivery and must be for a "single item"

To claim just call your credit card company.

So there it is - if you want one less thing to worry about - shop online with a credit card and at least you know you won't lose your hard earned cash.

We are not jealous often here at shopsafe.co.uk

But when a friend said she was going to the launch of the Toy Retailers Association Must Have Top Twelve Toy list for this Christmas we wished we were going too.

So if you missed it on the TV here is the top Christmas toys list for 2008.

Our absolute favourite was the Biscuit My Lovin Pup

Look out for our up-coming competition to win one - Register for the Shopsafe.co.uk newsletter and we will tell you when it starts - Good Luck!