I’m organizing the first ever Frugal Fe$tival to celebrate BargainBabe.com’s six-month anniversary and to launch the exciting expansion I’ve been hinting at (which will be revealed next week…fingers crossed).
The Frugal Fe$tival is a one-day physical gathering of frugal folks who want to have fun sharing their frugal lifestyles. Save the date – the Frugal Fe$tival is Sunday, July 26, 2009 in Los Angeles. Here is why you should come.
- It’s free
- It’s going to be fun
- The first 50 people to arrive will win a free Bargain Babe T-shirt
- You can get free financial advice by signing up for a 15-minute consultation with a financial adviser
- You can trade your unwanted coupons for ones you want
- You can enter the frugal contest – the top three frugal tips will win prizes
- Each adult will receive 10 free tickets to enter raffles of their choice
- Raffle prizes will include gift cards, financial consultations, books, T-shirts and cash!
- Find out more about the mysterious expansion Julia has been talking about on BargainBabe.com!
If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor, please email julia@bargainbabe.com. Lots more information to come!
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!
I was in San Francisco last week visiting a friend and I showed up a little early so I popped into a thrift store called Painted Bird.
Inside I found a high concentration of stylish and beautiful used clothes. The white-washed store consisted of two circular racks, a clothing display along the side and back wall, and a jewelry case by the register. Each item had a neat blue price tag attached by a thread, which I knew meant the prices were going to be noticeably higher than Goodwill. But the figures for a few items I checked were not unreasonable considering their excellent condition.
Plus there was the hipness factor. Just walking into the store increased my hip quotient so I knew if I actually bought something it must mean I was a trendsetter, right?
Then I spotted a pink scarf. It was clearly used but no where ripped or torn. The delicate wool was very ladylike and the pink material was sprinkled with green patches. The price? $6.95.
I recoiled. If it had been $5 I would have purchased it immediately. But $7? Hmmm…I re-tied the pink scarf on a hangar and shuffled onto the next hangar. Soon I came to a creme-colored 3/4-length wool coat that had golden brown buttons. Very stylish, but not a wise purchase for me. I live in Los Angeles and it’s summer! If I was living in San Fran, however, it would be a suitable summer coat. The city is cold!!!
The coat would look perfect with the pink scarf. I considered asking them if they would take $5 for it. I left the scarf on the shelf to give myself an out if they turned me down. But as I approached the register the sales girl left the counter to attend to a mussed display. I paused, checked my watch, and walked out.
Two blocks later I realized my mistake. Once in motion, however, I find it terribly difficult to stop and turn around. I met my friend and told her about the Painted Bird. When I left four hours later I crossed my fingers that it was still open.
It was not. Now I really regretted not having purchased the scarf. It was pink! How can you go wrong with pink? My $7 would probably not even get me a new scarf made of polyester at H&M. And this was a beautiful, delicate wool scarf. Sigh.
On the walk back to the BART train I snapped pictures of the frugal window displays. There were plenty of options, and none of them pink.
Have you ever regretted NOT buying something?
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!
