Have you ever been in a store, and left realizing you just bought a whole bunch of things you really didn’t need, or weren’t aware even existed, just because they were cheap? I don’t know about you, but “$3 for a lighter that looks like a lightsaber? Awesome. I might need that some day…” seems to come out of my mouth more than I’d care to admit.

If you’re like me, stay away from the sites I’m about to mention. These sites all feature great, limited-time deals on everything from the latest gadgets to the latest… wool socks. Whatever you’re looking for, even if you don’t know what it is, here are four great places to get it done.

Woot

Woot is impossible to pin down, and is the king of the one day, one deal sites. Everything there is incredibly cheap, and impossibly diverse. My favorite part of the whole site, though, is the descriptions of the products: they’re frequently irrelevant, and always hilarious.

Some of the products aren’t the most useful, but judging by the speed at which they tend to sell out, most of them are. The deals are pretty hard to beat, and Woot’s got everything from televisions to today’s deal, the “Garrity 1 Wayy Pivoting Luxeon LED Headlamp” for just $9.99.

Steep and Cheap

Steep and Cheap, in addition to being fun to say, is the outdoorsy-type’s version of Woot. It’s filled with deals on backpacks, socks, jackets, and all manner of other things for your next hiking trip. There are a number of deals running at any given time, all accessible on the right side of the page.

Every item on Steep and Cheap stays up until it’s gone, and the available quantity of any given item is displayed on the right side of the page (underneath where it says “Add to Cart”), as well as the time remaining on the deal. Jump on these fast, because there are small quantities of most items available!

Giveaway of the Day

Every day, Giveaway of the Day comes up with a new piece of software for you to try out, for free, that would otherwise cost you money. Many days, it’s totally useless- screensavers are a frequent item, as are eight million different ways to manage your passwords. Every once in a while, though, there’s a diamond in the rough, and it’s worth checking daily to find them.

When you download from GAOTD, you get the full version, and only that version. You have to install it during the giveaway period, and there’s no support or upgrading; for the most part, though, that’s okay. GAOTD is still a great place to find otherwise expensive software, for a pretty solid price- nuttin’.

I Have to Have That

I Have to Have That is a great site that probably won’t ever make you say “I have to have that!” More likely, it’ll have you saying, “oh, a funky keychain for three cents- probably worth the deal.” The site actually has some great stuff, including the current one (for the next fifteen hours)- a Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter for iPod Nano for one penny. One cent! Crazy.

You get points when you buy items, which does…something. More interestingly, all the specs for every item are given to you, as well as the item limit. Items change when they sell out, and it’s only available in the US. If you’re cool with that, though, IHTHT has some of the most impressive deals out there.

Forget all that advice you’ve gotten before – impulse buys are awesome. With these sites, at least they’ll cost you a lot less. And hey, maybe it’ll be free!

They’re everywhere – where you do find awesome deals on the Web?

Photo: whiskeyboytx