Are you the winner?

I’m really excited for the winner of this giveaway! The winner is taking home a copy of You Need A Budget’s budgeting software, an hour of one-on-one coaching, the YNAB book, and audio book. This prize pack is sure to help you tame your finances – now that’s a great way to start the new year! Find out if you’re the lucky winner below.

YNAB teaches you how to get out of debt, save money, and stop living paycheck to paycheck. It can easily be downloaded to your computer – it runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux! Unlike other financial software, there are no forced upgrades or annual fees.

The winner is…

LaurenY who is ready to commit herself to reaching financial independence.

The runner-up is…

Jacque E who said it will help get her family of six get back on track.

The winner has 24 hours to claim the YNAB finance software by responding to my email. If the winner doesn’t respond, the prize will go to the runner up.

Want to buy the You Need A Budget software? You Need A Budget is offering a 20% discount to Bargain Babe readers who buy the software through this link by the end of today.

This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Any other site posting this content is violating the DMCA. This is dedicated content. Want to reach tens of thousands of savvy spenders? Read our blog marketing page.

You Need A Budget will teach you how to get out of debt, save money, and stop living paycheck to paycheck. The personal finance software runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. It is so easy to install and use! You can budget your money as if you where using the envelope system which is great because this actually helps you stay on budget. For those on the go, you can also download the companion iPhone and Android app. The best part about the desktop budgeting system is that there is no forced upgrades or annual fees. YNAB also offers free, education webinars on an almost daily basis.

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Don’t forget to tell us why you need to win the budgeting software and one-on-one coaching. Make sure to leave a comment for each entry so we know how many times you’ve entered! Can’t wait to get your hands on the You Need A Budget software? For a limited time, You Need A Budget is offering a 20% discount to Bargain Babe readers who buy the software.

This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Any other site posting this content is violating the DMCA. This is dedicated content. Want to reach tens of thousands of savvy spenders? Read our blog marketing page.

According to eCampus.com, one of the pioneers of online textbook retailing, nearly one in five of all college textbook purchases online today is a rental. Two years ago, online textbook rentals accounted for just 1% of all sales.

“We’re finding that textbook rentals appeal to students because it alleviates the hassle of getting stuck with a textbook that has a new edition, and there is great flexibility with rentals in terms of extending the rental period, or even opting to purchase the book if they decide to,” said eCampus CEO Matt Montgomery. “Online retailers have a big advantage over bookstores when it comes to renting, as most local players don’t have the inventory or geographical reach to make it profitable to offer book rentals.”

eCampus.com is uniquely positioned in that they offer a wide range of ways to get your textbooks. They have a huge selection of eTextbooks and textbook rentals, as well as used textbooks, new textbooks and a student-to-student textbook marketplace. Using their marketplace, students can list their old textbooks and sell them directly to other students. They also offer an online textbook buyback program that allows students to sell back their textbooks without ever leaving their home. They are now paying students for their books via direct deposit, making payments lightning fast.

This winter, eCampus.com is even taking it beyond textbooks with a massive addition to their already extensive collection of college apparel. Just in time for the Holiday season, over 60,000 licensed college clothing items and accessories will be added to the site at
prices that would make the campus bookstore sweat. And with its newly added apparel, eCampus is looking forward to being an excellent resource for students during the upcoming buyback season, as well as the beginning of a new semester.

This is paid content. Want to take out an ad? Read my our blog advertise page.

Win this book below!

Don’t forget! This is your last chance to comment for a chance to win our review copy of “The Problem With Money?” by Jane Honeck. (See entry details below.)

The book’s premise is that we all hold unconscious beliefs about money that strongly influence how we handle money. Honeck, who has 30 years of experience as a CPA, explores the negative beliefs that haven’t allowed your money grow.

The 123-page book is intended for those who

know how to spend money wisely, but just can’t stop making the same money mistakes over and over again like not saving for retirement or not having an emergency fund. Honeck will change your attitude and beliefs about money and set financial goals that you can keep.

Honeck reveals that although she was trained as a CPA, she held onto beliefs that negatively impacted her money. Her goal is to remove that blindfold from readers’ eyes and have them lead financially conscious lives. Honech writes:

During our time together, you’ll be doing exercises to unearth your money beliefs. Have a journal or notebook at your side as you read this book. You’ll use it to answer questions and to jot down things you notice as you start living a financially conscious life. Take lots of notes along the way. Being conscious with your money isn’t automatic — the notes will remind you of where you’ve been and where you’re doing.

To win our review copy, comment with what you have trouble doing financially, even though you know what you should be doing. Or buy a copy from Amazon for $15.56 (orig. $19.95). Comment by Thursday Oct. 13, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST to be eligible to win. A winner will be announced Friday!

Here are the books I’m giving away:

Free LA – A guidebook to everything free and fun in Los Angeles. A must have for residents and visitors!

The Scavengers’ Manifesto – Salvaging, swapping, repurposing, reusing, and recycling is the same of the game in this book. Stories and how to tips.

Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half – The Coupon Mom’s best seller could be yours!

NYT Manual of Style and Usage (1999) – A bit out of date, but still useful for journalists, bloggers, and other grammar grouches!

U.S. News & World Report Stylebook (1997) – Ditto on the above.

I'm giving away three five books for free!

I’m giving away five free books this week. To win, comment on one way you would improve BargainBabe.com (and remember to include which book you want to win)! Comment by Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 at 11:59 pm. EST. Winners will be announced this Friday.

Here are the books I’m giving away:

Free LA  – A guidebook to everything free and fun in Los Angeles. A must have for residents and visitors!

The Scavengers’ Manifesto – Salvaging, swapping, repurposing, reusing, and recycling is the same of the game in this book. Stories and how to tips.

Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half – The Coupon Mom’s best seller could be yours!

NYT Manual of Style and Usage (1999) – A bit out of date, but still useful for journalists, bloggers, and other grammar grouches!

U.S. News & World Report Stylebook (1997) – Ditto on the above.

Enlightening yourself has a heavy cost. Credit: TounoTouji/Flickr

Buying a new textbook from the college bookstore is passe, largely because it’s so pricey. I made the mistake of justifying many new textbook purchases by telling myself I would sell them come finals. But publishers release more updates than Apple, so my $139 Organic Chemistry tome? Still in the attic. Here are six alternatives to paying full price on college textbooks.

Slugbooks - A site that compares textbook prices across four major sellers, Amazon, Chegg, BookRenter, and Half.com. Plus, Slugbooks partners with more than 100 schools across the country to list

price comparisons for required texts. If your school is listed, you’ll see prices for books at the above four sources, plus your college bookstore. You can search by ISBN, title, author, or find your course textbook requirements by college, department and course. For example, I searched CA –> CSU Long Beach –> Anthropology –> Anthro 120: Intro to Cultural Anthropology – > and two books came up. One book was $39.49 for a semester rental from Chegg or $97.05 at the campus bookstore for a new copy. That’s a HUGE price range! More on Slugbooks.

The bottom line: Very useful site, especially if your school is listed.

Digital textbooks - Etextbooks are getting a lot of hype, but in reality fewer than 15% of textbooks are in digital format, DealNews found. Bummer. Fiction titles are your best bet in digital format. Look for them at your local public library, copies of which are free on the Nook! There are also many websites dedicated to sharing free digital copies of books, like Project Gutenberg. The free iPhone app Stanza has more than 100,000 free books and magazines, so it’s worth a check to see if any of your required reading is available.

The bottom line: You’ll have a hard time find true textbooks in digital format.

Book swaps - Sites that facilitate the swapping of books are free to join and you only pay postage on the books you are willing to pass onto other members. My Dad swears by BookMooch, but I like PaperBackSwap’s interface better.

The bottom line: Give yourself time to swap out books to earn credits to receive books you want in return.

Trade - Amazon’s textbook trade-in program buys your texts and gives you a gift card in exchange. Great if you plan to buy next semester’s books on Amazon! Video games, movies, and electronics are also accepted. Items cannot be damaged and must include all the original parts (like a CD-ROM) or cables. Shipping your items into Amazon is free.

The bottom line: Compare prices and trade in values on Slugbooks first. The simplicity of using Amazon’s textbook trade in program may make up for slightly lower trade-in values (just a hunch).

Buy used - Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Amazon to name a few sellers. Amazon offers students free Amazon Prime membership, which comes with free 2-day shipping. A Prime membership usually costs $79 so this is a nice savings.

The bottom line: Chasing down new textbooks on these sites may lead you on a wild goose chase but the Amazon Prime deal is definitely worth taking advantage of.

Kindle it - Amazon’s Kindle textbook rental offers flexibility and claims to offer discounts up to 80% off, but I have not done a price comparison. You can rent for 30 or 365 days, and extend your rental day by day, if you want to. Libraries are expected to get books on Kindle at the end of this year. In the meantime, here are six ways to get free Kindle books.

The bottom line: Remember to factor in the cost of a Kindle if you do not already have one.

Win this book today at FrugalFestival.com

WE ARE HAVING A FOOD SWAP AT FRUGAL FESTIVAL FOOD! on June 25 in LA. Wahoo!

Don’t forget to enter your recipe in our contest to win fabulous prizes!

A new site makes saving money on groceries easy and helps you plan your grocery trips.

The winners of yesterday’s contest for “Vegan on the Cheap” have been announced!

Today’s lightening giveaway is for “Gluten-free on a Shoestring.” Don’t miss out!

Get your tickets now!

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.

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 d�cor 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 D�cor 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.