kruemi / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Have you been on Swap.com lately? The site has expanded beyond books and media items! We’ve been saying it for a while now, swapping is the new shopping, and with its latest expansion, Swap.com is making it much easier to trade all sorts of items.
Disclosure: Our friends, The Swapaholics, are the swap experts and event planners for Swap.com’s events around the country. You may remember them from our 2010 Frugal Festival — they co-sponsored the event!
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!
Bring your homemade jam, bread, herbs, and other goodies to swap! Credit: jeffreyw/Flickr
We are super psyched to announce there will be a food swap at Frugal Festival Food on June 25!!! Make sure to reserve a spot now.
A swap item worth trading for. Credit: knitgirl63/Flickr
Another story that caught my eye in the May issue of ShopSmart magazine is where NOT to shop online. The thing is, I totally disagree! What do you think?
- Warehouse clubs – ShopSmart argues that non-members pay a surcharge of 5% online, wiping out savings.
I say, do the math. If you’re spending less than
m-c / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
We’ve said it before swapping is the new shopping. This Earth Day sign up for Thredup.com, a company that let’s mothers swap their kids’ clothing, to get a deal.
Thredup.com was founded Earth Day 2010 and to commemorate their anniversary they are giving anyone that signs up a $13.95 credit to begin swapping. That means you’ll only pay $2 for a box of pre-loved clothes!
Listings by other mothers include toys, books and outgrown kids clothes. To learn more about how it works, check out Bargain Babe’s post about the swapping website. (more…)
I share five must read blog posts about saving money every Friday.
Wonder why your gas bill is so high? Here are 10 culprits. (Change of Address)
Itching for a new wardrobe? Find a swap near you on Swap.com, which recently acquired my Frugal Festival! co-sponsors from 2010, The Swapaholics. The link even has a guide on how to host your own swap. Cool beans!
Be a frugal traveler without missing out. Here are seven tips from Lonely Planet, including three tips I never thought of. Thanks to my Dad for sharing this one!
Biggest drugstore mark ups. These 11 products are marked ups as much as 399%. (WalletPop)
Morbid, but true. Don’t take your passwords to your grave, or you’ll cause your family additional strife. (MSN Money Central)
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of Bobbisbargains.
LA Swapaholics Sip & Swap
Last week I went to a great swap run by The Swapaholics, co-hosts of last year’s Frugal Festival. Swaps come in all different sizes and shapes. Some are free. Some you have to pay to get in. Some are in person. Some are virtual. You can swap everything from houses to horses. Either way, swaps are a big money saver.
To get the most value out of a swap, here are the five things you need to know:
- The merchandise is tied to the people who attend the event. If you are looking for plus-size clothes and everyone at the swap is pencil thin, you won’t find anything but accessories. The best way to find the kind of swap you want is to search online for “swap”+ “your city”+ “qualifier.” The qualifier is the kind of swap that you are looking for such as mom, kid, toys, plants, plus-size, books, or recipes. So you might search “swap Los Angeles kids.”
- I believe in swapping karma. (more…)
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Reader Nanette is the winner of my review copy of Toss, Keep, Sell!: The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In. Nanette made it her goal to declutter her home this year. She writes:
This might really help me. I had as a goal for 2010 to clean and declutter my home. It has been a (almost) yearlong project and I will need to continue into 2011. Not what I had envisioned!! I have made some progress but not enough. I seem to try to get everything done on week-ends and still have fun. Doesn’t quite work out that way. I need a fresh idea! (more…)
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Leah Ingram shares tips to turn trash into cash in her 250-page book Toss, Keep, Sell!: The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In, which was borne out of her blog, SuddenlyFrugal.com. You may be tempted to hire someone to clean up the mess, but why spend money when you can be making money? Ingram writes:
There’s no reason to pay anywhere from $50 to $100 an hour to hire a professional organizer to go through your closets — you can do that yourself. That’s where this book comes in. It will help frugal folks like you get your home in order and help you find ways to make money from things you no longer need or want.
In her book, Ingram shows you how to (more…)
cloudzilla / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
TV subscribers have been dropping their cable subscription more frequently in the past few months, according to a recent USA Today story. Those canceling their contracts are not switching to other cable companies or satellite TV. They are simply going without.
The change is not solely because of technological advances like the ease of watching TV and movies online, but the economy.
“The price of cable TV has risen to the point where it’s simply not affordable to lots of lower-income homes, “said an analyst to USA Today. “And right now there are an awful lot of lower-income homes. The evidence suggests that what we’re seeing is a poverty problem rather than a technology phenomenon.”
I have never had cable TV and don’t understand why (more…)
Clothing swaps have given way to swaps of make up, vegetables, and cars. Credit: alanadanielle88/Flickr
This post was brought to you by Workwear, specialists in uniforms and corporate clothing.
Think swapping is just for clothes fanatics? If you’ve ever used Netflix, Craigslist, or attended a garage sale, you are a swapper. I recently talked to Melissa Massello, co-founder of TheSwapaholics, which was recently acquired by Swap.com, about swapping beauty products, vegetables, and cars. Full disclosure: Melissa and I co-hosted a swapping event called the Frugal Festival this past July. At the end of our interview, I pulled together resources to find a swap near you, what to bring to a swap, and swap tips for newbies.
Clothing swapping is fast becoming main stream. Clothing swaps have been around, as one blogger said, for as long as women knew their friends had closets. (more…)
Smashbox - Here are three Smashbox beauty coupons you may be able to combine for a triple savings whammy!
Back to school deals - Here is my latest round up of back to school deals through August 7, 2010, including a free backpack at Office Depot with a $10 purchase. Nice!
Free kids clothes swapping trial - Here is a swapping coupon for a free trial membership at ThredUp, and online site that facilities the swapping of children’s clothes.
Check back this afternoon for the latest coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
Yazmin Cruz
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
The Frugal Festival was the first time I had been to any kind of swap. That day, as volunteers and I sorted through clothes, the anticipation built in the room. Come the swap start the anticipation turned to excitement as hundreds of people rushed in the doors to swap. I didn’t swap then, but got my first swapping experience this past weekend.
I was invited to a garden swap in the Milagro Allegro Community Garden in Highland Park, California where gardeners exchanged everything from tools to produce.
I must admit I was a skeptic. I didn’t think I’d end up liking it as much as I did. I don’t even like participating in Secret Santa come Christmas time because I usually end up with the worst gift. But not this time.
The swap was free of charge and was organized much like the Frugal Festival. There was a specific area for everything people brought to swap like plants, seeds, magazines, produce and “worm tea,” which is worm pee used for fertilizing.
I arrived a little late but was still able to exchange the seeds I had brought with me. I had all kinds of seeds including dill, broccoli rabe, kale, and lima beans. I also had seeds that I’d harvested myself like basil and cilantro seeds.
Here’s my haul and approximately how much I saved:
- “Organic Gardening” magazine – $3.99
- “Sunset” magazine – $4.99
- Heirloom cucumber seeds – $2
- Organic Plums (10) – $6.90
- Organic Tomatoes (2 lbs.) – $5
- Aloe Vera plant – $4
- Organic Bay Leaves – $4
- Organic Pineapple Sage – $2
Total Saved: $32.88
My goods.
I am now a believer – swapping is the new shopping. If you’ve never participated in a swap, you must. BargainBabe.com writer Bobbi wrote a post on how to get the most out of a swap that is essential to read before heading to your first swap.
I already leafed through my magazines and found yummy recipes using my tomatoes and bay leaves, and I can’t wait to try my pineapple sage tea, which I hear is good for anxiety. The only thing I wasn’t able to get was the worm tea, but I hear the community garden is looking to have swaps every last Sunday of the month and you know I’ll be there.
What kind of swaps have you participated in and how much money have you saved?
Today only! Get 25% off with this Banana Republic coupon, which expires June 30, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Online only.
Got kids? Want a cheap source of clothes? Join ThredUp and get the Pro membership (worth $30/year) free for two months. It ends up being about $.81 per item of clothing. Cheap!
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
irina slutsky/Flickr
By Mike Barclay of 10CentsWorth.com.
A few weeks back a friend of mine who works for a local radio station approached me. “Would you be interested in passing out a bunch of flyers for an event we’re doing if I got you some concert tickets?” I instantly said yes, seeing as I’m the world’s biggest concert guru. Now I am the proud owner of free tickets to two shows I’ve been hoping to see.
But were they really free?
Technically the tickets were not free. Did I have to pay money for them? I did not. Was there some type of exchange that was beneficial to both parties? Yes there was. We used a medium that most people today don’t really think about, or even understand they may be doing. It’s called bartering.
Bartering is defined as trading goods or services without the exchange of money, according to Dictionary.com. We should all look into it. How much money would we end up saving if we traded services or items around the house for something we did need?
Here are three great sites I’ve found in my swapping frenzy as of late.
Most people use Craigslist for classifieds, but have you ever clicked on the “barter” section in your cities? Craigslist is great if you want to go super general. And it’s always going to be local. If you’re looking for more specific swapping, check out these next two sites.
SwapTree.com – As I mentioned before, I’m a big music fanatic. So when I found SwapTree, I wet myself. It’s all about media: books, DVD’s, CD’s, etc. You can trade your stuff or browse what other people have and make an offer. Needless to say, I’ve had it up on my computer screen for the past week, constantly looking at what I can find.
Zwaggle.com – Zwaggle is strictly for all things tot-sized. Babies, toddlers, you name it, they’ve got something for it. It’s a perfect site for new couples having their first child and for the couple with kids who’ve outgrown everything and want to get rid of the stash.
So the next time you want a new CD, clothes, books, or need something fixed and can offer something in return, remember you don’t always have to use dollars. Look into trading or swapping and see if you can do it without having to touch your wallet.
