Well, my wee Chicklettes, this last weekend was one hell of a ride. And not one of those fun, twirly rides that make you dizzy and happy. No, I’m talking about one of those scary-ass rides that plummet you 1000 feet straight down, into a pitch-black tunnel, through about 50 loop-de-loops, only to come to an abrupt, neck-snapping end. Yeah, THAT ride. I hate that ride…
However, this weekend’s ups and downs are mostly of a family-related, personal sort, so I won’t bore you with the deets. Needless to say, come Monday, everything is (mostly) alright. So let’s move on to the frugally goodness, shall we?
Since I have a slew – A LITERAL SLEW, PEOPLE – of ideas and recs from you guys, I figured I should get to posting them. Before you get the wrong idea that I don’t listen to you. Because I do listen. I’m just ungodly slow to react. Never forget, I am the laziest person you know.
The first tip comes from Richard, who really, really, REALLY wants me to do a segment about his company:
“We have a great way for your readers to save money. A few of our local members who all have saved hundreds of dollars a year, contacted and asked me to share with you about how we all save money by swapping books, CD’s and DVD’s (uh, okay). For every book, CD or DVD that you mail out, you get another one mailed to you for FREE and they are yours to keep!
We have 3 clubs that allow members to swap books, movies and music with each other through the US Mail. You can visit them at www.paperbackswap.com, www.swapaCD.com and www.swapaDVD.com.
We have over 4 Million books to choose from which makes us the largest book club in America and over 300,000 CD’s and 183,000 DVD’s. We also have a great NEW feature on the Paperbackswap.com site, called THE PBS MARKET, it is for members and non-members, you can purchase brand new books at a steep discounted price. If you are a member you can also apply your credits to the purchase to make it even cheaper…”
And the rest is a PR pitch to get on Fox 9. As histrionic as his email might be, this sounds like an awesomely great idea. I’ve already dabbled in online clothing swaps, so why not branch out? Works for me! However, I’ve already done a segment on swapping so, um, sorry. Moving on.
And here’s another segment pitch, this one for inexpensive wedding dresses:
“Wedding season is around the corner and in case you’re planning any “Cheap Chick” wedding segments (just did wedding gifts, guess she missed that one), I thought you may be interested to learn about a Web site called www.preownedweddingdresses.com.
Many women are seeing dollar signs when they spot their wedding gowns taking up in space their cramped living quarters. So, they are trading sentimentality for cold-hard-cash (I heartily approve of that!) and listing them for sale on Web sites that help them do just that.
And with nearly 5,000 dresses currently for sale, budget-minded brides are getting their dream dresses for way below retail prices by buying them via the pre-owned route.” Thanks, Laura, for the tip! And I’ll see about the segment…
And last, here’s an awesome tip from Patch Canada, who didn’t suggest I do a segment about it, so OF COURSE, his ideas is part of this week’s Fox 9 story. Yep, I’m contrary:
“I have a great tip for your Shopping May-hem Challenge (Patch reads the blog! Points to Patch!). Goldstar, or www.goldstar.com, is a web site that sells half-price tickets to theatre, comedy, concerts, sports, tours, and more. We just launched in the Twin Cities yesterday (umm… this was from a few weeks ago. Oops.).
It is free to join and each week you can receive offers for local events at half-price. So, I hope that you’ll take a look. Good luck with the challenges – because finding the right boots is a challenge too (and he even remembers the Challenge’s caveats! Best. Reader. Ever.).”
Thank you to everyone who sends me tips and ideas. I do read each and every one I receive, and try to work them into the blog and on TV when I can. Please keep them coming, and please continue to bear with my laziness. Okay? Thanks!
3 Comments
Sorry to hear about your family-related personal stuff.
Best wishes and good vibes to you all.
No prob about the delays. Life has a way of getting *in* the way of even our best-laid plans. Patience and understanding are so important. Thanks for the cool site and groovy Fox 9 segments (I rarely get to watch them, unfortunately). Good luck with everything!
I signed up for that goldstar.com site and already found a deal i am interested in… if I can find someone to go to the GEM SHOW with me! The Regular price tix *$7) are free, buy you have to pay the $3 service fee. Whatever, that is still more than half off all-told. I’m excited!
My current favorite book swap site is paperbackswap, but there are a bunch out there. I also use BookMooch and Bookins (which also lets you swap about anything like eBay). The books aren’t actually FREE, you need to pay shipping, which sometimes is not as good a deal as just buying something at a thrift store. But it is a great deal on books that you just can’t find cheaply, especially if you get your auto request wish list in order on PBS. Then it’s worth it to get a new release for the cost of shipping another book. But not as cheap as getting on the wish list at a library early! You can also “friend” people on these sites and trade with them outside of the list.