Shopsafe was featured in the Daily Mirror's "10 sneaky ways to beat the budget blues" article today. It gives advice on using voucher codes, finding the best deals and comparing prices. Read it here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/horoscopes/jobs-and-money/2010/06/29/10-sneaky-ways-to-beat-the-budget-blues-115875-22368017/

If you're hunting for a bargain there are plenty to be had in the summer sales. From department stores to electrical retailers to clothes shops, summer is the time to discount the old stock and start the sales. For many shops it's a way to try to get us to spend more in the stagnant summer months, for others, particularly clothes stores, it's a way to shift those last season pieces, before gearing up for the new season.

Some of the best sales of the summer we've seen:

HOUSE OF FRASER: The Big Brand Summer sale is now on (ends 30/06/2010)
DOROTHY PERKINS: Get up to 50% off (ends 27/06/2010)
COAST: The sale is now on, with up to 50% off (ends 30/06/10)
PHASE EIGHT: End of season sale now on (ends 30/06/2010)
VERY: Summer Sale now on - get up to 70% off while stocks last (ends 30/07/2010)
TREATME: Big summer sale now on (ends 19/07/2010)

We're looking forward to the Burton sale, which starts tomorrow and will give you 20% off, and the Zara sale starts later in the week.

Furniture can often give you some of the best savings this time of year too like Leather Sofas at Darlings of Chelsea and Childrens Furniture from The Childrens Furniture Company.

Some shops (like Topshop and Topman) keep the sales dates very secret, but as soon as we hear they'll be listed on Shopsafe. For an up to date list of shops with sales on, see our sales page.

We've been running a survey about online shopping, safety and security, and the results show that one in four people have been the victim of online fraud and almost 90% fear they could be next.

We surveyed more than 1,250 visitors about their online safety concerns, and the key findings included:

• Almost one in four (23.8%) had been victims of fraudulent activity on the web
• Security was a concern for 89.4% of visitors when shopping online
• The major concern (47.8%) was theft of credit card details, followed by general worries (30.4%), non-delivery of goods (18.3%) and the website going out of business (3.5%)
• Less than half (56.2%) claimed to know their online shopping rights

Although this is similar to the stories we hear about crime statistics, that the fear of crime outweighs the reality, that doesn’t mean we should be relaxing and simply saying it’s not a problem. It shows that online retailers need to do more to make consumers feel more comfortable with shopping on the internet.

The fact that we have nearly one in four online shoppers having been victim of web-based fraud is still very worrying and shows that, despite the best efforts of responsible e-tailers, the ‘information superhighway’ is a popular place for the highwaymen of the 21^st Century.

Our advice?  Use Shopsafe, of course.

Loads of great deals and offers to get your Fathers Day shopping started!

Fathers Day Gift Ideas

Molton Brown Men's Gift Set from John Lewis

Pure Mini DAB Radio from Comet

2 for 1 indoor skydiving from Buyagift

Special Dad pint glass from The Personalised Gift Shop

Shed Ale and Bottle Opener from John Lewis

Offers and Voucher Codes to Save You Money

Prezzybox: £5 off every order over £15 using code SHOPSAFE (ends 14/01/2011)

Need a Present: Half Price Delivery using code 199 (ends 31/12/2010)

Argos: Save £100 on 46in Sony televisions using code SONY100 (ends 15/06/2010)

Hampergifts: 5% off using code SHOPSAFE475 (ends 19/03/2011)

Chocolate Trading Co: 8% off using code Dad8 (ends 30/06/2010)

Curiosite: 10% off using code CURIOFATHER10 (ends 21/06/2010)

Getting Personal: 12% off using code GPDAD12 (ends 20/06/2010)

Gizoo: £5 off spends over £20 using code FATHERS10DGM (ends 21/06/2010)

Yoodoo: 20% off Father's Day cards using code DAD10 (ends 18/06/2010)

House of Fraser: 15% off full price mens casual wear and accessories when you spend £60 or more using code HOFMENS15 (ends 17/06/2010

Big Brother 11 is set to grace our screens for the next few weeks, starting tonight, and we're told that it will be the best yet (but don't they say that every year?).

If you're looking to try to predict the winner, or the first evictee the odds suggest that the winner will be a male from England, and the first housemate out will be female - no real surprises there.

There are lots of novelty bets you can place, such as if anyone in the house will be allowed to watch the world cup, whether they will have sex (but not if they will do both at once), and even if the series will be axed before it reaches the climax.

You can find out more at a dedicated site to betting on Big Brother, created by the same happy chappies who brought you Shopsafe.

With only a few days until the big World Cup kick off, shops, web sites and supermarkets are all competing to have the best football related deals, we'll help you to find the best of them right here.

HIGH DEF TVS
Want to watch your team in widescreen, high definition perfection? Sainsbury's have a wide range of Plasma, LCD and LED TVs to suit every home and budget PLUS free delivery on every order over £50!  See also the  World Cup Television Offers in the Shopsafe Buy Guides section.


SHIRTS
Look the part - Get 20% Off All World Cup Shirts at JJB Sports. And if you buy an England shirt you can win prizes with every goal they score.

FLAGS
‘Fly the flag’ from your garden or premises with these patriotic flags and traditional flagpole. Get the Flag Pole with St George's and British Union Flags from Coopers of Stortford.

SUPPORT
You can find everything you need to support, play, and tune in to the beautiful game at John Lewis.  New Look are selling women's world cup wear at prices starting from a fiver.

FASHION
Score in the fashion department by supporting your country in style. Check out the Burtons Football Fever range of t-shirts, shorts and accessories.

BETTING
Fancy a punt?   The Coral web site offering a free £10 bet on the World Cup winner.  And Paddy Power  is giving new customers a free £20 bet.

COSTUMES
At Angels Fancy Dress you will find all the World Cup costumes you'll ever need. Whether you are flying the St George's cross for England, or wanting a Sombrero to support Mexico, you will find all their world cup themed costumes on the page below so you can support your team in the correct fancy dress!

VOUCHER CODES
Don't buy something full price and score an own goal! See this list of current World Cup voucher codes.