STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

travelgirl · Kate Spade

Thrifty girl challenge...BIG SAVINGS update!

Kelly · Hermes

RE: Thrify girl challenge

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Not really a deal, but I had my first yard sale ever this weekend and made $600!!! So my old stuff that I would have just donated/thrown away is helping to pay for new stuff. And I still have stuff leftover to ebay/take to Plato's closet and also donate.

travelgirl · Kate Spade

ttara123 wrote:

I haven't done this, but I know Krogers grocery store (at least the one by me) is doing a promotion where you can buy gift cards in certain denominations (I forget what exactly, I think it's like 100, 300, and 600 or something) and they'll add an extra 10% on (so you pay $100 for your gift card and get $110 put on it, etc)

I totally need to do this because we are at Krogers all the time. I'm adding this to my list!

travelgirl · Kate Spade

double post...

-- Edited by travelgirl at 07:25, 2008-07-28

travelgirl · Kate Spade

FashionPrincess wrote:

Not really a deal, but I had my first yard sale ever this weekend and made $600!!! So my old stuff that I would have just donated/thrown away is helping to pay for new stuff. And I still have stuff leftover to ebay/take to Plato's closet and also donate.

I need to do a yard sale too. How much time did you have to spend preparing for it? I know you can make some decent money doing this but I'm always afraid it will take me months to prepare. Did you do yours for one day or two?

Collette · Chanel

Ebaying everything in my closet that I haven't worn within a year. So far I've made over $1000 to put towards my Miami trip!

FashionPrincess · Hermes

travelgirl wrote:

FashionPrincess wrote:

Not really a deal, but I had my first yard sale ever this weekend and made $600!!! So my old stuff that I would have just donated/thrown away is helping to pay for new stuff. And I still have stuff leftover to ebay/take to Plato's closet and also donate.

I need to do a yard sale too. How much time did you have to spend preparing for it? I know you can make some decent money doing this but I'm always afraid it will take me months to prepare. Did you do yours for one day or two?

I'd say it took me about a week to prepare, go thru everything, price it, etc. I also had some friends that are preggo or just had a baby boy preshop my sale because I knew they'd be interested in buying some stuff, so I made a good bit of money before I ever even had my sale. And I did Saturday only.

Kitty · Hermes

RE: Thrifty girl challenge

Suasoria · Chanel

RE: Thrifty girl challenge...BIG SAVINGS update!

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Kitty wrote:
I also buy all my books used and then sell them back after I read them.

Kitty, have you had good luck selling books online? Do you use ebay, amazon, etc? I have a bunch of books and dvds I'd like to sell, but I have no idea how you go about doing this. Do you price your book the lowest to get it to sell?

I don't really have any tips... I try to drive less, and combine errands into one trip. I also try to buy fruits and veggies that are in season because they're cheaper.

BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

travelgirl wrote:

*****UPDATE**************************************************
My husband and I totally reworked our our life insurance, car insurance, and homeowners insurance (moved everything from State Farm to a few different companies that were all A++ rated) and saved over $1,000! Girls-if you haven't done this you should. It WAS time consuming and a bit of a hassle but well worth it!

-- Edited by travelgirl at 11:37, 2008-07-28

-- Edited by travelgirl at 18:02, 2008-07-28

Travelgirl, how did you research your new insurance companies? I also have all my insurances with State Farm and have been wanting to see how much $ I can save if I switch my insurances, however I get so overwhelmed with everything online and I dont know which companies are reputable. Is there a link you can provide or PM me the info? TIA!

clothes_horse · Dooney & Bourke

"Craigslist-I always check Craiglist for research studies I can do. In my area, they are listed under the "ETC" section. I signed up for one and qualified for a study paying $75.00!"

i tried this, and the site sent me to a page where i have to sign up for $60 a month in order to do the sureys. aren't they supposed to be free?

Cortney1982 · Chanel

I did the consignment thing last week. That was some easy cash and I cleaned closet at the same time!

Coupons! I used to get the Sunday paper every week and clip coupons. At the grocery store I'd easily save $12 a trip. I had a feeling this one clerk hated me and my coupons! She practically rolled her eyes and sighed as she was scanning them. Today I saved $15 by using 2 coupons on my new keyboard and stuff for my doggie!

Shopping at the right grocery stores. We have a WinCo but it takes about 10 extra minutes to get there but it is so worth it! Groceries are way cheaper when you bag them yourselves! I told my friend at work about it and she now shops there because she couldn't beleive how cheap it was!

Hermione · Kate Spade

clothes_horse wrote:

"Craigslist-I always check Craiglist for research studies I can do. In my area, they are listed under the "ETC" section. I signed up for one and qualified for a study paying $75.00!"

i tried this, and the site sent me to a page where i have to sign up for $60 a month in order to do the sureys. aren't they supposed to be free?

yes - some of those are scams. I have a hard time finding them in my area where they're real - you just have to be very careful and never pay money for anything that's supposed to MAKE you money!

travelgirl · Kate Spade

clothes_horse wrote:

"Craigslist-I always check Craiglist for research studies I can do. In my area, they are listed under the "ETC" section. I signed up for one and qualified for a study paying $75.00!"

i tried this, and the site sent me to a page where i have to sign up for $60 a month in order to do the sureys. aren't they supposed to be free?

You should never have to pay to do market research studies. Craigslist can be a goldmine for finding research studies but you also have to be really careful. I think it helps if you are near a large city and especially if your city has a manufacturing or consumer goods company nearby. Procter and Gamble is in my city so I get called to lots of studies for them but at the same time, you never know what you might find. You have to check often and just be smart about which companies you work with. I have done studies for all kinds of products and companies, anything from Peppridge Farms garlic bread to Tampax tampons (don't ask!). They should pay at least $35 an hour in order for it to be worth your while (in time and gas) in my opinion. Good luck!

travelgirl · Kate Spade

Actually, my husband did most of the research, god love him. Basically he asked a bunch of friends and co-workers if they were happy with their insurance and got referrals from them. Then he just started calling around. It took all day but was worth it. One thing he did say is to try to find a company in which your city is underserviced. After calling around my hubby found a company with great rates. He asked the rep why they were so affordable and the rep told him it was because the area in which we live was underserviced by them. In other words, there aren't that many people in this geographic area that do business with them which works to our advantage because they are willing to give good rates because the risk is low that they will be hit hard by a geographic catastrophe (tornado, earthquake) because they don't have a high concentration of their customers in this area.

-- Edited by travelgirl at 22:30, 2008-07-29