The Fabuless Life » Bargains

Cash For Appliances

L.Jay — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:31:07 +0000

You’ve heard about Cash for Clunkers, but you may not have heard about Cash For Appliances, another government-run rebate program that is geared toward saving your household money.

Backed by an initial $300 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the goal of the program is to help make American homes more energy-efficient while stimulating the economy. Some states already have a rebate program – in that case, federal money will supplement funds currently being distributed.

Rebates should range from $50 to $200 per appliance depending on the state and what you’re buying. The Department of Energy wants the cash focused on heating and cooling equipment, appliances, and water heaters, since these products offer the greatest energy savings potential.

Qualifying appliances that have earned the Energy Star rating from the DOE are eligible for rebates including: central air conditioners, heat pumps (air source and geothermal), boilers, furnaces (oil and gas), room air conditioners, clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators, and water heaters.

More good news: You don’t need to trade in an old appliance to get a rebate on a new one. And in fact, your state may offer additional rebate money for recycling your used appliance.

If you are in the market for a new appliance, don’t hesitate. Many states have just kicked off their programs, but Kansas ran out of funds in ten days, handing out $2.6 million in rebates already! Starting this month, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have begun offering rebates. Stay tuned for other states joining the giveaway.

And speaking of the federal governments “Cash For…” programs, another one might be headed our way. The details of the plan aren’t finalized, but President Obama has called on Congress to “provide incentives for consumers who retrofit their homes to become more energy efficient”. If the plan (dubbed “Cash For Caulkers”) goes through, you could possibly earn a credit of up to $12,000 on the cost of labor and materials to weatherize your home. We’ll be tracking this rebate for you as well!

Black Friday Deals

L.Jay — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:26:49 +0000

Black Friday deals are being “leaked” in advance of the popular shopping frenzy-day, and one has to wonder if these “leaks” are truly that, or if some savvy marketing manager is getting the word out early. In any event, we’re glad to have the info beforehand, in order to make an educated plan of attack on where to go, and what to buy.

OfficeMax had some of its deals leaked even before Halloween. And while an office supply store may not have been part of your go-to shopping plan, there are some interesting bargains that could make very nice presents.

The best deals reportedly include an Acer Aspire netbook with Intel Atom processor, 10-inch screen and Windows XP for $149, half off its regular price of $300. There is also an Olympus X905 10 MP digital camera for $49. The same camera normally retails for $149.

For those of you who like to wear blankets as robes, Snuggies will allegedly sell for $4.99, a big discount off the $14.99 price “As Seen on TV”. (Snuggies have recently been hilariously parodied as “Slankets” on Real Time With Bill Maher. Now the Snuggie has competition from the Nuddle! But I digress… )

Snuggie For Sale

Some of the go-to sites for leaked ads include www.gottadeal.com, www.slickdeals.com, and www.dealtaker.com.

Offers from Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are also getting a lot of attention, and retailers seem to be stealing a page from each other’s playbooks, matching prices.

According to sources, high-tech items will be deeply discounted, including a 50-inch Sanyo 720p plasma TV for $598, a Magnavox Blu-ray player for $78, and a GPS from TomTom for $59. HDTVs, laptops, and Blu-ray players are also going for fractions of the cost.

At Target, you can get a 32-inch LCD HDTV from Westinghouse for $246, and toasters and coffeemakers for just $3. Best Buy will reportedly offer shoppers a 50-inch Samsung plasma TV for $898, “huge discounts” on GPS units, and a PlayStation 3 Slim with two games for $300.

And Wal-Mart announced recently that it would be bringing back its $10 toys section expanding the assortment this year to more than 100 items.

Store officials aren’t confirming some of the deals you’ll find around the web, and there’ve been reports of photoshoped ads to make them appear real, so it’s best to take the information out there with a grain of salt. Still, most of the preview pricing floating around the net is legit, thanks to “leaks” by the retailers themselves.

Merchants’ losses are your gain, so shop wisely. Despite the early deal launches and rock-bottom rates, analysts are predicting flat sales for retailers this holiday season.

Michelle Obama is Fabuless

L.Jay — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:38:33 +0000

The First Lady is certainly a trendsetting, fabuless dresser. She is mostly a winner in the wardrobe department, and the majority of her styles are fabulessly priced.

Here we see her Sartorial Excellence wearing JCrew – one of her clear favorites (she sure loves their cardigans!):

Most recently Mrs. Obama was photographed walking the red carpet in this $199 dress from Talbot’s:

Dress Worn By Michelle Obama

Women across the country seek to emulate Mrs. Obama’s elegant, unique style, and they can afford to do so thanks to her budget-conscious tastes. She is also a supporter of new designers, Chicago designers, and international labels.

Some of the brands the First Lady patronizes include White House Black Market, Moschino, and Jason Wu. And of course, JCrew – a store which has to have seen a huge boost to its bottom line thanks to Mrs. Obama!

Pay Less for Christian Siriano

L.Jay — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:48:47 +0000

Ultra-fierce Project Runway winner Christian Siriano is taking his designs to the masses, bringing couture sensibilities to a ready-to-tread line of shoes for Payless.

Christian Siriano

Oprah fans probably caught Siriano’s fashion show on her program recently, and viewers also received a half-off coupon on his Payless shoe line good for 24 hours after the segment aired. Siriano’s shoe designs range from flats to high heeled booties, all are under $50.

The Slither Boot

You can find Siriano’s fabuless designs on the Payless website here:
http://www.payless.com/store/catalog/category.jsp?catId=cat10377

Ski Junkie Alert

L.Jay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:27:10 +0000

If you are a ski junkie, unlike most people, you have probably been looking forward to winter, and major snowstorms.

Some even follow the weather in popular ski destinations like Colorado, where a winter storm warning is currently in effect. The National Weather Service is forecasting snowfall accumulations from 18-36 inches with up to 4 feet possible in parts of Colorado.

This could be a good time to buy that season ski pass, if you plan on multiple trips to mountain resorts. The Epic Pass offers unlimited access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly (Lake Tahoe) and Arapahoe Basin, without any blackout dates.

The Epic Pass is on sale at www.epicpass.com through November 22 for $599.

Similarly, the Colorado Pass offers unlimited, unrestricted skiing at Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin with an additional 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek (some restricted dates apply). The price on the Colorado Pass has gone up $10 this season, to $459 for adults and $219 for children.

Season passes offer a pretty good deal when you consider the price of a one-day lift ticket is usually around $60. But it only make sense if you are addicted to powder – and of course, we’re talking about the ski resort kind!

Cheap Laptops

L.Jay — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:30:51 +0000

If you’re in the market for a new computer for yourself, or as a gift, here’s a budgetary option to check out. Hewlett-Packard is jump-starting the holiday shopping season with an ultra-affordable laptop with a price point to compete aggressively against netbooks and other computer manufacturers.

HP is reviving the Compaq brand, which has waned in popularity and has primarily been known for basic budget computers. The company is offering a new Compaq laptop for $399 after a $100 instant rebate. The Compaq Presario 4010f desktops start at $309 after a $100 rebate and come with a 250GB hard drive and similar specs, including integrated graphics.

HP is patting itself on the back:

“Everyone deserves access to a high-quality computer, and HP makes that possible with the Compaq brand,” says Steven Hoffman, director of worldwide marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP.

The Compaq Presario CQ61z is 15.6-inches with an AMD Sempron processor, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB hard drive, a DVD burner and discrete graphics. It runs the new Windows 7 Home Premium.

Compare this to your average netbook, with a smaller screen, smaller hard drive and a low-power CPU. But people by netbooks because they’re small, unlike the new Compaqs. Netboooks are also affordable, starting at around $250, going up to about $500. And their main appeal is the lightweight size, so it remains to be seen if the new full-size Compaqs will snag business from this category.

Still, HP will be giving all other computer manufacturers a run for their money by setting a new low standard for budget laptop pricing. Right now, the only brand making laptops this cheap is Acer, and the specs aren’t quite as good. After Acer, the price point on laptops jumps up about $100 and keeps going into the thousands.

It remains to be seen whether buyers will embrace the Compaq brand, which has traditionally been considered a lower grade model, and fell out of favor in the U.S.

The new line will be available on Windows 7 launch day, October 22.

Beat the Budget Hotel Blues

L.Jay — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:03:46 +0000

There’s nothing less fabuless than a budget hotel. Just the sound of “budget hotel” conjures up visions of outdated bathrooms, cracked caulking, worn carpets and sagging beds. Of course, there’s a big difference between a budget hotel and a bargain hotel – and it’s important to know before you go.

Folks, we’re all on a budget, but that doesn’t mean we have to live uncomfortable lives when there are better alternatives within reach. All it takes is a little research, and a fabuless guide to help out.

There are a lot of great go-to publications for travel information, and the web is saturated with advice as well (www.tripadvisor.com is a personal favorite). The New York Times travel section is fant-abuless if you’re looking for anything from a staycation to a trip to the Maldives (go now, before global warming puts them under water!)

Maldives = Heaven

But enough about Indian Ocean islands that are a 22-hour flight away. How about Europe instead? Always a solid choice, although it can get a bit chilly in winter. Nonetheless, a recent story on the NYT website offers great information for anyone with enough cash to actually leave home and go abroad.

The Times culled the best rated bargain-priced hotels from thousands of their reader reviews, and aggregated the information into an article called “100 Hotels Under $150″. The story offers the best bargains for travelers headed to 14 different European cities. Some examples include:

Barcelona – Market Hotel - 65 Euros
Dublin – Azalea Lodge – 100 Euros
Florence – Hotel Colomba - 80 Euros
London – Luna Simone – 85 Euros

As of this post, 1 Euro = 1.4857 U.S. dollars.

You can find the entire list and article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/travel/11HotelsOne.html?_r=1&ref=travel

Coming soon – discount airfares!

Bargain Wedding Gowns? Maybe Not.

L.Jay — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:58:28 +0000

If you are planning your wedding, one of the most important decisions for any bride is her gown. The entrance of the bride is one of the highlights of a ceremony in any culture, for any size wedding, and what she wears will be commented upon, complimented and scrutinized.

Being a clotheshorse, I completely understand spending the money to get the dress you want, within reason of course. A wedding is (supposed to be) a once in a lifetime event, and it is a unique opportunity to splurge. Having said that, in this economy, every bride has to take her bottom line into account, and for many, having a lavish wedding at all is a hardship.

Fortunately there are discount bridal stores in every city, along with re-sale bridal shops. A quick internet search can snag websites that offer wedding gowns for sale from brides who wore them once, or not at all.

This is in addition to the brick and mortar stores that offer off-the-rack gowns. You may not think David’s Bridal or House of Brides has what you need, but when you scour enough racks of dresses, you might be surprised to find one that works for you, at a reasonable cost. With all the sales and promotions out there, a fabuless bride can easily find a very nice gown for between $500 and $1200 (if not less!)

Which is why I take exception to a blog on Kleinfeld’s website about what they consider “bargain” wedding dresses offered by a top designer. For those who may not know, Kleinfeld’s is a major Manhattan wedding dress retailer that has its own show on TLC called “Say Yes to the Dress.” Kleinfeld’s offers dresses at every price point and by almost every designer out there, from budget to high end. But their blog about a new line by Monique Lluillier called Bliss is way off base.

Here is how they describe Bliss on their website:

…the best part of the collection is its affordability! The dresses range from $2400 to $3500 so the bride on a budget can still wear the Monique Lhuillier label.

Unless you scrape off a zero from their price quote, no bride “on a budget” will be paying that much for a wedding dress! And unless you’re a label whore, there’s no reason to go out of your way just to wear a dress by a certain designer, no matter what the price. Especially since most people aren’t familiar with wedding dress designers anyway.

Couture wedding gowns are expensive, we all know this. And if you want to fork over $5 or 10,000 for Vera Wang or Amsale or Reem Acra, or even Monique Lluillier, then more power to you. But to describe the average budget bride as capable of paying $3500 for a one-day wear is ridiculous.

It’s just more fuel to the wedding-industrial-complex machine that continues to up the ante on what a wedding should cost in order to inflate profits. A bride shouldn’t just look at a price tag when planning such a special and personal event. There are plenty of ways to look good and be fabuless without spending much money at all. For example, note to you ladies who are looking – Nordstrom’s has very cute dresses from $58 – $600!

Fabuless Holiday Shopping

L.Jay — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:09:41 +0000

It’s no surprise that with the current state of the economy, merchants are rushing to roll out holiday shopping promotions.

First there were Christmas in July deals at stores like Sears and Kmart. Now some retailers are already putting up tinsel and tree ornaments in window displays, hoping to lure in consumers with the holiday spirit.

Unfortunately, consumer confidence is waaay down, and most folks are more concerned with finding a job or saving their house then purchasing the latest tech gadget three months early. And this is a smart move, experts say. That’s because stores aren’t likely to offer large discounts until after Black Friday.

As of October 1st, unemployment is nearing 10%, the highest levels in a quarter century. Most shoppers will wait until the holidays are much closer to see what’s in their wallets (as Capital One would say), and make purchasing decisions based on their situatoin in December. With personal finances fluctuating on a month-to-month basis for many, it doesn’t make sense to be the early bird buyer.

Stores are taking this into account. Based on buying patterns, they have already lowered inventory levels this year compared to last, and are using the minimal stock as leverage to keep prices higher until the end of the holiday shopping season. Retailers will wait to see how much they can offload before Black Friday, then discount the remaining merchandise accordingly after that. So the longer you wait to do your holiday shopping, the better bargains you’re likely to find. Last year, shoppers could expect up to an 80% discount on merchandise. This year, many predict the knockoff will be closer to 40-60%.

Personally, I’ve always found fabuless deals right around Christmas, and of course, immediately thereafter. But if you’re not a procrastinator, you may not realize how desperate stores are to rid themselves of merchandise at the end of the quarter, and a few days before Christmas can be prime time bargain shopping.

Luxury Real Estate For a Steal

L.Jay — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:10:51 +0000

Buy Your Dream Home

The real estate boom and bust has left a trail of foreclosures, short sales and desperate home sellers in its wake.

When the economy crashed and layoffs soared, many well-heeled and nouveau riche found themselves unable to make their mortgages and unable to sell their overpriced homes. In addition, the subprime lending market allowed people to buy homes well above their means. High demand, house flipping, and inflated prices blew up the housing bubble, and now excess inventory is dragging down prices, meaning – there are bargains to be had!

If you are in the market for a new home, and you do have the money, it’s the best time to buy luxury real estate in years. The peak demand for homes over $1 million was four years ago, and sales of these high-end properties has dropped by more than 50 percent in the 20 largest metro areas, according to the Associated Press.

According to the National Association of Realtors, nationwide, overall home sales are down about 27 percent. In the month of August, sellers with homes priced above $2 million were cutting prices by an average of 14 percent, compared with the national average of 10 percent, as reported by Trulia.com.

But who can afford these million-dollar homes? A buyer would need to earn at least $200,000 a year, and be able to afford a $4,900 a month mortgage (not including property taxes). Only about 4 percent of Americans fall into that tax bracket in these economic times.

Bankrate.com shows the average interest rate for a 30-year “jumbo loan”, which is a mortgage over $729,750, at 6.18 percent, while a conventional fixed-rate mortgage is about a point lower. That means the mortgage payment for a $1 million home (with a down payment of 20 percent) would run about $4,900 a month, not including property taxes.

Of course, the value you can expect depends on where you live. For example, in Michigan, formerly million dollar homes can be purchased at bargain basement rates. Luxury real estate in Florida that was way overpriced to begin with hit the bubble and burst wide open, and prices have fallen off a cliff.

Expensive homes in other cities that didn’t experience the same price inflation show a more incremental reduction in prices.