In the US they call it Cyber Monday - but here we call it Mega Monday. It is the day of the year that there is a real step change in £££'s spent online.

When we used to comment on it 4-5 years ago it wasn't such an event as it is now. Yesterday there was a real upswing in traffic to UK e-commerce websites and this is continuing today.

On Saturday, people will have been in the shops and then yesterday they will have taken to the Internet as they continue their Christmas shopping. A 20% week on week rise over one day shows that things are really gearing up for another bumper Christmas online.

Other factors that guarantee retailers a bumper few days are: pay day, bad weather over the weekend and the great online offers via voucher codes that are online this year - not to mention the fact that reality is finally hitting us all - Christmas is here!

After the Top 10 Toys for Christmas was announced, we thought it would be useful to have a web site dedicated to helping you to find the cheapest toys. We set up Toys and Dolls, a site to do just that.

You can compare prices of all kinds of toys and dolls from the top online toy shops, and use voucher codes to make sure you get the cheapest prices. You can find the types of toy you're looking for (such as action figures), or browse by charater (such as Peppa pig) or brand (such as Lego.)

We hope it helps you to save money on toys this Christmas.

The advent of voucher codes is something very few people can have missed.

No doubt, many of you will have received an e-mail from shopsafe.co.uk with the week’s top codes.

But what can these handy little savings mean to someone who is going through a major phase in their lives, for example a new homebuyer? A couple of quid off a pizza is a nice treat, but isn’t a great help when you’re spending thousands on washing machines, beds, three-piece suites, cabinets, book shelves and so much more.

Well, not all voucher codes are for the little things in life. For example, what if a high street name was giving 10% off a sofa, an electrical goods store knocking 5% off white goods? It would certainly start to add up then, especially for a first time buyer.

Topically, what if you’ve just bought your first house and you now have to cough up for a full set of Christmas decorations? On shopsafe.co.uk, there is currently (until Christmas Eve) a voucher code for 20% off trees and decorations at Argos.

Such big savings are there and a homebuyer can really benefit from knowing where to look. Vying for custom, the likes of Curry’s and Comet are currently giving a percentage off large sales, and while the former has recently offered 10% off freestanding dishwashers, the latter was knocking 5% off all range cookers with the use of voucher codes.

At such an expensive time, such savings can really help, so a trawl through the internet on a regular basis is always worth the effort when you find you can save significant amounts of money at the click of a button.

Thanksgiving has always been a serious business. Falling on the fourth Thursday of each November and traditionally a harvest festival holiday in which Americans express their gratitude for having food on their table with a family feast, it has also represented a celebration of freedom and liberty. However, in recent times, Thanksgiving has also meant something else to Americans. It has become the eagerly awaited starting point for the Christmas run-up.

Some may feel that it is unfortunate that such an important date in the US calendar has been seemingly diluted by the spectre of retail Christmas Future, but as with so many events in the annual calendar, some degree of evolution is almost inevitable as social values change. The Friday after Thanksgiving is when stores across America experience one of their biggest days of the year: quite literally a buying frenzy. This is a day on which many people forget work, extend their holiday into a long weekend and begin Christmas shopping, taking advantage of the huge discount incentives on offer, many up to 70%.

Since the 1960's this phenomenon has become known as Black Friday and it is one of the most important dates in the retailing calendar, nowhere more so than in Philadelphia where it first started. There are numerous theories as to how this name was coined. Some have claimed that it results from the endless traffic jams brought about by the sheer number of shoppers. Others have blamed the stress brought about through having to battle through the crowds. In 2008, one Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in the rush to be first to the bargains. However, the most commonly held explanation is that it is the day on which retailers go from being in the red to finally turning a profit and going into the black. Whatever the reason, Black Friday has come to represent a shopping fest of extraordinary depths, where some shoppers even conduct all night vigils outside stores, directly after their Thanksgiving dinner, in order to have as much time as possible to grab those bargains.

Yet even that way of life is now challenged, because Internet shopping has become an ever more popular and trusted option for consumers. Suddenly, everything has changed. Now, there is a powerful and very real alternative to the annual Friday crush that offers the tantalising prospect of stress free online shopping for those battle weary Americans at potentially even better prices. Interestingly, this has itself created its own version of Black Friday in the rather aptly named Cyber Monday; a phrase used by an online retailer following a report on the significant upturn of online business on the Monday after Black Friday. This upturn is highly significant, to the tune of over $900 million, whilst the receipts on Black Friday are down considerably over the same period. What has brought this about? Why would the Monday after Black Friday generate such a spike? The conclusion is simply this. Black Friday is for looking, testing and researching and Cyber Monday is for pushing the button to buy.

Will it prove to be the end of Black Friday? Perhaps. But then many Americans believe that this could lead to Thanksgiving becoming a more meaningful celebration once again.

It's been revealed today that UK online shoppers are using more than 1500 money saving voucher codes every minute, or 2 million each day, saving over £7 million pounds per day.

According to a poll by Money Supermarket (see it on the Telegraph web site) 38% of online shoppers use a discount voucher code twice a week or more, and 46% of them would use voucher codes to buy Christmas Presents.

This shows that voucher codes are becoming an accepted part of online shopping. You can find voucher codes listed on Shopsafe, as well as on other sites such as Money Saving Voucher Codes and Christmas Voucher Codes 2009.

It's not often that we promote other web sites (we love Shopsafe too much!) but we think Money Saving Voucher Codes is worth a look. It not only lists valid voucher codes (so you can save money), it lists the top selling products from the best online shops, so you can find vouchers specifically for the items you want to buy.

For some last minute bargains don't miss the voucher codes expiring soon.

It's Guy Fawkes night tonight, as well as putting a guy on the bonfire, what else would you throw on there?

We would love to burn

1. Web sites that don't show contact details

We want to know we're dealing with a real company, and there's someone we can speak to if there's a problem.

2. Web sites that don't tell you the delivery times

We want to know when what we've ordered will be delivered, especially if it's a gift we're buying.

3. Shopping carts that add extra costs at the last minute

We want to know the full price before we commit to ordering.

4. Web sites that let us order items, even if they are out of stock

If it's not in stock please tell us, and also when it will next be available.

5. Web sites that force is to register before we can order

Just plain annoying.

6. Web sites that play video or audio without asking first

Terrible if you're shopping online from work!