It seems that there are, literally, hundreds of daily deal sites nowadays. Almost every week I hear of a new one. And almost every week I am able to put a post up recognizing one of them. Some of you have never signed up for one, not sure of what all the "hype" is over them. Some of you have signed up for all of them. I wanted to devote today's works 4 me post to giving you as much information as I can about these daily deal sites as they begin to grow in number.

There are only a handful of daily deal sites that I receive emails from on a daily basis. I opt to not sign up for many of the ones I come across because they just don't offer the types of discounts and deals I generally look for. I do sign up for the ones that give me discounts and deals that are local to me, offer children and baby items, and offer discounts for online shopping. The one thing that usually "does it for me" and gets me to sign up for the daily emails for these types of sites is when they offer a free credit just for signing up. I may never use the credit, but it's free money just for giving them my email address. (I use one email account just for these types of things and consider it my "junk email."

All of these sites operate on the idea that "you spend money to save money." This can be a huge detriment to your budget. I approach it in this way: unless I have a credit to spend that makes the item very little money out of pocket, a person in mind, or an event in mind, I don't buy it. When buying items from these sites it is usually for a gift and I use the money in our gift cash envelope to fund the purchase. (I do most of my Christmas shopping throughout the year and not in December.)

Below is a list of the daily deal sites I have ordered from, worked with, and generally have had positive experiences with:

*RueLaLa.com - a daily deal site specializing in home and style (I have ordered several items from them and have been impressed with their speed of delivery and quality.)

*Gilt.com - Much like RueLaLa, a daily deal site dedicated to style and home (theirchildren's items are really cute too, but their shipping takes a little longer).

*Zulily - This daily deal site is dedicated to babies, toddlers, children, and teens. They have the most adorable clothing at really reasonable prices. A lot of their items are designer names.

*Fab.com - This site is relatively new, but they offer some really neat and one of a kind items for your home.

*Groupon - This is perhaps one of the best known. I have used this several times to purchase great deals. (most recently a gift certificate for my husband for golf that was a great deal!) THey feature daily deals that are local to you.

*Savemore.com - This site offers everything from toys to beautiful jewelry discounts. This site works a little differently. They offer vouchers (like a gift certificate) that arrive to your email the following day after you purchase them. You can then redeem them online or locally.

*Plum District - This is another one I love. You get $5 just for signing up!  This one works similarly to Savemore because it is mostly vouchers (or gift cert. ) but instead of coming to your email, they stay in your plum district account until you use them.

*LivingSocial - I signed up for this one in January when they offered a $20 Amazon.com gift card for $10. It was an awesome deal, but I have yet to see anything as great from them. They offer a free $5 just for signing up.

I am cautious about every daily deal site I sign up for. I read the fine print before offering an email address. I think carefully before I purchase any items from them, read the fine print, read the shipping information, and price compare. The above are my favorites. I would love to hear which sites you have used and have loved. Please share in the comments.