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Welcome to Bitches on a Budget .
We're a best selling book from NAL/Penguin, a blog, and an attitude. If you’re a woman who lusts after bargains (and, uh, other things), who wants the high life even when the bankbook’s low, who likes to eat well and look amazing without the guilty conscience, and enjoys a good laugh—well, you’ve come to the right place.
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Pamper the Bitch. No, Not You! Your Pet
July 29th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Dogs, pets, simple pleasures, Travel & Entertainment
In the final chapter of our book we come to your very favorite bitch—no, not you! Your dog. Pamper the Bitch reminds you that sweet yapping Maxie still deserves some special treatment (even when your bankbook is whimpering). But you’ve gotta be smart. No overpriced doggie clothes or mani-pedis. We give you tips on affordable feeding, medical treatment, travel, entertainment. And if there’s no pet in your life, we outline the most economical, ethical ways to acquire one.
Don’t worry– we’ve got stuff for feline-lovers, too. We’re bitches after all, and know you like to pamper little pussy, too.
Here’s a sample:
Have fun like a dog. (Can you keep your mind clean for just one minute?) In these tight times dogs are the perfect companions. They remind us what’s important. They teach us to appreciate FREE things: friendship, play, the natural world. They require absolutely nothing but company, good nutrition, and exercise. So enjoy having Maxie. Get humble. Let her teach you a new way of being– this is a valuable lesson any time at all, but especially in a rough economy. Find pleasures in the little things. You know, snuggling, stroking, black leather collars…
Bitches on a Budget is published by the New American Library division of Penguin Books. Ask for it at your local bookshop or Amazon.
Dirty Little Secrets (Redux)
July 27th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Baby, bargains, budget, mamas, parenting, Shopping

If you haven’t noticed, we like to titillate. Call it arrested development, call it dirty minds. For example, when the waiter asks if we’d “like anything else,” the voice in our head goes to all kinds of places–and we’re not talking dessert. We’re not ashamed. Getting dirty (even if it’s just in our imagination) is both fun and cheap, and a bitch on a budget can’t turn her back on cheap thrills (even if they’re all fantasies). So why are we admitting this now? Because we’re about to talk about the least dirty thing we know. That’s right, we’re going to talk about babies.
Since we’re being honest—this is bitch-to-bitch—babies are sexy’s anti-matter. You think we’re kidding? Consider the evidence at hand:
Babies turns lingerie into a support garment.
Staying up all night is sexy, until there’s a baby involved.
Focusing a camera on a bed is sexy, unless it’s attached to a baby monitor.
So why are we even talking about babies? Because, while it’s one thing to have your bundle of cute joy liquidate your sexy surplus, it’s quite another to have extraneous baby merchandise bankrupt your savings account.
Without further ado, here are three things that every mother is told to buy, but which we think you can do without:
1. The wipes warmer. Is your grandmother a tough old broad? Well, nobody bothered to warm her wipes. Unless you live in an igloo, we think this is $20 that would be better spent on takeout.
2. The Diaper Genie. Nothing motivates a consumer like fear. Do you want to smell poop? You do not. A Poop-Be-Gone system (all variations on the same theme, a technological marvel of a trash can and refillable liners) seems an easy solution. Here’s what you fail to anticipate: at some point a dirty diaper will EXPLODE while being fed into the patent-pending mechanism (this usually happens at night). The refills for What Poop?, What Poop II?, and Super-Whatcha-Talking-About Poop are non-compatible—and the convenience store never has the one you need. Consider this: wet diapers outnumber dirty by a factor of five or six to one. Our solution? If you’re using disposable diapers, get a small, lidded trashcan for the nursery. Pop the wet diapers in there. Save plastic grocery bags for those times when your little bundle of joy makes a bundle of misery—bag it and get that thing outside. You’ll save $300 a year on liners alone.
3. Barcalounger Highchairs. Everyone knows that babies drool, spit-up, spill, and throw food. So why the trend towards upholstered high chairs with all those nooks and crannies? We don’t get it. Let’s look at another population that has trouble eating without making a mess: bachelors. What do they prefer? That’s right: black leather sofas. If you find a black leather highchair, snap it up. Otherwise, we’d suggest molded plastic. IKEA makes one for $20. With all the time you’ll save in clean-up, think about all the fun you’ll have doing more pleasurable things!
Lovin’ Our Garden Weed: A Recipe for Poppers
July 26th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: Food & Spirits, recipes, weed, zucchini recipe
We Love Our Garden Weed
It’s that time of the summer when the weed in our garden runs wild! We’re not complaining, we love our weed, but as good as it is early on the more you use the trickier it gets. Face it, overdosing is not a delicious...
Home Remedies to Get You out of Your Depression
July 20th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: budget, Decorating, home design, linens, mirrors, Shopping
We all need a little pick-me-up from time to time, whether it’s a new lipstick or a home refresher. Here’s a teaser from chapter 4 of Bitches on a Budget, all about updating your home on a shoestring. We’ll give you the lowdown on what...
A Bitch on Wheels Knows Her Limits
July 19th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: budget, buying cars, cars, savings, Shopping, used cars, women and cars
A Bitch on Wheels Knows Her Limits is the title of the chapter in our book about cars, bikes, scooters, blades, trains, shopping carts…basically, all rolling transport.
Since a new car is ghastly expensive when you factor in the cost of the...
Bitches on a Budget Tongue Teasing Devil Brownies
July 16th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: brownie recipe, brownies, Food & Spirits, simple pleasures, Travel & Entertainment
Back by popular demand the best brownies you’ll ever make. Period.
Food fashions fade in and out like pouffy skirts. It’s kind of tricky to know when to bite. The latest seems to be a hot and sweet tongue teasing, and we’re here to...
Stewed Blueberries
July 14th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: bargains, blueberries, budget, Food & Spirits, Health & Fitness, Shopping, simple pleasures
Blueberries are the best.
At this time of the summer blueberries are readily available and attractively priced. So attractively priced, in fact, that we often end buying more than we can bake, conserve, and munch in a timely manner. Our...
Chill Out at the Museum
July 13th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: art, bargains, cool, museums, Shopping, Travel & Entertainment
Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution 2008 Smithsonian Institution
It’s been unrelentingly hot where we live. Too hot to walk. Too hot to bike. Too hot to…ok, we won’t go there. So, we’re on the hunt for other...
Organic vs Non-Organic: Battle of the Budget
July 11th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Food & Spirits, Food and Spirits, Health & Fitness, healthy food, natural, organic
The Environmental Working Group * released their list of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables. They break it down into “The Dirty Dozen” those with the most residue from field to market and the “Clean 15” those that have the...
Make the Sexiest Summer Cocktails: Use St-Germain
July 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: cocktails, elderflower, Food & Spirits, st germain, summer cocktails, Travel & Entertainment
Make the sexiest summer cocktails using St-Germain. The most delicious liqueur ever made.
Made from hand harvested elderflowers the flavor is divine.
We’re totally crazy for St-Germain –it’s not too sweet, softly floral but not...
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| Being a "bitch" means having fun, knowing what you want, not settling for second best. It means being savvy. Smart. In control. In other words it’s a way of living—NOT a way of treating others. Be a bitch without being bitchy. Be generous and share your money-saving tips with the rest of us. Pretty please? We’re in it together, after all. (If that’s not enough to convince you, there’ll be prizes…) READ MORE » |
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