That’s why when we were asked to do a review of www.advfn.com we thought it was a really good opportunity to see how this share trading stuff works. At first the site is a bit daunting - loads on numbers with them changing as the City makes it’s move but if you’ve got a few shares and want to know when and how to sell them you can’t go wrong with this site.

The advice from all those in the know is that you should watch the market - don’t just buy a share when it is on the up but try and predict when this is likely to happen. For this you need a tool that can can give you the inside track on a stock or share.

That’s where ADVFN.com helps. You can look at the history, read reports and even get analyst predictions on what will happen (this part has a small fee of course) but it can help turn you into a real city whizz kid (or at least give you an impression that you are one (starting to shout BUY or Sell is not how you do it!!!)

All in all the site is very useful but sometimes a little confusing because that is the nature of the market. I’d recommend the site to anyone as the basic information is free (what we all like) and if it works for you in the future you can upgrade.

A solid four stars.

The site is fairly simple to use and concentrates on what it does best - tells you all about different gyms and the offers that they have available. For me the best thing about the site is the quick comparison table that tells you how much each gym charges. On the downside I would love to see some more content especially as it has space to offer tips and advice as well as promote the offers.

I really liked the BMI calculator but not the results - a good quick guide that lets you know when you need to do some work !!

I’m only giving the site three stars at the moment as it is only really a comparison site - it is a really good idea and with more content would be much better and could be a really useful site to visit. What I really wanted gymmembership.org to do is tell me how to get fit and stay fit.

Overall a good try but with work needed.

I recently came across www.helphound.comand it is a small community type site that lets users tell others about services in their local area. To be honest times are hard and we all should support our local businesses but the question is who to use.

Although the site is a little busy on the home page for our tastes it is simple and easy to use. Simply go to the search page, type in what you are looking for and where and hey presto based on Google maps it shows companies that have had reviews and what they are like. Helphound is a really good idea which we thought would be great in the future when it has more reviews etc on it (I looked for a local company for me in Cheshire and not many were listed yet) but I’m sure as more people use the site there will be more reviews.

On the plus side you can write your own reviews of businesses - this is possibly open to a little abuse - companies writing their own reviews but taken with a pinch of salt a really good idea. Well done helphound.com - we’re giving you four stars at the moment a good idea that we’re sure will grow.

On the next page is Helphound’s own press release - it’s better they tell you what they do in detail rather than us.

Since 2006, HelpHound has quietly got on with development and innovation while others have trumpeted. We wanted to wait until we had something really important to say – something really unique – and now we have…

HelpHound is the first online community to bring businesses and consumers together in a way that brings tangible benefits to both in equal measure.

HelpHound…

• helps consumers help each-other find excellent businesses and services
• helps excellent businesses reach consumers
• helps customers and clients resolve issues with businesses they use
• helps businesses resolve their customers’ issues

Some examples…

Consumer: You need a business or service. Search HelpHound and see which one our users rate the best. You know some great businesses – tell your fellow HelpHounders about them.

Business: You have a business and you want to convince potential customers to use you: encourage your existing customers to review your business on HelpHound. People looking to use a business for the first time really value independent testimonials. HelpHound provides the ideal vehicle for them.

Consumer: You have an issue with a business you have used (it may be an outright complaint, or it may simply be a suggestion to help improve service): HelpHound Resolution™. gives you and the business a private forum to resolve that issue.

Business: You run a business – you want all your customers to be happy. But you are also a realist – you know there are going to be issues that you want an opportunity to address and resolve. You don’t want your customers to simply shrug and go to a competitor next time: tell your customers about HelpHound Resolution™.

We recently sent out a request for PR agencies to tell us about new sites and this one came through and to be honest it’s quite a nice idea. The process is fairly simple - You go to the site and list on it what you are looking for (e.g. An XBOX) - you then say what you want to pay and how much you will tip the person who gives you the lead. Fairly simple really.

What we like about the site is that you set the price your willing to pay and then wait for the offers to come flooding in. If you go for the deal then you pay the tip - hence www.tipatipa.co.uk.

On the downside we don’t think the home page tells you enough. At first look we thought it was another ebay copy but it is definitely not. I am sure that in the near future more content will be added so this might be something worth considering.

We can just see this site been used by some very competitive ebayers clearing stock - a good way to stop users having to trawl through lists and lists of rubbish and get to the real deals.

All in all a good site - three stars at the moment as it’s only just got going but when more people use it we’re sure it will catch on especially as if you spend time on the internet you know where to find deals and could make quite a profit. Another credit crunch busting idea.

Times are tight, it’s official. With rising bills and falling property prices, we’re all being told to tighten our belts, rein in our spending and prepare ourselves for a recession.

But what about those must-have items and essentials that we simply can’t do without, but now simply can’t afford? Well an innovative new website, ‘TipaTipa’ has just hit the internet that promises to help find the best bargains out there.

Completely different to price comparison sites, TipaTipa works by real people helping each other to find real deals. The sort of ones that price comparison sites simply can’t find.

TipaTipa.co.uk works by people listing an item they’re looking for such as a TV, computer console, or even a car or a holiday, and the price that they’re prepared to pay for it. A community of bargain hunters then use their skills and expertise to find you the best deal. It could be someone who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, or a tradesman with great offers at their fingertips, or simply someone who knows how to haggle, or are just happy spending hours scouring the internet for the best prices.

At the end of the listing, which can last from a matter of hours up to a week, the user can choose from the best bids, and if they’re happy with what’s been found, they can leave a discretionary tip, thanking the ‘tipper’ for their services.

Dave Dixon, TipaTipa Director said: “It seems an ideal time to launch TipaTipa, with the credit crunch, everyone is counting the pennies and trying to spend as little as possible. What TipaTipa does is take all the effort out of searching for that bargain, as the old saying goes, time is money – and that’s something people don’t have to spare at the moment.

“The internet is already awash with price comparison sites but TipaTipa is different. Often you’ll find that these sites just have headline offers that aren’t the real deal, they’re outdated and only focus on a limited number of suppliers. With TipaTipa it’s real people, searching for real bargains, in real time, like a network of personal shoppers.”

The site already has hundreds of users registered with listings ranging from DVD series, to LCD televisions, holidays and laminate tiling.

It’s free to join and create listings and all users are asked in return is to rate bids and consider leaving a discretionary tip to fellow users that help save time or money. Tips are paid through Paypal but users can also use the messaging service to agree an alternative payment

Kelkoo is a well known price comparison web site and in fact we used it only the other morning to find a new coffee machine for the office. The best thing about the site is saving you the time so you don’t go to every web site on the net just one.

Launched on Wednesday (27 August) Kelkoo have now entered the green revolution with the launch of an environmental room (CLICK HERE TO OPEN SITE) - aimed at helping you save money by looking for green products the page has an energy calculator and lists a series of products that are energy efficient (green) and save money.

On the downside we did a very simple search “light bulbs” in the main section of the site and were disappointed to see that energy efficient bulbs were not listed first. Obviously Kelkoo have received awards for their Green initiatives but it is not possible to put some obvious green recommendations first ??? After all they have popularity and cost as the listing options - why not green?

Overall we have always liked Kelkoo - yes they get a payment if you follow the links but just think of the time you can save - no more surfing for hours and you can actually find some pretty good bargains.

Three stars for Kelkoo on this one - the environmental room is a good idea and we’d love it to be an option on the main site search. Just maybe someone will take notice and introduce this in the future.

READ OLD REVIEW CLICK HERE

Just an update from www.musicmagpie.co.uk - we forgot to mention that you can also but old CD’s from the site so if your looking for that elusive version of a CD you snogged to on your first date then this could be the place to find it.

Forget the pies and fags it’s time to get fit again. A fairly new website from the guys at LA fitness has launched in conjunction with The People newspaper offering discounts on new gym memberships.

As the site is really just a promotional tool we’re only rating it three stars - it is easy to use and tells you where you’re closest club is so if you want to start loosing that weight before the summer rush why not take advantage of the offers on the site - free membership, one month free and a twenty percent discount. You never know if you wanted to save a few pounds and loose a few pounds this could be the site for you.

To be honest we would like to see much more on the site. Possibly things like:

• Training tips
• Diets
• Help and advice

If the guys at the gymwebsite let us know when this happens we’ll definitely uprate the review. You the reader have nothing to loose but a few pounds !!!!

There seems to be a rapid growth in web sites that now let you turn things you no longer want into cash. First there was ebay, a site that was really somewhere for everyone to sell old junk, and to be honest if we have ever bought anything from there it goes back on straight away afterwards. Now it seems companies are getting in on the act letting us turn things into cash that are just gathering dust.

WWW.musicmagpie.co.uk is just one of those. The site is simple - look up all your old CD’s, enter the details and get an offer. If you like what you see you can trade in up to 250 CD’s at a time and if you’re anything like our household you will have lots of them. They claim to of paid out nearly £130,000 already to users and by the looks of it the site will become quite popular as more and more of us start using Ipods etc. The site is free to use with all postage and packing paid.

The values offered are not the best - from about 25 pence up to £3 but if you are looking for a fast and efficient way to get cash then this has to be a good start. You don’t have to mess around with listings on the auction sites and to be honest once it has gone you can save on that much needed shelf space.

All in all the site has a great future, its not the prettiest out there but it works and is definitely one to watch in the future so if your time and cash poor get on the site and get cash for some old CD’s.

We’re rating the site as four stars at the moment but will be definitely putting it up if it starts to look better - when we spoke to the owners they said a redesign is in the offing and even better they may be introducing DVD and games onto the site sometime next year.

In summary - easy to use and definetly a credit crunch buster - www.musicmagpie.co.uk is one to watch.

If you use search engines to find what you want on the Internet (and who doesn’t) you may be interested to hear about VeoSearch. Designed for those people who care about charities if you use the site to search 50% of their profits are given to charity - not bad really and you still get to find what you want.

The idea has been around for a while and is fairly simple:

Go to www.veosearch.com

• Type the search term into the box (just like google)
• Some of the links are sponsored and if you click on them Veosearch receive a payment that they then split with charities
• Really simple

The only thing that we didn’t like is that it is hard to see which are the sponsored links - what we’d like to see is these highlighted more but I am guessing that they are trying to stick within the adwords rules and not forcing a click.

Overall a good idea - if you know of similar sites let us know but this one definitely gets a thumbs up and it makes searching worthwhile.

If you go on holiday you should always take out a travel insurance policy and along comes a quite neat idea that some of you may be interested in. By getting your policy through www.noclaimscashback.com you get the opportunity to claim back a proportion of what you paid out if you do not claim.

Every year millions of Brits go on holiday and have accidents or fall ill and find that they aren’t covered or need to pay a fortune for medical treatment. The site give you a simple solution if you are wary of sepending money - spend some but get some back.

Working on the same principle as normal cashback sites the company pays you back some of your commission - what you get back very much depends on what you but but the policies are good and it seems a shame not to take up the offer.

The site looks fairly easy to use and the prices quoted are very similar to other insurance sites so we think the idea is a good one. All you have to do is be safe and well on holiday and then remember to claim back your cash …… simple. If you’ve got a bad memory just make sure you make a note in your diary - the cashback for insurance is not automatic.

We’re giving the site three stars as there is very little content at the moment - it’s a good idea and makes real common sense.