This post introduces some of the essential websites that come in handy for shopping, selling, finding friends outside of school, and more.
Buying/selling used goods: www.craigslist.org. I have personally used this site to buy a desk lamp. Ironically, the lamp seller turned out to be a graduating UCI student so pickup was easy. I also used the site for both when I was looking for roommates when I shared an apartment with other people to split the rental cost.
Finding new connections/friends: www.meetup.com is a great way to find new friends or interest-based groups. You can find people with similar hobbies and interests as you whether it’s practicing a language or going hiking.
Shopping: www.amazon.com is a great site for purchasing just about anything, but you can also check whether you are buying a product at a good price by checking its price history at https://camelcamelcamel.com/. The site monitors prices and can send you email alerts for price drops. If you like shopping at some of the retail shops around Irvine, www.shopirvinecompany.com/special-offers has coupons for some of the retailers in the many Irvine Company Shopping Centers, including the Marketplace, Irvine spectrum, and Fashion Island. For those who shop frequently at Albertsons, you should check out www.albertsons.com to view its weekly ads and print out special discount coupons.
Video-streaming services: I watch some of my favorite tv shows and video content on my computer. Some of the video streaming services that I use include www.hulu.com, www.netflix.com, and Amazon Prime Video through www.amazon.com. These are not free services, however, and require monthly or annual payments.
Searching for affordable airfare: www.orbitz.com and www.expedia.com. I personally like to use Orbitz. However, it’s also useful to visit the specific airline website. Airlines that offer good fares from nearby airports in Santa Ana, Long Beach, and Los Angeles are Virgin (www.virginamerica.com), Southwest (www.southwest.com), and JetBlue (www.jetblue.com). I frequently fly to New York and have found great fares from LAX or LGB through JetBlue.
Searching for restaurants: www.yelp.com has helped me find new restaurants to try. It is particularly useful when I’m traveling to a new city, planning for special occasions and splurging, eating out on a budget, or just finding good restaurants in the neighborhood based on other people’s reviews and experiences.
Joe Hsu says
December 6, 2017 at 10:28 pmFor electronics, you can also consider the website Newegg (https://www.newegg.com/) It is another popular website for such purpose in addition to Amazon. For searching for air-ticket, Google Flight is another handy tool. It allows you to find flights at different time with ease, and it will sometimes also tell you which date and which nearby airports have cheaper deals.