A recent story from CNNMoney has some great tips on how to reduce a number of household expenses, starting with your cell phone and credit card bill.
Compare your rates to other plans on BillShrink.com, which asks you a few questions about how many minutes you use, if you text and if you have a data plan. Then it spits out a list of similar plans, calculates the yearly savings and shows the signal strength at your home and work zip code. It found a slightly cheaper plan for me, but it does not include texts or data so I think what I have is actually cheaper.
For reduced medical care, the CNN story suggests checking out free Federal medical clinics for basics like immunizations, checkups, dental care and medicine. The Association of Medical Colleges might also be able to help if you are uninsured.
The article’s tips for cutting your car insurance tab were old hat – keep your credit score high because that’s what your rate is based on, ask for discounts based on your profession, and raise your deductible (if you have the savings to cover the difference!).
Are you planning a spring or summer wedding? Or do you know someone who is? Here are a few of my favorite wedding money-saver$:
Ex-boyfriend Jewelery – just like it sounds, the site sells baubles and gifts from former beaus. The ring section currently has 495 items, from $11 to $7,000.
I do now I don’t – this site sells rings and gowns from relationships that ended before the couple made it to the altar. A gemologist checks that each piece of jewelry is as the seller described it before the transaction goes through.
Location Weddings – for ideas on where to tie the knot in the U.S. or abroad, this site has many suggestions. If you are checking out places to get married, you can often get in free. Call ahead to confirm or try talking to the ticket seller.
Cheap Chic Weddings - this site has tons of great ideas, from how to save money on flowers, the reception, favors, and pretty much every aspect of your wedding.
Isaac Mizrahi for Target – the designer’s wedding dresses start at $45, including a strapless sheath dress with a pink ribbon across the waist. All the dresses are on clearance, and I’m not sure if that is because they are from last season or perhaps the line is being discontinued.
JCPenney sells bridal growns and bridesmaid dresses. So does Bridal Sassique and J.Crew. And of course, there is always eBay.
What other sites and resources have you found helpful? Help a bride out and leave a comment.
Later today I am speaking about saving money to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, a social/charitable group in Granada Hills. I enjoy speaking to folks about my work and always get a lot of good ideas from the audience!
If you are looking for a speaker for an upcoming meeting, consider hiring me. I’m cheap! And I tailor my talks to the specific interests of your group. I can talk about:
- reducing your grocery bill
- eating out cheaply
- creating a livable monthly budget
- getting travel discounts
- money-saving Web sites
- how to haggle for a deal
Contact me at julia@bargainbabe.com if you are interested. Thanks!
Here are six more cheap ideas for how to celebrate Valentine’s Day, courtesy of the Debt Diva, a blog associated with CareOne debt counseling services. Instead of exchanging gifts, plan one of these activities together.
Treasure Hunt: Create a map and clues leading to special places and favorite spots. Hide a token gift at the end to wrap it all up.
Movie Marathon: Pick one romantic movie each, make popcorn and cuddle on the couch. Not sure what to watch? Here is a list of 50 romantic movies.
Bring back memories: Pull out your wedding photos, pics from a trip you took together, or watch a video of your wedding.
Live Music: Check out a concert in your town that you both enjoy. There are also local cover bands that play music of a favorite artist at an inexpensive venue or even for free.
Romantic Dinner: Have a nice candlelit dinner at home. Cooking at home costs much less than going to fancy restaurant. Dress up in something nice and make something new.
Wine Tasting: Many vineyards offer a tasting for around $10. This is a romantic fun way to spend the day. If you make a purchase at the end, many vineyards will even apply the tasting fee to the product. If weather allows, bring a picnic lunch to eat between tastings.
Do you have a McDonald’s McCafe near you? They are slightly upscale coffee shops that apparently make the chain a pretty penny. And they are expanding.
If you have one near you, stop in this month for a free coffee drink. The drinks include a cappuccino, latte, iced latte, mocha, and iced mocha. Click on the drink you want, enter your date of birth, and get a printable coupon. I’m told you have to come in between 5 and 8 a.m. but read the fine print or call ahead to be sure.
Caveats: at participating McCafe locations only.
Get an extra 15% off during Macy’s Home sale, when prices are already discounted. Use code WEARRED to get the discount on many sale and regular priced home items through Feb. 8. Read all the exclusions here. Get free shipping if you buy $125 or more in qualifying purchases, excluding Coach, area rugs, furniture, mattresses and purchases on macysweddingchannel.com. Ends Feb. 8, 2009.
Coldwater Creek has priced 400 items at $20 or less in its outlet. A basic sleeveless knit top with a horizontal accents that is good for work or travel is $20 (orig. $40). A matching wrap is $27 (orig. $70). You may be able to combine the outlet prices with a coupon for $20 off a purchase of $80 or more. Use code WKH1387. The code also works for phone orders ( 800.510.2808). Expires Feb. 11, 2009. Print the coupon for in store shopping.
JC Penney is offering and extra 20 to 50% off in all departments online. Free shipping on purchases of $69 or more with code FREE2U. For in store shopping, get printable coupons for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more, or $15 off a purchase of $75 or more.
Get an extra 40% off all clearance items at Steve Madden. Sale ends Feb. 8, 2009. The discount shows up automatically as you check out. Here is a cute peep toe heel with a sexy Mary Jane feel, above, that you could wear to work. It is $48 (on sale for $70, orig. $110).
Has anyone seen posters for the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? It comes out Feb. 13, which Hubby says is cruel timing because a lot of girls will ask their beaus to take them to see it as a Valentine’s Day Gift. And he hasn’t even seen the trailer!
Luckily, I have. Shopaholic is about a red head named Becky Bloomwood (Isla Fisher, Wedding Crashers) who shops until she is in so much debt she has to freeze her credit cards in blocks of ice. There are a lot of shots of her prancing around in cute outfits and slapping men to get out of sticky situations. You said you spoke Finnish?
It is unclear from the trailer whether she learns to pay down her debt and shop responsibly, or whether she falls in love with a rich man who wipes her troublesome bills away. I’ve lived in LA long enough to put my money on the latter. Ahhhhh, Hollywood.
As someone who does not shop a lot, even though I spend a lot of time *thinking* about spending, I’m worried that watching this movie will make me want to buy a ton of clothes. If I see it, maybe I should leave my credit cards at home. What do you think?
Watch the 2:35 minute trailer below.
httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=ZYYCSEV-i1Y
[poll id="4"]
Update: United Airlines is also having a fare sale when you book before Feb. 6 and travel by April 20. Sale fares are for Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday flights.
Just got word of a massive flight sale on Virgin America for flights from L.A., San Diego and Las Vegas. Flights are $49-$119 each way through April 1. Book by Feb. 8, though the best flights will go sooner than that.
Sample fares from LAX, LAS & SAN (each way):
- Los Angeles-San Francisco … $49
- Las Vegas-San Francisco … $49
- San Diego-San Francisco … $49
- Los Angeles-Seattle … $59
- Los Angeles-New York City … $109-$119*
- Las Vegas-New York City … $109-$119*
- San Diego-New York City … $109-$119*
- Flights to D.C. are also included in this sale
*$119 is for travel on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Don’t delay if you are making travel plans!
eBates is offering double or increased rebates at five retailers that sell Valentine’s Day gifts. Get 12% back at Crabtree & Evelyn (orig. 6%), 12% back at Teleflora (orig. 6%) and 12% back at RedEnvelope (orig. 6%). GourmetGiftBaskets.com bumped their rebate from 5% to 7% and ProFlowers increased their rebate from 10% to 13%.
Take advantage of these automatic cash rebates by joining eBates. It’s free! Use my email (juliamariescott at gmail dot com) as a referral and we both get a $5 bonus after your first purchase.
The way it works is when you shop online, first log into eBates. Then click through to the retailer you want to shop at. They track your purchases and give you a percentage back in cash. They have different deals with each retailer so the rebates vary. Read more about how eBates works.
Caveats: unclear when the V-day promotion ends.
The personal finance site Wise Bread has a fabulous guide to celebrating Feb. 14 while staying true to your cheapskate roots. A post by Will Chen has cheap date ideas, do-it-yourself greeting cards, directions to make an impressive dinner at home, tips for ordering cheaply if you go out, V-day factoids and a review of online dating sites.
The post is so useful I wish I’d thought of it myself!
Call me a late adopter, but I just discovered a free alternative to texting, something I am doing a lot more of now that I have an iPhone. I was facing a much higher texting bill – going from 200 texts a month ($5) to 1,500 a month ($15) – when a friend told me about Google Talk.
Now I’m not worried about buying more texts or going over my allotment. And this deal is not just for iPhones.
Smart phones like the iPhone and Blackberry have free instant messaging as part of their data plan. There is also AIM from AOL and Yahoo! Messenger. Instant messaging is about as close to texting as you can get without paying for it.
For iPhones and other smart phones, I recommend downloading Google Talk on your phone. If you have a BlackBerry and want to chat free with other Blackberry’s, use Blackberry Messenger, which is part of the phone’s operating system if you have a data plan. The Pearl, 8800, and Curve models support Blackberry Messenger.
Now you can instant message your heart out, and not worrying about the cost of texting. Thanks, Dan!
A techie friend recently told me about the Web site eCost.com, which sells a lot of electronic closeout items at great prices. All sales are final, however. The return policy is strict even for damaged items.
I compared prices on a 30GB iPod Video (5th generation). eCost has a refurbished one for $120, Newegg.com has a refurb for $140, and Amazon has a refurb for $190.
You will likely find better prices on sites like eCost and Newegg than Best Buy and Amazon, but the trade off is that you cannot return the items. So shop around, compare prices, and decide if the extra savings makes sense for you.
Thanks, Steve!
Love is getting cheaper. Valentine’s Day spending will drop 5% this year with jewelry, intimate apparel and dining out taking the biggest hits, according to market researcher IBISWorld. You may opt for homemade gifts this year, or you could find some great discounts to lower the cost of gifts.
One source of V-day coupon codes is CouponChief.com. The site pays users who register and upload coupons. To use their coupons, you must click through to the retailer from their site.
The site has a special five-page section of Valentine’s Day coupons, including 15% off at Teleflora, 20% off plus free shipping at Diamond.com, and 10% off an order of $35 or more at Chocolate Source or Nirvana Chocolates. ProFlowers offers $20 off a dozen long-stemmed roses and Edible Arrangements offers $5 your next order.
Some of the discounts on this page are not directly related to V-day, like the Children’s Place and Kmart, but depending on what you are looking for they may be useful.
What is the cheapest outing you have gone on? Can you think of any nights on the town for under $30 in your town? If so, share your experience by leaving a comment. Even if you live in another city, I bet a lot of ideas can be replicated elsewhere!
Here’s mine to start.
My first idea for a cheap date on Saturday was to go to an art gallery opening, which often have gratis snacks and wine. But we could not find anything nearby. So I checked out Going.com, a Web site devoted to helping people without a nightlight get one in 32 cities across the country. The recession busters tab looked promising but all the events were far-flung – too costly a drive.
Then Hubby stumbled upon Westside Eclectic in Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade. The club bills itself as a “comedy mecca for literally almost hundreds.” The 9:30 p.m. show was $10 bucks and we could stay for the 11 p.m. show if we wanted more laughs. $10 a head was more than I wanted to spend but we decided to head over and check it out. Maybe I could haggle at the ticket booth.
We were a bit early so we stopped at Angelato and split three scoops of double chocolate fudge, mint chip and pomegranate gelato for $6.45. (Buying a triple is cheaper than two singles). While we ate we were treated to a free performance by a French woman singing songs on her guitar. A street character wearing a lizard on his sombrero stopped to listen, too.
When we got to the comedy club, it was buzzing. I chickened out about asking for a discount – it was busy, we wanted to go inside – so Hubby forked over $20 while I added my BargainBabe.com flyers to their postcard rack. As we waited for the comedy trio Chick Force 3 to come on I spotted a rack at the back of the club with The Onion, a satirical newspaper.
I went back to get one and what did I discover? Three coolers of free beer. Granted it was Bud Light, Tecate and Miller Light. But free beer is free beer. I grabbed two and returned to my seat to tell Hubby.
Chick Force 3 members Michelle Miracle, Laura Baggett and Abbey Schachner, pictured, were all very funny in their own, distinct way. Having a few beers only made me enjoy it more. Later I learned that *most* shows at Westside Eclectic have free beer. Score!
The total cost of our date (we ate dinner at home and found free parking) was $26.45. Not too shabby! Can you do better?
