This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Reader Lauren Y. wins the review copy of The Cheap Diva’s Guide to Frugal and Fabulous Living for her comment that reveals she’s lived paycheck to paycheck but hadn’t learned her lesson until she got laid off for the second time:
For most of my working life I’ve lived pretty much (or barely) paycheck to paycheck. I’ve been a waitress, office assistant, temp and receptionist.
Despite all those short-lived, low-paying jobs, I didn’t really learn my lesson in frugality until I was laid off for the second time. As I said before, I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck (or was “underfinanced”, as I like to say when I’m feeling fancy) but I’d never been broke. After that second layoff, I was BROKE. I had to figure out how to pay for rent, utilities, food, gas and medicine. Since I was laid off from another low-paying job, my unemployment check wasn’t going to cut it. I took as many temp jobs as I could to cover rent and utilities. To save gas, I combined errands and limited my driving to necessary errands and work. I found a state-funded pharmacy to help pay for my medicine. Finally, I started using coupons (which i got from my mom’s newspaper), only shopped at stores that doubled coupons and learned how to stretch meals.
Fortunately, I eventually got a decent paying job but that unemployment-broke spell put the Fear of Brokedom in me. The first thing I did after getting the job was pay off all my consumer debt. It took a lot of major changes but I managed to do it in a little over a year. Now I’m trying to learn how to go from survivor mode to healthy savings mode. To me, “healthy savings mode” is where I can be frugal while still enjoying life. I’m not there yet but I’m working my way towards it.
Lauren, I hope this book continues to help you learn to live a frugal life but also helps you enjoy every minute of it. If you missed the book review, author Stephanie Ann writes about her tips and tricks to getting good deals and shows you how to make some cash by selling your clutter or by creating your own job.
In the book, Ann shares her story and shares she was living paycheck to paycheck after a series of low paying jobs and long periods of unemployment. It can be difficult to get laid off especially when you have credit card debt from trying to make ends meet but it is important to take care of yourself to look fabulous and once again conquer the world.
If you didn’t win my review copy you can purchase it on Amazon for $13.45.
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Stephanie Ann, author of The Cheap Diva’s Guide to Frugal and Fabulous Living: How to Shop Smart, Look Your Best, Decorate with Style, and Have Fun for Less Money!, shares her tips and tricks to living large on a small budget in her 224-page book. Ann is the creator of thecheapdiva.com, a budget style blog.
In her book, Ann shares her secrets to scoring deals and shows you how to make money by cashing in on your clutter or creating your own job. The book is a fun and fast read with hints of humor that come from anecdotes she shares about her time working in various home décor and retail businesses. The book also includes a handy list of websites sure to save you money.
The book is divided into five parts: Money, Fashion, Beauty, Home Décor and Entertainment.
So what makes Ann an expert in frugal living ? “For starters, I was living the frugal lifestyle long before it was fashionable,” she writes. With a series of low-income jobs and prolonged periods of unemployment, she said she’s built a “healthy sense of mistrust of employers” and many “healthy savings habits.”
If you would like to learn the secrets to a frugal and fabulous life for free, leave a comment detailing your short-lived jobs and how they helped you learn to tighten your financial belt. You may end up being the lucky winner of my review copy – signed by the Cheap Diva herself!
Comment by Friday, July 9 at 9 a.m. PST for a chance to win. If you can’t wait to get your hands on the book, you can purchase it on Amazon for $13.45.
Live in Los Angeles? There are some great deals for free family activities, books, dresses, groceries, and more on my do-it-yourself Los Angeles deals site, BargainBabeLA.com.
There is a free childrens/family art festival in the San Fernando Valley this Sunday with live performances from local school children. Thanks for sharing this deal, Meital!
A reader who calls himself The Unethical Man spotted a deal to get $100 when you open a new account at Bank of the West.
The Unethical Man also spotted a great deal on toilet paper. Just $.125 a roll at Superior Grocers!
A&M books in Canoga Park is bringing back their amazing half-off book sale because the last one was partially rained out. Thanks for sharing, honeygram!
Nothing at the Lucy Love dress sale today through monday in Corona del Mar is more than $15. Nice!
If you are near downtown, check out A Grocery Warehouse on Sunset for amazing grocery prices.
Here are the best Los Angeles deals this week from BargainBabeLA.com.
Disneyland tickets are discounted for SoCal residents who take advantage of the 2fer ticket on sale for a limited time.
If you can’t wait for the baseball season to open, get $11 Dodgers tickets to their spring training.
In Encino, reader Franki recommends the newly opened One Dollar Bookstore.
The Long Beach Aquarium is free for teachers in the month of March. Wahoo!
Sign up to sell your kids gently used clothes, toys, and gear and make some serious cash.
This week’s round up post of free products includes free deodorant, dessert, body wash, and gift cards. Get all the freebie deals here.
Borders just released four coupons, from 25-50% off. Some are quite exclusive, others are more open ended.
At 2 p.m. PST today I will publish a coupon code for 80% off restaurant gift certificates on my WalletPop blog. Check back later!
I found 16 spankin’ deals and freebies related to chocolate, flowers, and other Valentine’s Day treats, including a free $30 bouquet of roses with chocolates when you sign up for eBates. Seriously, this is a one-of-a-kind deal!
Follow @CVS_Extra on Twitter and you’ll get a 25 percent off code for their entire website. What a way to attract new followers!
Get 33 percent off at Borders now through Feb. 11, 2010.
Restaurant.com is 80 percent off now through Feb. 14, 2010.
Do you surf? Get a free subscription to Surfer Magazine when you share a few questions about your job.
Here’s a Michaels coupon for 40 percent off, good through Feb. 20, 2010.
Here are the latest and greatest deals from my WalletPop blog.
Get 25 percent off at Borders with a coupon that ends today, Feb. 8, 2010.
Snag this Old Navy coupon code and get 20 percent off your purchase online, with some caveats, through Feb. 18, 2010.
I’m sitting pretty with this Michaels 40 percent off coupon, good through Feb. 20, 2010.
Buying luggage, travel accessories, or leather products? Check out this $20 off $100 coupon code for Luggage Pros.
Scoops of ice cream are just 99-cents at Baskin Robbins when you buy one scoop to start.
Get 33 percent off the list price of many items at Borders with a coupon here.
Buy a sandwich and a soda at Subway and get another sandwich free when you build a sandwich.
Check it! Get 20 percent off your entire purchase at Ulta Beauty online with a coupon code here.
You can get a free lightbulb from Target when you print these coupons.
Did you know Target has a trade-in program for iPods, iPhones, and lots of other gadgets? When I compared the value of my ancient iPod to other sites, Target came out ahead.
Now through Jan. 31 get 15 percent off your order of Ghirardelli Chocolate. How sweet!
For more deals check out my WalletPop blog. Thanks!
Get 15 percent off all used books today only at Better World Books, a for-profit organization that collects and sells books online to benefit literacy initiatives in the U.S. and abroad. The sale is in celebration of International Literacy Day. Use code 4Literacy at checkout.
Used titles include The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet for $7, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for $4.50 and Green Eggs and Ham for $4. Check out their bargain bin, where 5 used books are $15.
Find popular books by looking at Oprah’s book club, Amazon best sellers, and bargain best sellers. Perhaps you will find some early Christmas presents!
Better World Books conducts book drives on 1,800 college campuses and collects discards from more than 1,800 libraries. The company has raised $7 million for its non-profit literacy, library and college partners, donated over 1.3 million college textbooks and diverted more than 25 million pounds of books from landfills, according to a press release. Read more about Better World Books.
Borders offered a slew of coupons for today through Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009, including$10 off a Blu-Ray disc, $5 off a cookbook, CD, DVD or history book, $2 off a magazine, and a free medium cup of coffee when you buy a bag of beans. Print the coupons here.
Caveats: the discounts are off list price, valid in-store only, no rain checks.
There is a separate deal online: buy one item get the second for 40 percent off with code SLB7582M. Find a Borders near you.
Get $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Walgreens.com, including contact lenses and sale items. Use coupon code LESSTEN for up to 5 uses per account through July 30, 2009. Online only.
Get $1 off a regular or large smoothie at Maggie Moos.
Here’s a cool website for readers. BookSaleManager.com lists local and community book sales by state. The site is fairly new but they are adding several hundred sales a day, a rep for the site told me. Libraries and non-profits can list their sales for free.
Search for sales by state for sales near you. When I searched for sales across California the site returned 283 sales, including a promising one tomorrow in Los Feliz. (Titles are $.25 to $1).There were 39 upcoming sales in New York and 41 in Florida. See all sales by state.
Some sales also list how many books will be for sale.
If you set up an account, you can get emails about upcoming sales that fall a zip code radius that you set, i.e., 10 miles within the zip code 91302. You can also create a calender of upcoming sales and get email notifications about the sales you are interested in. Neat!
Related:
UPDATE: Just got wind of another Walgreen coupon for 33 percent off posters, prints, and photobooks through June 13, 2009, using code 4DAD.
PREVIOUSLY: Borders has three coupons good through June 10, 2009, including 40% off the list price of any box set, 25% off the list price of one book, and a Sony Digital Reader for $199 (orig $299). The last coupon is good through June 14, 2009. Coupons are valid in store only and require Borders Rewards membership, which is free.
Get $5 off a $25 purchase in store or online purchase at Walgreens now through June 11, 2009. Print the coupon here. Some caveats.
H&M’s summer sale starts today with items for $5 and up. Join their family and friends email list for details.
ShortCuts.com lists their latest grocery coupons here.
Get an extra 20% off online purchases at J.Crew through June 10, 2009. Use code EXTRA20.
If you have a coupon to share, please add it in the comments!
Thanks Sarah and Tina!
Get 25 percent off your entire purchase of list price items (pretty sure that means full price) at Borders stores May 28-31, 2009. One per person. You must bring the coupon with you and hand it over. Print the coupon here.
Caveats: you must belong to their (free) membership program. Cannot be combined with any other offer, including but not limited to “buy one, get one 50% off” offers. Excludes previous and online purchases, special orders, gift cards, newspapers, magazines, comics, coupon books, eBooks, digital downloads, vinyl LPs, self-publishing programs, Smartbox products, Rosetta Stone® software, shipping, and all electronics, including but not limited to the Sony®Reader and the Zune™. May not be combined with other coupons, sale pricing, or corporate, classroom, or other group discounts.
Thanks, Tina!
