I am beginning to realize that one of the reasons I can live well on a budget is that I don’t care about shopping, and I have enough stuff.  What is it about shopping that gets people so excited?  And are there really such great bargains to be had by leaving the US?

My plan today is to ask my fellow passengers why they get so excited about shopping on vacation.  For me, it’s the fun of having something that no one else will probably have, and the excitement of saying, when I get a compliment on the piece, that I bought it in Wherever.  Are the prices really so great that they can’t be matched in the states?  Is the stuff so unique?  Is it status?  I’m truly curious.  Why do people spend so much money when they’re away? How many watches does one person need?

I go ashore to see the country, meet the people, and maybe find some cheap, unique Mexican silver or pottery gifty things to bring home to my friends and family, and a little something for myself, as a memory of this lovely trip. Tomorrow, Belize City.  I wonder what’s available there.

So, for today and to keep you busy over the weekend, here are a few:

This great info sent in by Mindy in New York, a die-hard coupon clipper and price comparison shopper: New Trade in Program announced by Best Buy.  Click here for info. Thanks, Mindy!

Have dry eyes?  Here’s a FREE bottle of Optive lubricant drops! This is stuff that is just not available at a low price, so Click here to register  your info for a personal rebate coupon.

Now, let’s start talking about Christmas — already???  Yes!  Hot gift items are available NOW at discount prices — we’re doing our best to find them for you.  Shop now, get what you want, and be done, and paid, by December.  Here’s some of the biggies:

Amazon announced last week that they were lowering the price of a new KINDLE Wireless Reading Device (6 e-reader to under $260 with free shipping, the lowest price ever. You can also pre-order the next generation Kindle, launching on October 19, or, if you’re shopping for yourself, there are a limited number of refurbished models for $219.

DIGITALLY REMASTERED BEATLES BOXED SET — We think this is THE gift for baby boomers on your list, and Amazon has the lowest price, free shipping and reliability. They’ll be shipping on 10/31.

Click here to go to Amazon.com, and you could probably get your holiday shopping done by Halloween!

And a few discounts, for gifts or for yourself — Shop THIS WEEKEND for these deals:

Get low $2.99 shipping on purchases at OneHanesPlace.com. Enter promo code 611690 at checkout. This offer is valid through October 25th.

Extra $50 off unlocked BlackBerry Storm. MSRP: $899. Kusho.com price: $499.99. Now, just $449.99! Use code BB_STORM_449 through 11/16

Or, Get an unlocked black Blackberry Pearl Flip (8220) for just $239.99. Use coupon BB8210EARL20OFF thru 11.16.

A great freebie from a great resource for beauty products: FREE 27 Piece Mini Makeup Kit With Any Purchase from ELF COSMETICS! Use code LOYAL thru 11/13

Happy Weekend, Happy Shopping, and let us know what we can find for you!

Next week, we’ll talk about ways to make extra $$$ for the holiday season. Meanwhile, for more on Holiday shopping, click here!

I have a Mac, and so don’t worry too much about viruses, but have been searching the web for the cheapest ways to keep up to date.  First, virus protection:  I found a free program called iAntiVirus for Mac (which is scanning as I write)  from PC Tools, a company that my husband uses for his PC protection.   They offer both free and low-priced solutions for all.

Now, let’s talk about back-up.  I’ve been buying from TigerDirect for years, and have always been impressed with the prices and level of service.   You’ll find consistently great prices on back-up drives and more.  I have been buying from them for years — their packages on new computers often include lots of great accessories for practically nothing.

Another great place to shop online is called Big Crumbs.  Big Crumbs is sort of a discount clearing house which allows you to shop at many online retailers to find the best price for the item you need, and then get cash back on top of it!  It will also pay you a percentage back when you share with others.  Definitely check it out.  I bought my back-up drive through Big Crumbs a few months back — and trust me, restoring the computer and this site would have been a hundred times worse without it!

In the midst of all this, my back-up drive stopped backing up.  In horror at not having a valid backup, I ran to my favorite local discount spot, WalMart (which also participates in Big Crumbs), picked up a back-up back-up, did my back-up, and checked to make sure that the back-up drive (purchased last year through EBay via Big Crumbs)  was under warrantee.  Although the manufacturer’s warrantee had expired, I was thrilled to find that the extended warrantee I purchased with Square Trade Warrantees would cover it.  I found this warrantee company through B&H Photo, known throughout the New York fashion world as THE best place to buy cameras and more. A good link to keep if you’re in the market for electronics.

More to come, but for now, for more thoughts on saving on electronics, click here.

Happy October (a little late).  Glad to be back!

Yesterday I received a bill for $139 for another year of my e-fax account ( a special rate for me as a current customer, now up to $169). Divided by the number of fax pages I actually receive, that comes to about $10 a page — really too much, as faxing, and fax machines, are just so passe.  Combined with the fact that I just gave away my fax machine, I decided to search for other options.  Which I found in an article by techie Bob Rankin on his site www.askbobrankin.com, where he answers tech questions in a way that even I can understand.

So, thanks Bob.  In addition to eFax — which actually does still have a free receiving option — his favorite is Faxaway. In business since 1995 with a website that looks it,  Bob says they offer  ”rock solid” service.  Faxaway has begun to charge a $1/month fee for the inbound fax service.  Still, a lot less than $139 (or $169) per year.

Bob’s readers also suggest  k7.net, popfax.com and jconnect.com.

There are tons of services for free outbound faxing.  Visit Bob’s site, or just do a search (feel free to use the google bar above on this page).

But back to e-fax. Now, I joined e-fax several years back when it was free, but could no longer find the free option on their website. After a difficult customer service call to a call center far, far away, I found out it was hidden, and you have to dig through to their site map to find it.  I did so and got a new account set up quickly and easily, although I had to change my fax number to be “downgraded”.  But hey, 20 free inbound page a month should suit me just fine. Just be aware that you will get a non-local number, and if you receive more than 20 fax pages in any thirty day period, eFax may terminate or suspend your account if you do not upgrade to a paid subscription service.

We’re working now on info for free phone service.  Meanwhile, for an interesting idea on all things free, click here.

Personally, used food is where I draw the line.  But for furniture and other treasures, it can really be a good way to go.  Last week, before leaving on our trip, my sister went through the (dry, all paper) garbage in her mail room to retrieve about 50 Dunkin Donuts free-coupon books that we’ve been using along the way.  I have furnished a few houses almost exclusively with found objects.  My friend Ralph found a stereo component in perfect working order, and sold it on eBay for several hundred dollars. And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  We’ve barely scratched the surface of stuff you can buy second-hand to save you unbelievable amounts of money.

Most things can be used and re-used before they reach the end of their natural lives.  Some continue in their original uses, maybe in a different place.  Some things are transformed into other items or to objects of art. (I call this Art Wrecko.)

How do you find the best things without getting your hands dirty?  Beyond rubber gloves, start by “shopping” in the finest areas — find out which nights are garbage nights in the high-rent districts in your area, and bone up on your Antique Roadshow skills.  One friend of mine found two old chairs, took them home to strip and refinish and discovered that they were actually valuable antiques!

Beyond Craigslist, Ebay and local yard and estate sales, there are lots of places to shop, some without even having to leave home.  For a starting list of free and bartering sites, click here.

Finally, a Road Trip update:  We’ve been on Fire Island for 6 days so far, and have spent an additional $7 to buy ice cream for our housemates. That’s all, folks!

I receive periodic emails from the company with special deals and offers, which I admittedly often ignore, but today, the offer for a free photo book caught my eye.  When I went to order it, I was thrilled to find that all the offers I had been ignoring were archived there for the taking, right under the Credit and Discounts link.

Visit Arts Cow and take advantage of the wonderful offers for new members!   www.ArtsCow.com (And of course, please support them right back by using them for your regular photo needs.)

For more about freebies, click here.  Happy Weekend!  Live it Frugaliciously!

Here’s his idea:

Nation-wide “Curb Day” – October 24, 2009

Unclutter your Life

What’s rusting in your garage?  On Curb Day, people are encouraged to unclutter their homes by bringing to their curbs durable goods that are safe, legal, and valuable to others. Acceptable items include sporting goods, electronics, tools, books, toys, shoes, clothing, plants, building materials, furniture, and more.

People all over the country will be out and about that weekend, picking up these items for free.

Curb Day will be a fun and efficient way to remove clutter and provide free valuable items to others. It will also reduce the number of items that wind up in landfills.

Curb Day will occur twice per year, in October and May. It will supplement resources like Freecycle, Craig’s List, eBay, and second-hand stores.

Please help by:

• Publishing an article about Curb Day (done!)
• Sending this email to all your colleagues
• Marking your calendar for October 24th to bring out your unneeded possessions
• Asking elected officials to grant a temporary variance to rules that prohibit this activity
• Sending us your ideas, stories, and photos of items you’ve picked up in the past

Learn more about Curb Day and sign in for updates at http://www.curbday.com/.

Well, Mike, we love your idea and will do our part to spread the word.  Please keep us posted on your progress.

For more thoughts on second-hand treasures, click here.

If you read my blog regularly, you may get the impression that I’m a big gambler, which I am not.  But, this trip was a combination of all my bargain hunting abilities.

I flew on a discount through Priceline.com.

I took advantage of the cash-back offers presented upon completing my reservation.  I remembered to cancel the offers once I got the cash back coupons.

I got friends to drop me off and pick me up from the airports.

In AC, I met up with my good friend Robyn from England.  She was going there anyway to take care of some family business, and insisted on paying for most of the room and car.  I took her out for an expensive dinner as thanks.

We visited a few of the casinos and signed up for all the promotions available — free parking, discounts on foods and of course, the granddaddy  of all, $150 in free gambling money each.  We played with abandon on the casinos’ money.  Robyn likes the penny and nickel slots, which to me are crazy as you need to put in at least 40 cents to cover all your bases.  And all you win are more pennies and nickels. I stuck to the rare quarter machine where you can actually play one one pay line and win quarters.  Now, here’s where we differ.  Robyn kept returning her winnings to the machine.  I, on the other hand, pocketed all my winnings.  The result: I played for four nights and came out about $30 down.  Robyn was further down but, since she was playing in dollars bought with pounds sterling, she thought it was all play money anyway.

Robyn loves to shop in the US since her money is really worth so much more over here, so I grudgingly joined her on a trip to Macy’s.  The only thing I wanted was a white, sleeveless ruffled shirt — which I found as I was browsing a 65% off rack (really, I wasn’t even looking for it!).  Misplaced from the Ralph Lauren department, the $98 blouse came to $30.32, no tax. Lucky me!

Now, off to NY where more cheap fun awaits. Will write more later. Got to go get the famous Atlantic City salt-water taffy out of my teeth now.