samyogaclass / Flickr

This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.

Spring is finally here and even if you’re on a budget, it doesn’t mean you should miss out on the spring trends. Follow my thrift tips below to update your wardrobe without going broke.

I like to splurge on classic pieces that carry me through the seasons and shop around for trends that work for me. This spring you’ll see lots of colorful denim, florals, and color blocking. Yup, this fall trend is back. The color of the moment is tangerine tango. It’s everywhere!

Thrifty Tip: Before hitting the mall, make sure you know what you own. Ugh, it’s a pain, but it’s time to rotate your closet. You may already have some of these pieces in your wardrobe.

Tangerine Tango

When you’re shopping on a budget it’s best to stick to neutrals, such as black, brown, gray, and khaki. These colors transcend trends. But if you’re like me and your loving the tangerine, don’t drop lots of money. To get more use out of this trend, opt for inexpensive accessories and tops in the bright color instead of pants or sweaters. Once the craze is over you’ll be able to tone down the color with neutrals.

Colorful Denim

Denim is a must in any wardrobe, but skip the expensive pair of color jeans! Instead buy yourself a nice pair of dark wash or black jeans. These are classics and won’t go out of style. If you love the colorful denim, go for an inexpensive pair. This trend is everywhere, but it’s not here to stay. I recently bought my sister a pair of magenta jeans from Target for $19. They’re bright, but they’re also dark enough that they won’t scream last season when she continues to wear them.

Florals

The April issue of Shopsmart magazine shares tips for wearing florals. The new florals styles look something out of a Monet painting. Though floral prints come in all kinds of sizes, it’s best to wear small prints if you have a larger frame, suggests Shopsmart. Another thrifty tip that will allow you to use your existing wardrobe is to combine florals with other prints. Florals and stripes will keep your look young, but avoid the print from head to toe. Florals tend to come back in the spring especially during Easter time so go for quality to make your clothes last. Here are telltale signs clothes are made cheaply.

Color Blocking

Lastly, if you embraced color blocking in the fall, you’re set. This trend is the most adaptable and cheapest since you can use your existing wardrobe. Metallics and neons will also be big this spring, but these are best kept to a minimum. I’m looking to score a deal on metallic sandals or flats.

Do you have more frugal ways to update your wardrobe for spring?

Make a gift through Kidworth this Christmas.

As a kid, I loved discovering a mound of presents choking the tree on Christmas  morning. But I can’t help but wonder, now that I’m familiar with the website Kidworth, if some of those gifts could have been given as investments.

Did you know that the average child, according to Kidworth founder Rudy DeFelice, comes across $25,000-$30,000 in gifts by the time they are 18? And yet, how many 18-year-olds do you know that have more than a few bucks to their name?

So if you’re still looking for a Christmas or Hanukkah gift for a special child in your life, check out Kidworth.

Kidworth is about channeling gifts, allowance, earnings into an account (that parents create for their child) that encourages them to set up save goals, spend goals, and share goals. So it’s got two purposes. Kidworth helps kids save money (instead of receiving a bunch of plastic toys on every occasion) and it teaches them what to do with money. Earlier I wrote about Kidworth in the context of using the site to help my soon-to-be-born daughter save and manage money.

You can start an account no matter how young your kid is, and the older they get, the more you can involve them.

There are all sorts of privacy controls so your kid’s personal information never gets out there. On a practical level, parents can use Kidworth to send out birthday invitations and holiday cards, a big opportunity to share their kid’s goals. Wink, wink. For Christmas, little Bobby would really love a contribution to his 529 college savings account. When you kid is old enough, they can chime in and ask for ice cream (or whatever their heart desires).

If you would like to temper the onslaught of gifts this holiday season, sign up for Kidworth and put the generosity of your friends and family to good use!

This is dedicated content. Want to reach tens of thousands of savvy spenders? Read our blog marketing page.

Awesome dino hoodie for kids!

Children’s toys are the focus of Day Three of the Bargain Babe Hot Holiday Gift Guide. Shopping for my nephews is one of my favorite parts of Christmas because I imagine how happy they will be with their new toys!

We’ve also suggested electronics gifts, and gifts at Sears. Over the next two weeks, we will suggest gifts for kids, teens, men, and women. There will also be a day devoted to unique and quirky gifts, and we’ll finish the gift guide on Dec. 9 with a roundup of the best overall gifts.

The Raptor mouth shirt, above, is a really neat gift for any kid excited by

dinosaurs. When a kid wears this shirt with a hoodie, his elbows transform into the mouth of a ferocious dinosaur! There is also a shark variation. What fun. $25-$30 (adult sizes are $40).

Girls can design their own clothes on Fashion Playtes

The Gyro Bowl is more of a gift for parents, but kids will have fun eating out of this always-moving dish. It uses a gyroscope to stay balanced, drastically reducing the amount of food that falls out. (You might remember me lamenting the fact that after I added it to my baby registry, I found it is also sold in the loathsome Sky Mall catalogue.) Turns out you can find the amazing Gyro Bowl for half the price on Amazon, for just $6!

Designing your own clothes and doll outfits is a very unique gift – whether you design them for a special girl in your life or you help her do it herself. A site called FashionPlaytes (which you may recall from Win Giveaways) lets you design clothes for girls and dolls at a very reasonable price. I made a girl’s drawstring skirt and top with several custom features (pocket design, collar rhinestones, personal label) and the total came to $32.

Use these Fashion Playtes coupons to stretch your money:

• Enter promo code FRIENDS25 to get 25% off sitewide. Expires Dec. 2, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
• FRIENDS25 will also get you a $25 e-gift card for every $50 spent. They are valid on future purchases. Offer ends Dec. 2, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Animal hats are a cute gift and very affordable at $13 and up. I saw the following animals: moose, husky dog, penguin, mouse, leopard, lion, angry birds, panda, racoon, polar bear, and sock monkey. You might even be able to find matching animal mittens for about $20 and up.

So many animal hats to chose from!

For boys 4 and up, Legos are a very safe bet. So are trains for even younger boys.

For older kids who like to build things and keep their hands busy, the Ball of Whacks is a toy comprised of 30 magnetic pieces that can be arranged and re-arranged into every shape imaginable.

Still looking? You can go wrong with a children’s books. Amazon organizes its books by age. Consider asking the kid’s parents what books they are currently reading. I was going to give my nephew a Wimpy Kid book but when I asked I learned he has them all already!

Don’t forget to enter to win a $100 Sears gift card as part of the Bargain Babe Hot Holiday Gift Guide!

Electronics gifts – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 1
Value gifts at Sears – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 2
Toys for kids – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 3
Mens’ shavers – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 4
Gifts for teens – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 5
Unique and quirky gifts – Hot Holiday Gift Guide Day 6

Clicking on these links supports BargainBabe.com. Thank you for helping make blogging my full time job! This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Any other site posting this content is violating the DMCA.

Earn $10 for joining Kidworth!

With a baby on the way, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to raise my kid so that she is savvy with money. How do I show her to save money, to live frugally, and to make savvy spending decisions? When should we first give her an allowance? How do I instill in her the pride I take in donating money to help others?

Enter Kidworth, a new website founded by a father who was tired of going to kids’ birthday parties and witnessing hundreds of dollars wasted on “plastic junk.”

So this father, Rudy DeFelice, did some research and discovered the average kid comes across $25,000-$30,000 in gifts by the time they are 18. Holy *$(%*#! How many 18-year-olds do you know that have more than a few bucks to their name?

“The way we treat kids reinfornces mindless consumption,” Rudy told me. He wanted a way to counter balance that consumerist message. He wanted a way to train kids to deal with money that would give kids a better chance.

Kidworth is not about creating more money, but about using resources – gifts, allowance, earnings – in a better way. Parents create an account for their kid, from babies to teenagers, and set up save goals, spend goals, and share goals. Depending on how old the kid is, they can get involved, too.

On a practical level, parents can use Kidworth to send out birthday invitations and holiday cards, using the opportunity to share their kid’s goals. It’s a not-so-subtle way to ask for specific gifts and donations, instead of the aforementioned plastic junk.

When you visit a kid’s page, family and friends can see what kind of progress the kid and what the kid is doing with their allowance, gifts, and earnings. Only first names are used, and no identifying information is shared or asked for. Pages do not show up in search engine results, but parents can share their kids’ pages with whomever they wish.

Kidworth is totally free to use, though sending an egift card costs $2.50 and sending a physical card costs $5. Both fees go to covering credit card processing fees.

If you’re dreading an onslaught of unwanted gifts this holiday season, sign up for Kidworth! The next 100 people to sign up via Kidworth’s Facebook page will earn a $10 credit when they create a goal in their Kidworth account.

Behold, the gyrobowl! Credit: BuyGyrobowl.com

I have lost the right to call myself the Bargain Babe.

To my horror, an item on my baby registry is being sold in a catalog I recently ridiculed for it’s high prices and absurd products – SkyMall!

How did this happen? At Babies R Us, my husband caught sight of the Gyrobowl, a small dish kept in balance by a gyroscope. In theory, the tot eating from it never spills her

food. Hehehe, yeah right. But gullible, er, practical man that he is, my husband was sold. On the registry it went.

Weeks later on a flight to Austin for a wedding, I spotted the Gyrobowl over his shoulder in SkyMall.

Heavens, no! My GyroBowl in SkyMall? In the company of a $380 aquarium slash coffee table, a $99 NetiPot, and a $250 stainless steel wall mount fireplace? For shame!

I contemplated nixing it from our registry, but then I noticed the SkyMall price was exactly the same as at Babies R Us. My dinged pride was partially restored.

A good number of readers said they enjoy SkyMall for its entertainment value and because the products are so quirky. But it is one brand I refuse to give my dollars to. Are there any brands or companies you refuse to patronize? I know reader Evie is boycotting Target.

thinkretail / Flickr

This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.

A while back I wrote about saving money by using a retail credit card with perks. This time I saved $90.38 on back to school shopping! I headed to outlets just outside L.A. with my high-school-bound sister and bought several clothing items she can combine with her existing wardrobe in September.

Outlet stores are great for saving money on clothes. Below I’ll share tips for how we got the most out of our outlet shopping experience. But first, let me share what we bought and the cost breakdown. We shopped at the GAP because I had a $10 off reward sent to me. We bought items that are not so trendy and took advantage of big outlet discounts.

Skinny Cargo Pants

Original Price: $49.99

70% off discount: -$34.99

Rewards discount: -$1.82

Paid $13.18

Turquoise long sleeve shirt (Jewel tones are in style this fall.)

Original Price: $24.99

60% off discount: -$14.99

Reward discount: -$1.21

Paid $8.79

Striped Shirt

Original Price: $39.99

30% off discount: -$12

Rewards discount: -$3.38

Paid $24.61

Cardigan

Original price: $39.99

40% off discount: -$16

Rewards discount: -$2.91

Paid $21.08

Socks

Original price: $7.99

30% off discount: -$2.40

Rewards discount: -$0.68

Paid: $4.91

Without the discounts I would have paid $162.95. I ended up paying $72.57 – a whopping 56% off – which I put on my credit card that I pay in full. We don’t often take advantage of the outlet stores as they are far from us. But this experience taught me several things to get the most for my buck.

• Shop with a calculator. Most stores advertise the discount, but seldom say how much it will actually cost. Having a sign that reads 75% off looks more appealing than having one that reads “Only $49.99.”
• Get it dirt cheap – Bring coupons with you or discounted gift cards. You can set up alerts on sites that sell them to get notified when there’s one you’re interested in.
• Dress properly – Time is money. Standing in line waiting for a dressing room will only slow you down. Instead try sweaters and shirts over what you are wearing as you shop. Pants, shorts and skirts can be tried on in the dressing room. Remember to bring in the size you think you are plus a smaller one and larger one because if it doesn’t fit you’ll have to get back in the long line to try it on.
• Return policy – Make sure you know what the store’s return policy is. Some stores will let you make returns, but only at the same store you made the purchase. If you live several miles from the outlet, this may not be worth it to you as you’ll end up spending more money on gas.
• Get the basics – Outlets are not for those who want to be on top of the latest trends as you’ll end up finding last season’s fashion. Instead buy pieces that can work with what you already have like jeans (these never go out of style).

Burrs & Berries / Flickr

This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.

Kids want to look good at school; parents surveyed by the National Retail Federation are committed to “spend where you need to, save where you can.” Here is how to meet both needs by saving money on back to school fashion. So what are this year’s fashion trends?

Tip: We post back to school deals at Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, and more every Thursday.

• Color-blocking- This trend is huge! You may have already seen someone giving it a try by wearing bold colors at the same time, above. If done right, it looks chic, but it can quickly go south. The trick is to stay within the color family. Try a bold pink dress with a bright red cardigan and black patent leather flats. The good thing about this trend is that your kids continue wearing most of his/her summer clothes saving you major moolah!
• Boho chic - I love nothing more than being comfortable and this style is carefree. Boho chic is about layering, which works well for the crisp fall and chilly winter months. Start with a summer dresses and add pieces like knit sweater, tights, faux fur vest, or a scarf to make it fall appropriate. Florals are no longer just for summer so don’t put those pieces away just yet. This style is not new so your kids may already have tights and flowy shirts.
• Mini-me look – You’ll be seeing a lot of boys wearing miniature versions of their father wardrobe like blazers and army jackets. This will most likely happen when they have to dress up, otherwise they’ll be dressing like the next trend.
• Skater boy – Skinny jeans, plaid shirts, and skater shoes, like Vans, are back with a vengeance. You’ll be seeing a lot of urban colors like acid green, blues and grey. For those of you who don’t like tight pants, this season they will share the spotlight with full silhouette pants and bell bottoms.

Now that you know what’s in, here are four tips to help you save money on these trends.

1. Do inventory – Go through your kids’ closet or your own and see what they have. If their clothes or shoes don’t fit them, set it aside for a sibling, clothing swap, donation, or garage sale. You can use the money you make to buy other items.
2. Shop in your closet – You’ll probably find your kid already has pieces you can make work for any of the above looks. Many fashion pieces, like skinny jeans, are returning and the simple T-shirt and jeans combo remains stylish. To breathe new life into clothes, add accessories. This will save you money by not having to build an entirely new wardrobe.
3. Only buy what you need – According to the National Retail Federation, the biggest trend this year is department store shopping. That’s because many stores are selling fashionably-forward labels like Madonna’s Material Girl and Lauren Conrad’s LC. And don’t forget that many of these stores are participating in tax free shopping days.
4. Splurge vs. Save – If your kid’s backpack is still in good condition wash it and reuse it to save money. Instead, splurge on a good jacket or warm shoes to get your kids through the winter.

How are you preparing for back to school?

These bacon-wrapped scallops were the closest thing I could find! Credit: Fuzzy Gerdes/Flickr

The five winners of “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half” have been announced on the Frugal Festival site!

Today’s book giveaway is for “Poor Girl Gourmet,” a cookbook that sticks to a $15 per meal budget.Contest ends 11:59 p.m. EST tonight, June 14, 2011.

More free food announced at this year’s Frugal Festival Food! Libertine will be passing out bacon-wrapped tater tots at the in-person event June 25 in Canoga Park. That line is going to be long!

Get your tickets now!

Shortcuts.com is giving away $5 grocery gift cards at Frugal Festival Food! w/ easy signup!

One of our sponsors, Shortcuts.com, is giving away $5 Ralphs gift cards to anyone at Frugal Festival Food! who joins its email list, which means you essentially make your money back!!!

What? You missed the post about how to get into the Festival on June 25 in Los Angeles for $5? (That’s $5 off the normal ticket price of $10.)

Are kids allowed/invited to Frugal Festival Food!? Readers Arikka, Gina Marie, and Dee have been asking. The answer is yes! Find out what kids activities we’ll have on the Festival blog.

Get your tickets now!

Not bad for unlimited visits during the month. The COOP’s hours are Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The voucher expires September 30, 2010.

Caveats: you cannot drop off your child and leave. Not valid with any other offer. New customers only. You can buy vouchers for others as gifts but aren’t supposed to resell them.

This is not paid content, however I earn a commission on every purchase made through Daily D.

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.

Kids eat free every Wednesday at El Torrito. Luuuv their chips and salsa. (Bargain Babe shared this deal.)

Still hungry? All you can eat BBQ is just $12 Monday and Tuesday at Willy’s Smokehouse. I am so there! (Shared by EvieK)

Dodgers tickets are half off for many of their early season games. Great prices for the Anaheim Angels, too!

Put this one on your calender for next weekend. The United Methodist Church in Northridge is holding a massive yard sale going on March 6.

The DLM clothing warehouse is opening its doors again to the public for a massive sale with prices at 80-90 percent below retail. Last time I blogged about DLM there was a huge response.

You can search for sales within 5-100 miles of a particular zip code. A search in my hood resulted in two sales I already knew about and four new ones. Now if only I had kids!

You can post a sale on the site and review sales you’ve been to – all for free. Business listings are for a fee, however. A mother-daughter team launched the site in 2009 and they are still adding features, like a page listing all sales by state.

ConsignmentMommies.com also has a blog with helpful tips. One recent post shared pricing guidelines for maternity and kids clothing:

• Tee shirt $1-2
• Casual Top $3-4
• Dress Top $5
• Jeans $5
• Jean Shorts $2-5
• Shorts $1-4
• Pants $1-4
• Dress pants $3-6
• Casual Dress $3-5
• Dress $5-8
• Suit $10-$15
• Swim Suit $5-10

These sound like great prices to me! One parent I interviewed years ago said she made enough money selling her kid’s old gear, clothing, and toys, to buy what they needed for the next growth spurt. I hope this site helps you find a sale with great prices near you.

The store is currently promoting clothes for school pictures but the coupon can be used on pretty much anything.

Caveats: good in the U.S. only, one time use, one per customer, not valid on gift cards or previous purchases.

Using this coupon helps support BargainBabe.com!