Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of Bobbisbargains
I love natural, unscented soap products. For many years, I used a wonderful face soap from Origins. The last time I went to the mall specifically to get this product, I was told that it was no longer manufactured. I was given a phone number for the Origins “Gone but Not Forgotten” department, which will scour the warehouse to look for your no-longer manufactured product. I had to pre-approve the payment on my credit card for the soap and shipping just in case they found any bars. Plus, there was no discount! I was paying full price – $20 per bar. I REALLY like this soap. However, I even if they find the soap in the warehouse, they will be manufacturing no more of this soap.
In search of a new soap brand, I was looking at a huge row of soaps in the supermarket and happened to notice (on the bottom shelf) a bar of Kirk’s Original Coco Castile Soap. The name rang a bell, perhaps because the company has been manufacturing this soap since 1839. I have never used the product before but was willing to take a chance. After all, it is hypoallergenic, contains no animal by products, no synthetic detergents, is biodegradable and is never tested on animals. Plus it moisturizes your skin.
I grabbed up Kirk’s cute little red, white and blue package and invited it to take a shower with me.
I love this soap. And this isn’t even the unscented version, which I am going to try next. The scented version had a very mild scent. It created a great lather, yet the soap rinsed off easily and completely leaving my skin feeling soft and silky (just like the ads say.)
Cost of this wonderful of bar of soap? $1.99.
How can this fabulous bar of soap be so cheap and yet, so good? I don’t know. But, I do know that this soap isn’t alone. Kirk has a line of shampoos and conditions that I am certainly going to try.
For other hard to find and long lost items, check out The Vermont Country Store, which specializes in practical but hard to find products. The prices aren’t super cheap, but at least you can find them.
Do you have an affordable natural product? Share your secret with the rest of us.
boulter/Flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
The day I got my driver’s license my mother bought me an Automobile Club of America (AAA) membership. She continued to gift me the renewal fee on that membership for many years. Her gift, thankfully, kept me from being stranded on the road many times.
Every time I whipped out my AAA card and called for a service truck, I always thought of my mother. I would call and thank her while I waited for the tow truck to arrive. I think she planned it that way.
I have used my membership privileges (this link opens a word document) to get help:
- jump starting my battery in the dead of winter
- changing a flat tire in the blazing sun
- opening a locked car door when the keys were still in the car and I was not
- towing my car to a mechanic when I broke down in the middle of nowhere
- registering my car with the DMV without having to GO to the DMV (priceless)
A basic AAA membership averages a $1 a week. (Prices vary in different parts of the country.) Any one of the above services would have cost more than I paid for my yearly membership. Upgrades to the membership give you additional benefits including a much larger free towing radius. Check to see if there are current coupon codes available before signing up.
You can even use your card to get roadside help if you are just the passenger in the car. This is the biggest difference between AAA and other roadside assistance programs. A gift of an AAA membership is a great way to help out a low income friend.
Without a doubt, I have gotten my money’s worth from this company. Besides the roadside services, you can also get discounts on phone service, amusement park tickets, air fares, free maps and atlas’, hotel and food discounts, discounted car rentals, free reviews of auto repair shops, passport services, and international driving permits. Check out the discounts in your area.
I never fully appreciated the value of my AAA membership until the day that my son got his driver’s license. I realized that he was about to hit the road and I wouldn’t be there to watch over him. On that day, I purchased his AAA membership. Maybe someday he’ll call me and say “Thanks Mom.”
brianjmatis/Flickr
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Get ready for tax season! Preparing will be a little easier knowing you can file for free thanks to a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies. The site does not go live for 2010 until Jan. 15, so this is really just a heads up.
Here’s how it worked for 2008 taxes filed last April. I expect the free filing options to be very similar for 2009 taxes.
Option No. 1. You can file your federal returns for free using the traditional Free File, which offers step-by-step help, if your adjusted gross income is $56,000 or less (this number could vary slightly for 2009). The software puts your answers directly into the forms and does the math for you. You can get a refund as quick as 10 days if you opt for direct deposit. This service is available in Spanish.
Option No. 2. You can fill in your own tax forms without the help of software using the Free Fillable Forms. This hands-off approach lets you prepare and e-file your 1040, 1040 A and 1040EZ federal returns. There are no income limits, as with Option No. 1. State forms are not included.
Both of these options make it possible to file your federal tax forms for free. State forms are not included, however. Does anybody know a way to file state taxes for free?
Thanks, Tina!
You haven’t checked out my new site? Tsk tsk. It’s SUPER awesome (if you live in LA).
The coolest thing about BargainBabeLA.com is that EVERYONE can share a deal. Here’s what I mean:
The Unethical Man shared a deal to get 5 free listings/mo on eBay.
Amygrahek shared info about a free concert series in Culver City that features Barbara Morrison and The Young Dubliners.
So_Cal_Retail_Slut shared info about free buses to Venice beach, Playa Vista and Marina del Rey that are operating through Sept. 7.
I posted a quick review of a fabulous burrito joint in Long Beach.
Check it out and don’t forget to celebrate the launch of BargainBabeLA.com with me on July 26, 2009 at Frugal Fe$tival! One lucky person will walk away with a $100 cash prize. Not joking.
This is a guest post from BargainBabe.com’s intern, Alex.
Military spending may seem like far-off dollars that will never see your pocket, but military-based discounts are everywhere. They just aren’t usually displayed in storefront windows.
As a dependent of my dad who retired from the air force, I received tons of discounts all throughout high school and college on stuff like movie tickets, flowers, and hotel reservations. The only time I had to step foot on a military base was to get my military ID card, a process which can take a couple hours but is well worth it.
Sometimes the hardest part is just remembering to ask about these discounts. Who would have thought I would save 15 percent on my lift ticket and ski rental last winter? Oh, and not just for me, but my two friends as well. If you know somebody with a military ID, be sure to remind them of possible discounts.
And flowers! Are flowers expensive or what? I was able to get a discount on Valentine’s Day flowers online because I have a friend in the active military. I showed him Military.com, a site that lists companies with military discounts, and he hooked me up with some of the exclusive coupon codes.
Some places are a little less accommodating. They have strict rules about offering their discounts only to those serving active duty, meaning nobody who is retired or simply has a parent in the military is eligible. Should you try to get your discount anyway? Knowing you’re not active military that’s up to the individual. The average behind-the-counter-guy/girl is not going to be up to speed on the differences between military ID cards, but that may change. Knowledge is power I say, use it with everyone in mind.
The savings don’t stop at the storefronts, though. I was once pulled over for an illegal U-Turn as well as impeding traffic. The cop started writing me up before he noticed the military ID in my wallet as I showed him my driver’s license.
He still wrote me up for a basic traffic violation, but made it clear that he could have done worse. Did he hold off because of the military affiliation? Maybe. Something tells me picking up that military ID card on the base was worth the time. It expired years ago, but still comes in handy.
Check this eHow page to see if your relationship to somebody in the military makes you qualified for special discounts.
There are so many ways to save online it can get a bit overwhelming. Below I break it into four steps to minimize frustration and maximize the available online shopping discounts.
1. Compare prices. Start the buying process by getting an idea of what a “good” price is for the item you want. Check out PriceSpider.com (click on an item to see its price over the past 6 months or sign up for an email alert when prices drop), DealAlerter.com (similar to PriceSpider, powered by PriceGrabber.com), and Nextag (general price comparison from various retailers)
2. Search for coupon codes. Quickly check for coupon codes at RetailMeNot.com, SlickDeals.net, and FatWallet.com. It’s also a good idea to search Google for “product + coupon codes” or “product + promo code.” If there aren’t ANY coupon codes, sign up for the email list of the retailer you are going to buy from. Newbies often get a welcome discount.
3. Make sure to get an automatic rebate. There are three major sites that give shoppers an automatic cash rebate for shopping “through” their sites: eBates.com, Cashbaq.com and Extrabux.com. Each one requires you register on their site and they all have different deals with each retailer. So the percentage cash back you get can vary from 1% to 50%. Before you buy, log-in at one of the rebate sites and click through to the retailer from their site. They track your purchase and later send you a check. Note, the delay can be as long as 3 months.
4. Check for a free shipping code. FreeShipping.org is my favorite place to check for free shipping codes. Also check ShipGooder.com to compare which shipping method is cheapest.
Today I am unveiling an exciting new website – BargainBabeLA.com!
This site helps people save money in their neighborhood using Google maps. Current deals on the site include free yoga classes on the Santa Monica beach, a $1 grocery sale in Buena Park, and $6 Angels tickets. Wahoo!
The most exciting part about BargainBabeLA.com is that EVERYONE can share a deal, be it a clothing sale they spot on their drive to work, a restaurant discount they come across while ordering take out, or a free event coming up nearby. The goal is for everyone to be able to get the deal you saw!
After you register on the site you can start sharing your favorite deals. You’ll see a few of my ardent bargain hunting friends have already shared their favorite deals. Remember to add a location for your deal otherwise the software randomly locates your deal in the ocean. No joke, a friend shared a deal that ended up off the coast of Africa. If it’s a chain store, pick one of their locations in the LA region like Culver City, Glendale, or Sherman Oaks.
I’m installing a cool box on the upper right hand of BargainBabe.com to remind you of the exciting deals on BargainBabeLA.com. Click on it to visit the new site.
If you live outside of LA and are insanely jealous, email me. Maybe we can start a deal site in your city.
In the final hours before my spending moratorium kicked in today, Day 1 of 31, I made three purchases.
1. I paid $.68 for a Twix bar at CVS on my way home from the library. (To me, candy should still be $.50. I won’t miss paying retail.)
2. I charged $31.65 for a Thai dinner after my dancing lesson with Hubby. Had some very tasty fresh spring rolls and curry at Chili Thai in LA.
3. I spent $12.61 filling up my gas tank at the 76 station. I’ve got a full tank to last me the month – roughly 400 miles.
Now it’s no more spending for a month!
Two brave souls stepped forward to join me on this frugal experiment.
Emily said:
I will be joining you on the Moratorium although I will have slightly fewer restrictions as I have recently moved and am not ruling out the possibility of unexpected expenses.
Tamara said:
I am going to join you on your spending moratorium for the month of July! I do have one question though, and I will post it in the comments, what do you think about buying wedding gifts? I have two weddings to attend in July and am not sure how to proceed with “counting” the spending on gifts. Am I allowed to, or not?
I wanted to make it easy on Tamara so I put her question into a poll.
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BB considers going on a spending moratorium
Votes are in! BB goes on a spending moratorium
Spending moratorium starts Wednesday
You may have noticed there is a new way to find coupons on BargainBabe.com. In the right column a few inches below the Search box there is another box that says Savings.com. We are partnering with Savings.com to provide you coupons that are constantly being updated. Some of them are really hot!
When I last checked there was a coupon for $25 off an order of $75 or more at Lane Bryant, a 50% off deal for any one item at Hanes, and up to 8% off at Apple for teachers and students. Not too shabby.
I hope these coupons make BargainBabe.com even more useful to you. When you use them, you are supporting BargainBabe.com because I earn a small fee from each sale.
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
SpendLessTV, a website that has clips of TV segments on saving money from a variety of channels, has a video about credit card perks you rarely use. It’s worth watching.
Caveats: not all credit cards have the perks mentioned.
Here are two clever posts from my friends at WiseBread. The first lays out five signs that indicate if you’ve gone too far and failed at frugality. It’s a good reminder that forcing yourself to be frugal is not a winning solution. The second post that I wanted to highlight lists 5 respectable ways to get a free meal. Who doesn’t love free food?
If you’d like more tips from WiseBread, buy their book, “10,001 ways to live large on a small budget.” I’ve got a copy myself, which I reviewed here.
Now that it’s officially summer, time to get your beach reading on! Here are a few good sources for cheap books.
PaperbackSwap.com – register for a free account and list 10 books you are willing to swap. That earns you two credits to request books from other members. The more your trade out the more books you get to request in. You pay to mail out books and receive them for free. The site is great for kid’s picture books and NY Times best-sellers. They also have DVD and CD swaps. Read more about how it works.
BookMooch.com – this site uses a similar system as PaperbackSwap. You pay to mail books and receive them for free. You need to send out one book for every three you receive to remain in good standing. BookMooch is free and has a very cute Web site.
Bookins.com – this site charges a flat fee of $4.50 per book but boasts better customer service than Paperback Swap and BookMooch. The site’s point system allows you to trade books for DVDs. You can also print postage from home. Read more about how Bookins works.
Goodwill and Salvation Army – large thrift stores often have a used book section. Expect older titles and great prices.
Your local library – but of course!
Related:
15 places to get free books online (affordable if you have a Kindle!)
Education World provides summer reading lists by grade (scroll down to see the options)
NY Times recommends these books for vicarious travel
Thanks, Andrea!
Wise Bread is one of my favorite blogs because it is so interesting. My case in point is a recent post from one of their bloggers on DIY funerals. The writer breaks down how a low-budget funeral can add up to $8,000. Then he suggests a few alternatives, including making your own coffin.
Oh. My. Goodness.
I guess he didn’t know you can buy coffins at Costco. Read the post here. It’s quite interesting!
Here’s one way to lower your wedding costs: go on a road trip instead. Jaime Case and Chris Hodges, a 30-something couple from San Francisco, dreamed of a destination wedding in Mexico but they couldn’t stomach asking their guests to spend $3,ooo apiece to celebrate with them. Instead, they are bringing the wedding to their guests. I spoke to Jaime on week three of the six-week pre-marital road trip adventure.
Why are you having a road trip wedding?
It started off as a trip to go visit everyone so they can save money by not coming to the wedding. And it’s become more of an odyssey of learning about marriage. It’s like premarital counseling but more intensive and all encompassing. The idea is to save more money for other people. On the whole we are still spending less than the average wedding, which is about $30,000. That doesn’t include the rehearsal dinner, the dress, and the honeymoon.
How much did the recession play a role in your decision to have a road trip wedding?
If we got married in 2008, we would have done what our friends did: a week-long destination wedding. We absolutely would have done that. But in my heart I could not stomach asking people to pay to go to Mexico.
How much is your road trip wedding costing?
Everything we’re doing…will be less than the average cost of a wedding, about $27,000 dollars. The road trip is only costing us about $2,000. The gas itself is $1,100-1,200, plus a few nights at hotels. We’re not adding food because we would eat anyway and a lot of people are buying us dinner! We are staying with family and friends and eating cheaply. Ford donated a Fusion and is covering car insurance. We pay for the gas.
How much are you saving?
A traditional wedding would have cost us about $27,000. The trip is saving us $25,000, some of which we are using to throw a dinner at a restaurant for family and close friends when we return. That’ll cost about $12,000. But our guests are also saving a lot of money, which is more of our point.
How much are you saving your guests?
It would cost our 200 friends in other states about $20,000 to come visit us. Plus, we get to spend a lot more time with them than we normally would at a standard wedding.
Are you having a ceremony?
We are having a ceremony and small dinner in Ventura, Calif. It’s going to be about as non-traditional as you can get. No flowers, no wedding party, no wedding cake. Just dinner at a restaurant. You can call it a wedding or whatever you want, but that’s more for my parents. We didn’t mind spending money on serving people dinner. But we wanted to spend money on spending time with people.
Did you get a dress?
I got a sample dress at Saks bridal, which was closing. I’m probably going to sell it afterward. My Mom bought it. If you have any debt at all, there’s no need to spend $2,000 on a dress. But I wouldn’t position us as the cheapest wedding around.
Where have you gone so far?
We have been to 19 states, including CA, OR, WA, ID, CO, WY, UT, NM, LA, MI, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, KY, W.VA, IN, OH, PA, MD and D.C.
Has anything unexpected happened?
Some of the people we spent time with we’re going to become even better friends with, like a guy who I was on the swim team with in junior high school. We would not have invited him to the wedding, but he heard about our road trip on Facebook and invited us to stay in their guest house in Salt Lake City. We stayed with them and had an amazing time. I feel we’ll actually go back and go skiing sometime. If they had come to the wedding I would have shook their hands and that would be it.
They say planning a wedding is the first test of a marriage. How is going being on the road together?
We’ve only been doing this for 20 days, and we have thought about breaking up. Imagine talking about your marriage and what it’s going to be for 45 days straight. Fundamentally I know Chris is a good person. He is a gem amongst men in that he can talk about anything. I don’t have to deal with, what are you thinking? I don’t have to wonder. I know because I can ask. That makes him very attractive.
I’m more driven. Chris likes to enjoy life a little more. It’s my personality to wake up and have a to do list. During an interview, there was a question about Chris not being as passionate as me. It hit me at the wrong time and I shared more info than I should have. Later, Chris brought it up. He said, This seems like an issue. This keeps coming up. We need to solve this, he said. When we talked it through we just have different way of looking at it. We both want the same things but we have a different approach.
For more check out the Wedding Road Trip blog. Thanks, Monica!
Wal-Mart is hiring 22,000 workers across the country, including 1,000 or more workers in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia,” according to a CNN story.
The hirings are significant in lieu of our depressing unemployment rate, which economists predict will rise to 9.2 percent after the economy lost 520,000 jobs last month. That’s a 25-year high!
I’m very conflicted about Wal-Mart. I don’t like to feature their deals on BargainBabe.com because of their checkered past. But I know for many people shopping at Wal-Mart is a way to make ends meet. I “vote” with my dollars and let others do the same. To each their own, right?
Because of the recession, however, I’m wondering if people are applying for and taking jobs they wouldn’t otherwise consider.
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