savings
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 vehicle, sales taxes, excise taxes, and insurance, we advise holding your hand when it comes to car purchases:
“Cars are not a fashion accessory. Get a grip and resist the auto industry’s new-model cycle. Beware that new-car smell luring you into “premature purchase”. Most cars should last at least eight to ten years before very costly repairs are necessary.”
That said, eventually the old beast runs out of gas and you need to invest in a new one. We offer guidance and smart resources for a gal looking for a car. We think buying used is one of the smartest ways to save since depreciation on a new vehicle is shockingly high, shockingly fast — 45% in the first 3 years of ownership. Just make sure you do your homework: buy from a dependable source and have it checked out by a hot mechanic with good hands. (Ok, you just need a good mechanic.)
How you finance your car purchase, whether it’s new or used, is important. We advocate for careful saving in advance to avoid leasing and loans, but we know that’s not always possible. So, before you go shopping for your car, head over to your own bank or credit union so you can go in armed to purchase with your own financing in place. While there are loads of upright dealer citizens, we know of too many stories where unscrupulous dealers play games with contracts and make excess profit off financing plans.
For more on all things that roll–including the ultimate in ‘to die for’ shopping trolleys–check out Bitches on a Budget!
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Use Less and Live Big
June 29th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: budget, Environment, Food & Spirits, green, Health & Fitness, savings
Our official mantra “less is more” makes us good green queens. While there’s little good to have come out of this recession, we count our blessings that the go-go days of consuming everything in our path are in the past. After all, nothing is less attractive than a bloated bitch.
Here’s a short list of ways to edit your life so that more becomes less:
Recycle everything. It is not only chic but also sexy. Think about it, how often in life do you get to go both ways? (Spring semester junior year was a long time ago). Take out the middleman for maximum satisfaction. Think consignment stores, backyard sales, flea markets, listings on Craig’s List, e-Bay — all are AC/DC fests extraordinaire.
Plastic surgery is out. Facial rejevunation is in. Think tiny tweaks, nips and jabs. No big jobs; they’re the equivalent of buying a Hummer when a Prius will get you around.
Be a bitch on wheels. Lobby your pols for dedicated bike lanes. Nothing is hipper than rolling to work on a vintage cruiser or zipping around town on an adorable red Vespa.
Go to museums and libraries. Do you need to own things to appreciate them? Do you need to spend hard earned cash to have pleasure? Absolutely not.
While we are tongue in cheek about most things (we wrote Bitches on a Budget — need we say more?) we never kid around when it comes to good food. Stay local, buy local, eat organic. Tiny carbon footprints to market result in fresher, more interesting, and better tasting foods.
Apply our “less is more” rule to almost everything you do. Lighten your load, your look, and make all the other B’s green with envy.
B’s feeling the love…
April 2nd, 2010 | Comments
Tags: bargain, budget, savings, simple pleasures, Travel & Entertainment
The Sassy Minx  wrote about Bitches on a Budget:
“Seriously, I LOVE this book. It’s for minxes like us, who know what we want but don’t want to pay the earth for it. Author-girl, Roz Hoffman is officially my new recession era fashion guru, travel agent, grooming consultant, therapist, sommelier and life coach all rolled into one – come meet her, read about her awesomeness, then buy the book – in that order.”
The Fashionable Housewife
 wrote about Bitches on a Budget:
“I think this is a deliciously funny must-read book for today’s financially challenged woman. Not only is this a great read, but it’s wonderfully informative as well. I love that Rosalyn Hoffman includes recommendations for all “budget levels”. Being on a budget means something different to everyone and this book includes it all, whether you are shopping at Wal Mart or Nordstrom.”
Dish
 wrote about Bitches on a Budget:
“Peppered throughout this cleverly written little tome, are bitchin’ tips which explain the secrets of being “thrifty”, “splurge worthy” and even “green ”. Complete with some bitchin’ recipes for dinner, cocktails and treats for the dog, Ms. Hoffman has covered all the bases and then some making this book a bitch to put down and a real find I want to share with all my bitch friends.”
Skirt
 wrote about Bitches on a Budget:
“Fashion and frugality have never blended well, but that’s all about to change with Bitches on a Budget …” ”This guide to learning to live luxuriously without filing for bankruptcy includes tips on wallet-friendly dining, where to find the most fabulous apparel bargains and how to become your own manicurist/interior designer/hair stylist. You can still survive these trying times in style, and save a ton of cash in the process!”
We’re blushing and this is just the tip of the iceberg…
A Welcome Madness
March 18th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: Health & Fitness, mamas, savings, simple pleasures, Travel & Entertainment
Sunshine! March Madness! Baseball! Fiddlehead Ferns! Asparagus! Evening walks! Yes, we’re entering the heady, glorious season of springtime. After the slog of winter comes fresh air, sandals, kites in the sky, little kids tucked in bed while it’s still light out. Happens every year, yet somehow this transformation never ceases to amaze us. Daylight Savings arrives and it’s like we’ve been bonked on the head with a hammer for three months and then, just like that, the hammering suddenly stops. Ahh. Mid-March rolls around with new light and earthy air, but we have no patience to finish the warm-up. Meaning we want to have fun. NOW.
And yet we’re B’s on a Budget, aren’t we? No willy-nilly trotting off to Italy, no open-air meals at the finest restaurants, no spontaneous shopping sprees for Miu-Miu sundresses and floppy hats. We want to celebrate this luminous season, but can’t spend too much.
In this spirit, we’ve composed a list of free/cheap spring activities that’ll make your blood pump, your soul wake up, your heart feel a little freer:
March Madness. OK, watching basketball is an indoor activity. But nothing captures the nutty, passionate, youthful antics of spring better than college basketball. Study the brackets. Throw a potluck party. Admire those lean, sweating, gorgeous players (men and women). Then go outside and shoot some hoops yourself. Yes, you: PLAY.
Buy a hula hoop. Five bucks. Amazing exercise. Do it in the front yard with the kiddos. Entertain the neighbors.
Forced blossoms. A branch of barely budding forsythia will spring into bloom on your kitchen table, reminding you what’s to come.
Creepy Crawlies. Buy (or make!) the little ones in your life a bug box, and hand them a good old-fashioned magnifying glass. They’ll spend hours collecting worms and caterpillars and who-knows-what. Time to turn their attention away from Nature Programming and into NATURE.
Finally, and best of all, school plays. Spring is the high season of middle/high school drama departments. Support local talent by attending shows in your area. OK, some of it might be funny (we recall having some, uh, bladder control problems during a recent off-key rendition of OKLAHOMA), but the charm-to-price ration has never been higher. Applaud for the awkward high school boy who sings like an angel…. gasp at the strangely sublime beauty of a hundred souls belting “Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I’ll Love Ya, Tomorrow”. Remember when that was you? Give them a standing ovation.
Get up. Get out. It’s time.
Legos Are a Renewable Resource
March 10th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: kids, mamas, savings, Shopping
Parents have cornucopias of junk. Rubbermaid boxes overloaded with gadgets and gizmos of all shape and size. Puzzles, books, animals, tops, drums, kazoos, blocks, teethers, jack-in-the-boxes, wing-dings, do-hickies, whatchamacallits. And yet everyone invests in these same objects again and again. All the Mama B’s on your street are buying the same toys. Why not organize a swap? A toy library?
The allure of a new plaything vanishes after a little while… give it a couple weeks, a month, and the glow of the new fades; soon that cherished Mister Potato Head is growing extra eyes in a corner. Share him! Make some other rugrat’s day—and save her mama big bucks. Later, when he’s returned to you, little Jenny gets the sweet pleasure of re-acquaintance.
Invite trustworthy friends to join. Label objects. Rotate in and out monthly. Sanitize. It’s green, thrifty, and keeps life fresh. Sorry, Toys R Us—Smart B Us Mamas.
Be a Video Star Contest
March 3rd, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Contests, Food & Spirits, Health & Fitness, savings, Shopping, Travel & Entertainment
We never give up. (It can be kind of an annoying habit or a great strength–depends who you ask.) Anyway, we have this vision– the greatest piece of installation art on a Facebook fan page ever! We like to live without rules, be on the edge, we don’t know of anyone else doing this–besides this is FREE entertainment. Like all great art we’ve given it a cool post modern name: Video Contest: Script #1. Script you ask? Yes we going to give you two sentences that we want you to start your video with, the idea behind this is that we are a united community of struggling B’s all with the same problem. But each and every one of us although we share the same human struggle of being ‘bitches on a budget’ has their own unique way to look at this and we want to know what it is.
Video yourself (nothing X rated please) and post your videos here (click on the comments section right below the title of this post). As they come in we’ll re-post them on our fan page . You’ll be able to watch everyones and then we’re going to figure out a way to have everyone vote on their favorite videos. (Still working on it) Here it is start practicing your script:
Hi. My name is _______. I’m a Bitch on a Budget. Yesterday I went out and bought ________ and today I’m ashamed. Here’s what happened (share your sad tale of buyers remorse):_________________.
Finish your video with: Bitches on a Budget–I need help.
Lights, camera, action.
Contest #5: Re-Purpose The Ordinary—Beauty Secrets of Savvy B’s
February 28th, 2010 | 41 Comments
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Contests, Food & Spirits, savings, Shopping
Our high school biology teacher used to tell us that shampoo was a “Madison Avenue lie.” He’d stand before the class, proudly stroke his overgrown bowl haircut, and say, “Look! I wash my hair with ivory soap and it comes out fine!”
OK, he was a little crazy, and we won’t go so far as to recommend using bar soap on your tresses (ugh!), but dear Mr. Fitz did have something of a point. He instilled in us a cynical eye… a desire to be empowered consumers, not to be lured by silly marketing or brand names… and to think about how products marketed for one thing can be used in other ways.
Case in point?
We’ve learned that cheap, tear-free baby shampoo doubles as a killer eye-makeup remover. That in a pinch, a dab of toothpaste dries up a zit. That on a warm day, an easy deep conditioning treatment involves coating hair in olive oil, wrapping it in plastic wrap, and sitting in the sun.
We’ve been known to use moisturizer as a hair gel and we have friends who swear that diluted apple cider vinegar is an amazing facial toner.
Now it’s your turn. How do you re-purpose ordinary products to extraordinary effects? What ‘off-brand’ uses do you find for the stuff in your cabinets?
(While we’re all for creativity, please no active ingredient chemical/prescription thingy’s that may do more harm than good–you know, like birth control pills ground with mortar and pestle, mixed with shave cream, and used as an insect repellent.)
Click comments above to leave your reply. The most creative, economical, savvy answer wins a copy BITCHES ON A BUDGET! Last day to post March 7.
Contest #4: Pucker Up
February 19th, 2010 | 42 Comments
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Contests, savings, Shopping
Nothing can change our mood or look as quickly/economically as lipstick/gloss. What’s your budget fave? Best lip product under ten bucks? Under five bucks? How low can you go?
Tell us by next Wednesday, Feb. 24. Click ‘comment’ above to enter. Random entry will be selected to win FREE COPY OF BITCHES ON A BUDGET!
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow*
December 20th, 2009 | Comments
Tags: savings, Shopping
Well, it’s happened (at least where we live). Mother nature, the supreme bitch, has given us the first blizzard of the season. And it’s reminded us of a tip we need to share. If you find yourself searching through boxes for little Johnny’s winter gear: the oh-so-adorable toggle-button wool coat and super-duper-thermal-spectacular-quadraphonic snow boots. But Johnny’s getting big, and the gear doesn’t fit. And a sinking pit is growing in your stomach because this stuff wasn’t cheap, and now you have to invest all over again.
Head over to your local kiddie consignment shop.
This time of year mamas everywhere are rooting through closets for mukluks and tiny parkas, only to discover gear that no longer fits their kiddos. This means hefty donations to the thrift store, which you smart b’s can capitalize on by giving and getting.
We spotted some very cute leopard-spotted mini Uggs for ten bucks—barely worn. Brand-name snowpants for five bucks. Our favorite find? A sweat shirt that says LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS, which naturally we snagged for a criminally cute toddler friend.
We also found sleds parked out front like a used car lot—plastic saucers, steel-runnered racers, and one family-friendly toboggan that could easily accommodate the Jolie-Pitts. Fraction of the price of new.
Regularly bring in your own pile of outgrown stuff. Be vigilant, and you can practically trade up, no cash exchanged, when a February growth spurt makes Junior’s snowpants look like clamdiggers.
So green and cheap, it warms our hearts.
*Read our article in the Huffington Post about Snow and Play and let us know what you think!
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