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Look online for deals at local storesJun 13, 2010 (The Morning Call (Allentown - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- The Internet is a great help for finding deals at online retailers, but it has far fewer resources for spending smart locally. Largely, it's been up to advertisements for local sales in newspapers and other publications to get you inside brick-and-mortar stores in your area. If you're lucky, perhaps your employer offers consumer discounts, often to local attractions, such as an amusement park or aquarium. (Check with your human resources department.) Also, the Entertainment Book is the little, fat book of coupons often sold as part of fundraisers. It contains coupons for local retailers, restaurants and attractions. Lately, however, more online resources have sprung up to help you find your way to sales at local bricks-and-mortar shops. Some resources are new; others have been around a while. Here's a sampling. PRODUCT RATINGS ON THE GO: If you're at a local store and see something enticing, you can be a smarter shopper by checking out Consumer Reports Mobile buying advice and ratings. Consumer Reports recently introduced a new mobile site at ConsumerReports.org. The site will detect your smart phone and display a specially designed site that looks better on hand-helds than the regular site. To access content, you need a magazine subscription, $26 per year, and a wireless phone with a Web browser and data plan. There is no extra charge by Consumer Reports for the mobile site. You can also text INFO to 76666 for a link. DEAL-OF-THE-DAY WEB SITES: These are the group-buying sites that have proliferated over the past year. The basic idea is the site offers one deal a day, often distributed by e-mail, at a local merchant or attraction. Discounts are deep, often 50 percent or more. If enough people commit to buying the deal, it goes live and you get a printable coupon or voucher for the discount. If too few people commit to the deal, it's voided and nobody pays. Discounts might be on haircuts, art museum memberships, restaurant food, spa treatments _ almost anything. Some sites offer rewards when you persuade friends to sign up. The idea is the merchant is trading profits for traffic. Beware of limited-time offers and other deal restrictions. And the big downside is group-buying sites are mostly available only in large cities. Try these: _Groupon.com is the biggest site. It's available in 70 U.S. cities and has 6 million subscribers. _LivingSocial.com has no "tipping point" for deals to become active. _Tippr.com has three local deals each day, and discounts accelerate as more people commit. _DealRadar.com collects deals from several group-buying sites and shows them in one place. _BuyWithMe.com _KGBdeals.com _MyDailyThread.com MAP SITES: These deal aggregators display on a map local discounts and coupons. Just click on a map icon or hover above it to see the local deal. Usefulness of the sites will vary, depending on where you live. Suburban and rural areas might see mostly chain-store deals. Try these: _8coupons.com is probably the most robust. _TheDealMap.com is a new site. _CouponMap.com focuses on retailers offering printable coupons. RESTAURANTS: Do an Internet search for "Restaurant.com coupon codes." You can often find a checkout code for 50 percent to 80 percent off. That means you could buy a $25 gift certificate for as low as $2. Or try this: Restaurant.com offers printable gift certificates for some 15,000 restaurants nationwide. The most common deal is buying a $25 gift certificate for $10 to a specific restaurant, an easy $15 savings if you were going anyway. Carefully read restrictions restaurants place on use of certificates. They might be invalid on weekends, for example. Restaurant.com itself reveals coupon codes via e-mail list, Facebook and Twitter. LOCAL SERVICES: Need a recommendation for a good local plumber, auto mechanic, contractor or dry cleaner? Several Web sites rate local service providers on quality and price. Try these: _Angieslist.com allows anonymous reports and scrutinizes its data. It costs about $4.50 per month on average, depending on region. Angie's List just added a Groupon-like component for select cities. Deals are from companies it screened and are available to the public, but Angie's List members get better discounts. Site: reviews.angieslist.com/deals.aspx _Checkbook.org allows anonymous reports and scrutinizes its data. It covers seven cities; costs $34 for two years. These sites are free, but take reviews with a grain of salt: _Yelp.com _CitySearch.com _Yellowpages.aol.com ___ ABOUT THE WRITER: Gregory Karp is a personal finance writer for The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pa. Readers may send him e-mail at [email protected]. ___ (c) 2010, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) 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