The Blonde Diaries

Budget Reading

I am an avid reader. I absolutely love to read just about anything. My absolute favorite genres are classics like Bronte and Austen and then chick lit.  Luckily when I go to the book store the classics are all usually in the $6-$8 range per book.  The chick lit books though are a totally different story.  I find the cheapest of those to be $13 and then they go up for soft covers!  Its really hard for me to justify buying a new author because I have been burned by so many that feel that all you need to do is write about 300 pages, include a loopy girl as the main character, a crappy or good boyfriend, and then put a pretty cover on the book in a bright color with swirly writing and that’s it.

So I’ve decided to look for alternative ways to read books.  There are some that I buy no matter what because I love the author and series/story line.  For those books I’ll usually venture to Borders or put them in my book queue at Book of the Month Club 2 (formerly Zooba) for $9.99 (hardbacks and free shipping!).  For others that I’m not sure about I use to do amazon.com used books but then I’d end up paying shipping and being left with stacks of books that I don’t have space for.

I started looking for new avenues.  The first one I found that I thought was really cool was the used book sale at my local library.  The library holds the sale the last Saturday of the month and they sell the donated used books for 25 cents (small paperbacks) or $1 (hard cover or large paperbacks).  I was shocked at how many chick lit books they had the other day.  I was able to walk out with 4 for $4 instead of $52!  Now this is also awesome because I now have a place to donate them when I am done.  I tried selling on amazon.com and half.com but the hassle of going to the post office and the fact that there are major sellers on there selling my books for pennies just isn’t worth it to me.

The other thing I read about today which I had no idea about and want to try is a site where you can swap books with other book fans.  I found a blog post about it on Janet’s Book Nook today where you can read all about it yourself Want to get rid of those old books? If you have used this service and have any experiences with them let me know by leaving a comment.

Trendy jewelry for your budget

While I agree that in these uncertain times and rising costs that buying trendy items is probably not the smartest thing for people to be doing but at the same time I can’t imagine not being somewhat fashionable/trendy each season. For the most part, I stick with a budgeted number each month for savings, necessities, and fun items with most money now going into savings first and very little going towards fun items.

I think of saving money similarly to diets or as I call my weight watchers journey life style changes. I am a child of the 90s - meaning I was born in the 80s but too young to remember those inflation times but remember the 90s very well as a prosperous time for most including myself. So trying to wean myself off of that lifestyle has been a tad challenging but I do have to give my parents credit for teaching me at a young age the importance of saving because that life lesson has stuck with me and does keep me from going overboard with my spending no matter the state of the economy.

So in order to stay trendy and fashionable I tend to stick with my old faithfuls: ebay, forever 21, and then department store sales. This strategy tends to work well with clothing but jewelry can be a tad tricky. The good thing is there is a new trend for chocolate diamonds (aka industrial grade diamonds). Chocolate diamonds are just what the name implies: brown diamonds. Now before you think I’ve flipped my lid hear me out. Chocolate diamonds are very close in color to smoky quartzes and thus you can find trendy jewelry for cheap without it looking too cheaply. Check out the example below.

You can easily find trendy and cheap jewelry online or in stores so be on the lookout for this trend as it is easier to get away with a knock off than the real thing. Thus saving you more money and keeping you fashionable in tough times.

Budget shopping: Clothes on Ebay?

I will admit I am less than thrilled about rising inflation and minimal salary increases to combat inflation here in the US. I know I don’t have much to complain about as I have a decent job in a market that is doing really well but since the unknown is looming out there I’m trying to be good and live in “recession” mode as Mike calls it. Basically living below our means not slightly below. I am glad to say that we have never been the type to live at or above our means so we have no debt but changing from going to the mall every few weeks to going less than once a month has been hard. Same thing with going out to eat - going from twice to once or not at all - though my body is loving me for that one.

So this week I decided to give ebay another try. A few years ago I bought a few BCBG shirts on there for cheap so I thought maybe I should try again. I need to update my work wardrobe somewhat so might as well try budget shopping via ebay. So far I’m doing ok. I have won 2 items - neither work appropriate though and missed out on 2 others and have spent about $50 rather than the retail price of $250. I have a few items I’m watching as well but will probably pass as I really need to focus on work clothes!

Now ebay is one of those things that you really need to know a few things before jumping in especially if you are clothes shopping.

1. Know your brands and sizes - Ebay sellers don’t allow returns like Macy’s so make sure you know what size you are before buying.  I pop into Nordstroms and Saks every few months to try on clothes I like to see what size I am so that I am always current for ebay purposes.
2. Know your prices - Not everything is a bargain on Ebay.  Know the generalities on how much specific brands you are looking at costs and which items are currently selling or maybe at the outlet (and potentially cheaper than on ebay).  Thanks to online shopping at major department and retail stores this is fairly easy.
3. Pay attention to the seller’s stock - Sellers with a ton of the same exact item could be selling a knockoff at a high price.  This mainly occurs with sellers who are not in North America or Europe.
4. Read feedback - not sure about buying on ebay - read the feedback score of your potential seller focusing on the recent 6 months of activity.  If you don’t like the reviews find another seller with similar items.
5. Set a price you are willing to pay for a particular quality - meaning if its used maybe you don’t want to spend more than $20 + shipping versus a new with tags item you might spend more on.
6. Read the terms of the auction and the quality of the item in the description.  Be aware that some sellers only take paypal or only ship on certain days.  If you don’t like the terms or the descriptions walk away.

Budget Surf and Turf

Two years ago if you would have told me surf and turf would be one of my favorite things to eat I would have laughed you out of the room. I was not a huge fan of beef at all nor did I like crab meat back in the day. But over the years my taste buds have changed and I have learned to love a good steak and I’m still coming around on the crabmeat part.

So earlier this week, Mike and I decided to cash in his Christmas gift from work since we had finally made some room in the freezer. As promised, Omaha Steaks delivered our order via UPS Friday afternoon: 4 top sirloins, 2 lbs King Crab legs, 1.5 pounds shrimp. We decided that on Saturday we would attack 2 of the steaks and the 2 pounds of crab legs which gave me exactly 24 hours to figure out what I needed to do to cook these suckers. All in all everything turned out pretty well Saturday night. Talk about being Yumm-O!

I did a little price checking and much to my surprise, Omaha Steaks is a tad out of our price range. But the food and the concept was so good that I decided to start looking for budget ways to make this at home. Here is what I have found:

1. My local Kroger has been putting steak on sale quite a bit lately. Mike actually was walking by the meat counter last week and found 2 steaks marked down for $5 with the Kroger card. These were not about to “expire” nor were they turning brown. So lessons learned: Join your grocery store’s reward program and check for sales every time you go!
2. The surf part can be made with any seafood really - shrimp, crab, crawfish, etc. So not only check for what is on sale but don’t be afraid to either cut the poundage down (2 pounds for 2 people was an insane amount of crab) or go for the imitation stuff. Imitation crab meat is not all that scary and it tastes pretty much like the real deal - the bonus is that its half the price!
3. Its all about how you season each part of the meal. Here in Houston, garlic butter is used as your “steak sauce” not A1. So either make your own at home by simmering minced garlic in some cheap butter on the stove or ask next time you go to a steak restaurant for them to pack a little extra with your to-go boxes. Its very yummy and you don’t have to worry about figuring out the recipe.

I hope this helps you in planning your next surf and turf night as I know I will be referring back to this thread when I finally defrost the $5 steaks Mike bought for us. Happy budgeting and cooking!

Online Shoe Shopping: Budget Saver?

With the price of continuing to rise and rumored to hit $4.50 a gallon this summer, I have been looking for ways to save money. One thing I thought about today after spending yesterday driving my friend to the mall and surrounding shopping centers during her visit was shopping online. My thought was not only would I save time by shopping online but I could possibly save money by not having to drive to stores with the high prices of gas. I found one pretty nifty site: FootwearEtc.com. They offer free shipping, no sales tax, and lifetime returns. I also noticed they sell a variety of popular brands like Uggs Australia, Ecco shoes, and New Balance at reasonable prices. If you are looking to save some money in your budget give online shopping a try.