I love to shop. I also love to save money, so if I do that while shopping, I’m all for it! And because I can save money online, it has become by far one of my favorite ways to shop in the past year. An added benefit: Extra time with my family.

Shopping online saves you gas and allows you to do price-comparison checks with a click of your mouse rather than going to a store where you are limited. Lastly, it saves you time -- a precious commodity to a mom of three!

Below is a list of the best sites to look at when shopping online:

• Before your night out, check out Restaurant.com for great deals on gift certificates that are good at local restaurants. The site also features frequent special offers, such as $25 gift certificates for only $5, so stock up!
  
  
• Want to take the kids out to dinner? MyKidsEatFree.com has an amazing 5,682 restaurant locations that offer Kids Eat Free specials.
  
  
• Why pay to rent movies when you can visit Hulu.com and watch for free? There are plenty of great movies to choose from, and the price is just right.
  
  
• Visit CouponMom.com, which provides free state-by-state lists of grocery stores and does coupon matchups for you so you can save even more.
  
  
• Woot.com offers one fabulous money-saving deal a day. Bookmark this site and check every day!
• Comparison Sites If you find a product online that you are interested in, chances are there is a lower price out there -- you just have to look! I love Yahoo.shopping.com because they typically have a list that offers lower-priced items compared to a few other sites.

When shopping online, be sure to always look for online reviews -- especially big-ticket items. It helps to know if a product will be worth the cost.