Lydia Fitzsimons

Hi, I'm Lydia. I joined the Latest Deals team at the end of November 2020, just in time for the mad, deal-finding rush of my first Black Friday week! During my three years with the team, I've worked across the LD site and social media platforms to showcase the best deals to help shoppers save money.

I previously worked at Secret Escapes, writing about the best travel deals, so was happy to expand my deal hunting to include more of my favourite categories, including Home & Garden, Beauty, Fashion, Kids and more.

3 Reasons Why I'm a Deal Expert

1. I'm a shopping addict, so it's a necessity to make sure I'm getting the best prices on things! Whether it's a new book, a top up of my favourite moisturiser, or a winter coat, I'll always shop around and wait until the price is right to get the best deal.
2. After three years working at Latest Deals, I've become familiar with retailers patterns when it comes to price drops. This helps to know whether something is genuinely a good deal, and if it's likely to be even further reduced.
3. I'm always helping friends and family find the best deals on their shopping. Whether they've got a general idea of what they want or a specific product in mind, I'll help them track down the best price.

• Beauty: Whether it's finding discount codes or bargain dupes for high end products, I'm constantly on the lookout for ways to save on beauty. When it comes to beauty, you should never really pay full price for anything. Most brands are stocked at multiple retailers, so there should always be a discount to be found. Particular favourite sites of mine include Maleskin for Elemis products, and ASOS deal stacks (for example they do site wide discounts, plus an extra 20% off code) on skincare and beauty brands such as Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Sunday Riley and more.
• Fashion: I spend far too much time looking at clothes online, and so love sharing any particularly good bargains I can find. My top recommendations would be the Flannels outlet section for designer goods. They'll randomly drop the price of certain items, for example £300 Rag & Bone Jeans down to £30 - crazy! Their shipping is a bit pricey, but the discounts are definitely worth keeping an eye on. For a more affordable option, you can't go wrong with H&M, and if you're not already you should definitely become a member. You'll earn points on your shopping and get exclusive offers on your birthday, so it's well worth doing.

My Top Tips for Saving Money Online

When it comes to saving money on your online shopping, I cannot recommend Vinted enough. Charity shops will always be cheaper as you don't have any delivery charges, but the choice and ability to search for specific brands and sizes on Vinted really set it apart. Don't forget you can make offers to sellers to bring prices down, and unlike with eBay, you're under no obligation to buy if you change your mind. Plus, you can make money listing your own items with no seller fees, so it's well worth a look at their user-friendly app.

I tend to shop mostly fashion and beauty online, and I've found that learning the discount habits of my favourite retailers has really helped me save. For example, most American companies such as Victoria Secret or Abercrombie & Fitch, in my opinion have their items listed at high price points for what you're getting. But, this is because they have regular discount codes and mid-season sales available. So, I would never buy any of their items full-price (or even anything less than 20% off), as I know they'll be discounted in the near future.

My third tip is, if it's not the right price, don't buy it. If you've had your eye on something and the price or buying conditions (e.g final sale) aren't quite right, it's better to leave it. Often, if you wait a few months it'll go into the sale, or you might be able to snap it up on eBay, Vinted or Depop. As an indecisive shopper myself, I really try to follow this advice to avoid making bad decisions. And, often I'll end up with the item at a much better price.

Reasons Why I Love My Job

My favourite thing about LD is the community aspect of the site. I enjoy browsing through comments on social media and in the LD Chat section to see what people are excited about and which deals are proving popular with shoppers. The LD team itself is fantastic and it's fantastic to work with fellow deal hunters passionate about saving people money!