Endless news headlines signalling the end of the high street and the collapse of the financial system would have you believe that the majority of people in are left cowering under their beds along with the last of their savings, but our recent study paints a different picture.
The survey, which collected data from 400 people, gives a fascinating insight into how the internet is enabling people to continue spending their money throughout these austere times, while at the same time benefiting from discounts and incentives.
Four-hundred people were asked to name their 10 favorite websites, and each of the answers was given a category: Social Networking, News, Shopping, etc.
The results show that websites categorized as being directly connected to money saving and offering discounts formed 14.
2% of the responses.
To put this in some perspective, Social Networking accounted for 6.
5%.
According to UK internet users, the best sites are those that will help them save money, ahead of the trendy social networking sites that swamp today's media.
Top of the pile was discount retailer, amazon, which received 211 nominations, while auction website, ebay, was not far behind with 199 people naming it as one of their ten favorite sites.
By comparison, the top social networking site, Facebook, received 173 votes.
Another stand-out feature of the survey data was the number of different sites that fell under the heading Coupons Discounts & Incentives.
Most people will be familiar with at least one of the many new sites that have sprung up in this area recently.
Groupon is probably the most widely discussed of these bargain hunting services but there are hundreds of new companies following a similar model.
While the majority only received one or two nominations, the category still accounted for 132 nominations in total, with hotukdeals leading the way with 21.
This category clearly represents a relatively new and therefore fragmented market and it will be interesting to see how it develops in the years to come; these will be the sites to watch over the next 12 months and beyond.
For now, many people believe that the 10 best sites include at least one money saving tool.
Overall, the survey suggests that for the significant majority of internet users, a key motivation for going online is to hunt down a bargain, either directly through retailers who promote price as a primary selling point, through auction sites, or the growing number of coupon companies.
For the time being, above social networking or news, discount retail is the king of the internet.