Most books, after being read - or half-read - are left on the shelf to gather dust. Websites like Amazon and eBay give sellers a place to recoup money from books and for buyers to grab a bargain. Expect to pay 30% or less of the high street price online for a used bestselling paperback. Charity shops, car boot sales and the local library are also great places to look for cheap books.

According to Auto Trader, new cars can lose up to 54% of their value within one year of leaving the showroom. Of course, buying a used car is never an easy thing to do, and shouldn't be taken lightly. For those who know a thing or two about cars, buying privately can save thousands of pounds. For those less confident of their ability to spot a potential money pit, used car dealers usually provide warranties with their motors.

The price of DVDs has dropped dramatically over recent years, with many large retailers selling new releases for well under a tenner. Buying used DVDs online is an extremely cheap way to shop, but leaves the buyer open to illegal recordings and scratched disks. Go to most film rental shops, though, and they will have buckets of ex-rental and pre-owned films which have passed their quality checks.

There are several games consoles on the market, and thousands of games to play on them. Latest releases excluded, it's possible to pick up games for a fraction of the new price. So much so that even the gaming shops themselves are getting in on the action, selling pre-owned games, accessories and consoles.

A good guitar, piano or violin that has been well looked after will play a good tune for many a year. What they will lose over time is the odd nought at the end of their asking price. Pianos, which are too large to fit in many modern homes, often sell at auctions for spare change. Check your local newspaper, go online to places like musicalads.co.uk, musicalinstrumentsales.co.uk, or, of course, visit the local music shop for bargains.

OK, so a lot of sports equipment should definitely be bought new. Things like goalkeeping gloves, cycling shorts and cricket boxes should only ever have one owner! However, high cost items like treadmills, weight benches and weights, snooker tables and kayaks, can be bought at vastly discounted rates online, at places like Gumtree, or in the ads section of any local paper.