Newsflash: the Web site I can has cheez burger is still hilarious. If you haven’t met the LOL Cats, it is time. They are a perfect addition to the deliciousness of Fridays.
The site takes pictures of cats and puts headlines on them that will tickle you unless you are a grumpy old man. Here’s a preview.
Meet the LOL Cats yourself.
(my actual lunch) Guess which president is on the five dollar bill? Guess how much a Lincoln Lunch costs? If you answered Lincoln and $5, you win a gold star! And you are ready for my first Lincoln Lunch post on Bargain Babe.
The special thing about this lunch is that I made a profit. Yep, I cleared $.10 on this meal.
It started when my journalist-turned-cop friend told me to meet him at Tacomiendo, a low-key Mexican joint in Culver City. I arrived early on two wheels (the MINI is getting no love now that I’m self-employed) with just enough time to wipe the sweat off my face and pray that my helmet was no longer indented into my forehead. Riding a bike is cheap alright, but very dorky.
The menu at Tacomiendo has a few Lincoln Lunch options. Flautas are $2, tacos are $2 to $2.25, and quesadillas start at $3.75. You can also order homemade tortillas ($1.25) and dip into a free pot of… (more…)
Losing your job is very scary, no doubt about it. Here are expenses you can cut immediately to make living on your savings (or one paycheck) a little easier.
Cable TV, car insurance mileage (they may be able to lower your rate if you are driving less), clothes, day care, gardener, gym membership (ask if you can suspend it), home improvement projects, iTunes downloads, maid, meals out (including Starbucks!), Netflix, salon services, satellite radio and vacations.
What not to cut:
Internet service – you will need it to send resumes and search job ads
Car payments – depending on where you live, no car = no job
Cell phone – especially if you have given out the number to contacts. But call and ask your carrier if there is anyway to reduce your contract temporarily.
If you lost your job, what would you cut – and what would you keep?
Did you know that traffic tickets went up significantly on Jan. 1? Me neither. But a number of news stories from around the country confirm that many states are raising fines on drivers to help cover their budget shortfall.
Yes, our states are nickel and diming us to balance their budgets.
In California, drivers with a broken tail light can now get slapped with a $100 fee. It used to be $0. Connecticut already started handing out more speeding tickets. Florida is considering taking away discounts for those who attend traffic school. Wisconsin wants to make drunk drivers pay more. Georgia lawmakers are proposing many new car-related fees.
Not every state is out to get drivers. Arkansas is going after smokers. Minnesota wants to cut arts funding. And New York wants to tax tickets to the movies, concerts, bowling and to play golf!
Whatever happened to spending less?
Thanks, Lynda!
I am in a contest on a blog called Free Money Finance for the best personal finaance blog post of 2008. Please vote for me!
Each game is a contest between two posts. The writer with the most votes advances to the next round. I am in Game 11 today, Jan. 30, against one other rival. My post is called “Getting myself into a bargain bind” (a post from my days as the Bargain Hunter).
Here is how you can vote for me:
Read my entry and my rival’s entry.
Leave a comment voting for my post “Bind” if you feel mine is superior. So far I’m not getting too many votes. 
Your comment should look like this: Game 11: Bind
In the comment you can also vote for Game 12: “Wrong” or “Socialist”
Thanks for your support!
PS. The comment form asks for your name and email address but you can comment anonymously without sharing your email. ~Julia
My sister points out a fabulous way to save money on cell phone service: get your family and friends on the same cell phone carrier and buy a family plan. The potential perks are many:
Some cell phone carriers do not charge you when you call someone on the same carrier. AT&T does this, for instance.
Other carriers let you call a certain number of people for free, like T-mobile, which lets you chose five “faves.”
But the best way to save is to have multiple phones on a family plan. Adding an additional line can be as little as $10 a month. Bump up the minutes if you need to and split the cost.
Remember to talk about how many minutes each person typically uses before you join forces. If you use your cell strictly for emergencies, you won’t be happy with a chatterbox on your plan. Everyone on the family plan does not have to live at the same address, but make sure your add-on friends will pay you.
One place to compare family plans is LetsTalk.com. They listed a Sprint Everything Messaging plan that has 3,000 minutes and unlimited texts. The plan is $150 for two lines. Additional lines are $10. Get four people on the plan and it’s $42 per person. Not bad for 750 minutes each. Thanks, Kate!
Does this site help you save money? If so please tell your friends about it! 
The best way to stay on top of the latest deals is by signing up for Email Updates. It is free and you can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up on this page.
After you plug in your email, look for a confirmation email from FeedBlitz (the company that manages the updates for me). It should have the subject line: Confirm Your Registration to Bargain Babe Email Updates. If you don’t see this email from FeedBlitz check your spam or trash folder.
Open the email from FeedBlitz and click where it says “click here to activate your account” OR follow their directions to paste a super long Web address into a new browser window.
To begin receiving Bargain Babe Email Updates you must open the confirmation email from FeedBlitz. Otherwise you are not actually signed up. And that would be a shame. So complete the sign up process!
If you have any problems, email me to sign up at julia@bargainbabe.com. Thanks for helping me spread the word!
It is hard to stop wanting stuff when your paycheck runs out, so why not join your local Freecycle Network and see what other people in your community are giving away? Freecyclers trade stuff, keeping items out of landfills.
There are 4,670 groups with 6,327,042 members across the globe, according to Freecycle’s Web site. Each network is a Yahoo! group based on geography so you need a Yahoo! account. I joined my local group and have gotten these three offers in the first 24 hours:
“Chinese steamer: Large, three tiered steamer. Like the bamboo steamers you see in Chinese restaurants but this one is metal and can be used over a stove.”
“Online offer for One Hanes Place: Coupon code to be used when ordering from the Hanes Outlet. Coupon is good till Aug 30, 2009 and is good for: 20% off order of 100 dollars or more; 15% off order of 75-99.99; 10% off order of 50-74.99.”
“DirecTV TiVo: Yes it was the one offered before, I was the lucky recipient but it did not work with my service. There is nothing wrong with the unit.”
Not bad, right? And it’s fun to see what other people are tossing out. The down side is having to register. It takes 4 minutes but once you join all the donations are close by. Unlike Craigslist where you could get sucked into driving across town.
Name: Tom
Location: Van Nuys, CA
Solution: Taxes are based on the assessed value of your home as determined by the local tax assessor. Tom has already appealed to his tax assessor, so his next step would be appealing to the county board of equalization. California has a guide to residential property assessment appeals. New York has one too, called a guide to fair assessments. Search online for one in your state.
If Tom’s house is, as he believes, being assessed at a higher market value than nearby homes of similar size and value, he should ask for “comps” from real estate broker showing the value of these surrounding properties. Having paperwork to back up your point always helps.
Tom might also consider calling the California Taxpayers’ Association, which aims to protect taxpayers from unnecessary taxes. Many states have similar organizations. To find them Google your state + taxpayers association.
What’s your financial dilemma? Email me at julia@bargainbabe.com. Or read last week’s financial dilemma about naming your own mortgage terms.
Is it me or are you getting more spam calls on your cell phone, too? So annoying!!! Luckily, Consumer Reports has tips on curbing these pesky calls – and spam text messages – that eat into your valuable minutes and message allotments.
You can also file a complaint with the FCC and register your number on the national Do-Not-Call list. And you can change your e-mail and/or messaging preferences in your account to block text messages from coming over the Internet, where most spam texts originates.
Being on the national Do-Not-Call list will not completely cut down on irritating calls, however. The list does not protect you from receiving calls from businesses you have given prior consent to or that you have an existing commercial relationship with. But it is a start.
Are you cutting back on prescriptions, doctors visits and other medical expenses because times are tough? That may be unnecessary with these tips for reducing your out-of-pocket medial expenses, from Thrivent Magazine.
- Ask your doctor for samples so you can test a medication before buying it. Also ask if you doctor has company-sponsored gift cards that allow you to get a free short-term supply of medicine at the pharmacy.
- Befriend your pharmacist. Prescriptions are often priced by the number of pills, not the strength. See if your pharmacist will split a higher dosage pill to save you money.
- Set up a Flexible Spending Account so you can use pre-tax dollars to pay for prescriptions, co-pays, eyeglasses, and other medical expenses. You can still enroll for 2009 – but the deadline is… (more…)
Get a cup of oatmeal with fresh fruit and brown sugar from Jamba Juice for $1 now until Jan. 31, 2009. Print the coupon by clicking on the image at left. (You have to click it twice)
Caveats: one per customer. Does not include tax. Not valid in Hawaii or inside any Safeway, Vons or Pavillions. Not valid for employees.
Find a Jamba Juice near you.
The best way to get cheap cuts and salon treatments is to:
- Turn to the almost-professionals. Yes, folks, I’m talking about students. Hair cutting schools across the country offer low-cost cuts that are often less than $15. Students lack experience, but they are eager to please. After all, you are a potential client once they graduate and get a job. Why not consider a student for a trim or basic cut? You can test them out without great risk. When you want to make a dramatic change, go to someone with more experience.
- Host a hair cutting party. This is easiest if you already know a stylist who is looking for business. Invite over friends who also want to get their hair cut and negotiate a discounted rate ahead of time based on volume. You may be able to get 20% off or more per person, especially if you can pay in cash.
- Find high-end salons that offer classes for professionals who want to learn a new skill. You can sign up to be a “hair model” for them to work on at a fraction of the cost these folks would normally charge. Sometimes it is free. I used to get cuts through the hair model program at Bumble & Bumble in NYC. For $10 or $20 I got fabulous cuts overseen by a B&B instructor. Only bad thing was that the cuts took two hours (every snip had to be approved) and they were scheduled on weekday afternoons. Looks like the program is free these days and includes styling and coloring! Next time I’m in NYC…
Here are a few online resources to find beauty schools near you.
Enterprise is advertising weekend rates of up to 50% off “most cars, most weekends, most neighborhood locations.” I like all better than most, but jumping around caveats to get a discount is nothing new.
To get the deal you have to rent an economy to full-size car for three days from Friday to Monday before May 20, 2009.
The fine print says that the discount cannot be used with any other discounts or special offers. Most airports and urban locations are excluded. The discount does not apply to taxes and other fees. Pick-up and drop-off service is subject to geographic and other restrictions. Other restrictions may apply.
Because of all the restrictions, check with Enterprise online or over the phone if this discount is availalbe for your particular rental needs.
A few quick tips to find the best stuff at thrift stores, courtesy of the LA Times. These tips ran with a longer story on men’s thrift stores in LA.
- Hit the thrift stores on Monday or Tuesday, after they have taken in weekend donations.
- Shop at thrift stores in better neighborhoods, which will have higher quality stuff.
- Inspect clothes carefully for tears, missing buttons, holes and stains. These imperfections may not be easily visible under store lighting.
- Don’t dilly dally if you like something. Stock turns over quickly.
Want to get in on the thrift store action? Find a thrift store near you using these online directories:
The National Association of Resale, Consignment and Thrift Stores
