Matthew Field/Flickr
I’m taking the day off to deal with taxes, which may well be less enjoyable than working a regular day. Oh well. See you all tomorrow!
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
It has been a year exactly since I left my steady job as a reporter at the Los Angeles Daily News and launched BargainBabe.com. I’ve published 1,012 blog posts, learned how to write a monthly business budget, and surpassed my earnings at any previous job.
Thank you to anyone who has sent me a tip, signed up for my email list, or told a friend about BargainBabe.com. You rock!
Blogging is different than any job I’ve had. I’ve learned a more diverse skill set (writing is only about 33% of what I do) and put in more hours than I expected. My income fluctuates and maintaining my focus is challenging.
But blogging satisfies me. I’ve made many new friends, been exposed to great opportunities, and am constantly learning. Through blogging I discovered my down-to-earth writing voice and re-created my career.
Coincidentally, my birthday falls near BargainBabe.com’s anniversary. Over the weekend I went dancing with girlfriends to celebrate. I was telling one friend about an upcoming business trip to New York.
“What are you going to New York for?” she asked.
“I’m going to be in a magazine shoot.”
“What?”
“A magazine shoot – for Better Homes and Gardens.”
“WHAT?”
I laughed. She hugged me.
“That’s awesome, Julia!”
“I know, I know,” I said, thinking of all the ways it could fall through.
“No, you need to stop and realize your dream is happening, Julia. Everything you set out to do, it’s happening.”
I dismissed her then. There is a lot I haven’t accomplished! But now I realize she is right. So I’m taking a moment to appreciate my success.
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Ahem. Back to work. The blog must go on!
PS. Giant, heaping, armful of thanks to Andrew, Ginna, Julie, Sean, Sarah, Aicha, my Mom, my Dad, Greg, Alex, Meital, Mariel, Steve, and Connie for your help and support.
Podknox
Just got word that the online electronics seller DealNews.com is offering a 100 percent match for donations to the American Red Cross to benefit Haiti. The site is matching donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000 (so with DealNews’ share they hope to raise $100,000 total).
DealNews’ matching pledge continues through Feb. 11 or until the site raises a grand total of $100,000. “If I may, I respectfully request that you please use some of the money you’ve saved reading our sites to make a donation to Haiti earthquake relief,” said the site’s CEO Dan de Grandpre in a blog post. Here’s how:
- Make a donation online at RedCross.org
- Keep your confirmation email and forward it to haiti@dealnews.com.
- DealNews will match 100 percent of your donation until it hits $50,000 or until February 11.
Thanks, Andrew!
quami77/Flickr
Heads up! I am celebrating BargainBabe.com’s 1-year anniversary with a week of fabulous giveaways and prizes Jan. 25-29, 2010. To win you must be on my daily or weekly email list.
5 Bargain Babe hot pink T-shirts
The best of cheapskate monthly by Mary Hunt
Plus there will be contests and other fun ways to win! Multiple winners will be randomly chosen each day during the giveaway week. But remember, you’ve got to be on my email list to be eligible. Sign up now and get ready to win!
Hi folks,
I’m taking the day off for some much needed R&R. Enjoy your day and see you tomorrow!
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
Dru Bloomfield/Flickr
I’m taking another luxuriously long weekend to ring in the New Year. Don’t you wish these four-day weekends came around more often?
Next week I’ll be sharing a special download so you can use my 15-minute easy peasy budget to start the year off right. Seriously. Get your finances under control in 15 minutes.
God, I sound like an infomercial. But it’s true!
Also coming up in 2010: expect a week of amazing giveaways to celebrate BargainBabe.com’s one-year anniversary in January. Thanks to all my wonderful readers for helping me come a long way.
See you in 2010!
~ Julia
aka Bargain Babe
My Mom's Christmas tree
I’m taking off until next week to enjoy the holidays with my family and friends. Have a wonderful Christmas and I’ll see you next week!
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
I’m kicking off another reader giveaway and email subscriber drive with three great prizes. To be eligible to win, just sign up for my weekly or daily email list. If you are already receiving my emails, you do not need to do anything because you are already eligible.
If I am in your RSS reader, you are not eligible. You must be on the email list to win!
Grand prize: a $150 flip camera courtesy of Savings.com. Puuuurfect for a Christmas present for a teenager or person who wants to make quick videos on the fly. These cameras are so easy to use you don’t even have to read the manual!
Second prize: $132 worth of Julie Hewett make up, an up-and-coming line out of Los Angeles that is really high quality. The kit includes camellia balm for your lips, face, and hands ($20), cheekie cheek and lip shine ($24), four-color twilight eye palette ($40), bijou lipstick in biba ($20), and a chubby cheek brush ($28). The make up is stylishly packaged so it also makes a great gift!
Third prize: a hot pink BargainBabe.com T-shirt in men’s and women’s sizes ($15).
The contest ends Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Winners will be announced on the blog and prizes mailed in time for Christmas delivery!
If you saw me on Good Morning America this morning, thanks for checking out BargainBabe.com! We help you save money on everyday expenses like groceries, gasoline, and household bills – because the little things add up!
In the past I’ve written about money morality – who should pay for a weekend trip with friends?
Frugal cooking recipes also came up recently.
And in case you haven’t finished your holiday shopping – who are we kidding, I haven’t even started mine! – the BargainBabe.com gift guide has tons of neat presents.
If you like what you see, sign up for my daily or weekly email list here. Sign up by Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. PST and you are automatically entered to win a $150 flip camera, $132 worth of Julie Hewett make up, or a hot pink BargainBabe.com T-shirt. The giveaway is just one way I thank my readers for being part of BargainBabe.com.
If you missed the clip, watch it here!
cliff1066/Flickr
Today new FCC rules about how bloggers disclose their relationships with advertisers take effect. Basically, the change means that bloggers must now disclose if they are receiving free products or perks in exchange for write-ups and reviews. The rules extend to Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.
Not much is going to change on BargainBabe.com because this site already has an Ethics policy, which I’ve copied below from the About tab.
I do not accept money from any business or manufacturer to blog about their product on BargainBabe.com. If I write about a restaurant, retailer, Web site or product it is because I believe there is a good deal to be had. I sell sponsored posts and advertising on the site and participate in referral programs, however, because I gotta pay my bills. Paid content is always identified.
Sponsored posts are labeled as such at the beginning and end of each post so as not to be confused with editorial content. Banner ads are pure image advertisements with no editorial content. I identify referral programs with a tagline that says something like, “Buying items from the gift guide supports BargainBabe.com.”
Any questions? Leave a comment. If you want to know more about the new rules, watch this series of short videos. Perhaps Tiger Woods will learn from this push for transparency.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and gets lots to eat. I’m making pies with my Mom and looking forward to my family’s pre-turkey football game. See you all next week!
emdot/Flickr
The one year anniversary of BargainBabe.com is coming up at the end of January and I’m not sure how to mark the milestone. It is significant to me because this is the first time I’ve worked for myself and things are going pretty darn well. Traffic is up, revenue is up, and even though I’ve never worked so hard, I love the flexibility that comes with the job.
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Woot woot! A lot more coupons are coming to BargainBabe.com via a new gig I have blogging for a super duper personal finance site called WalletPop. The coupons will actually appear on WalletPop, but I’ll let you know about them on BargainBabe.com so you can click through to them.
My new gig means I’ll be blogging a bit less on BargainBabe.com, but you can still count on at least three posts a day, Monday through Friday.
My new WalletPop gig launched with a video we made (hence the trip to NYC) about a coupon technique called stacking. I’ll link to it here as soon as it is up (sometime today).
When I told a friend my good news (WalletPop pays nicely) she said:
“How are you going to celebrate?”
“Well I made dinner with a friend…does that count?”
“No. Ask your readers how you should celebrate!”
Loading ...I took some fabulous pictures of my sexy librarian costume Saturday night with my iPhone but only one of them survived. The next day I lost my iPhone with all the pictures. The only one that survived (because I emailed it to my sister) is um, not appropriate for the blog. Sorry, folks.
Hope you had a great holiday and found a fun and frugal costume to dress up in!
Julia
aka Bargain Babe
Hi folks,
I’m feeling waaaay under the weather today (Tuesday) and am not planning on blogging. Hope to be back tomorrow,
Julia
aka Bargain Babe
