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Can You Hear Me Now?
You’re
talking to someone, you hear three little beeps, and then the signal
on your cell phone goes bye-bye. Now there’s a solution to
cell-phone fickleness: consumers can purchase antennas and
amplifiers previously only made for commercial buildings for their
homes. These devices boost weak cell-phone signals and reduce the
number of dreaded dead spots. Two Web sites that sell the equipment
are
www.alternativewireless.com and
www.wpsantennas.com. The Federal Trade Commission cautions
buyers to verify that the products are approved by them and made by
legitimate manufacturers before purchase.
—Danielle Bullen |
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Crafts for a GOOD Cause
During
her July visit to South Africa, First Lady Laura Bush was seen
wearing a beaded red AIDS ribbon pin. This was no ordinary piece of
jewelry. It was hand-beaded by members of the Mothers’ Programmes,
a coalition of HIV-positive South African women. The mothers, who
are the primary breadwinners for their families, have achieved
financial independence by selling their craftwork internationally.
To date, the proceeds have empowered 100 workers to buy their own
homes. The most expensive items are the cell phone cases, which sell
for $20, a bargain when you consider each one takes three days to
create. Their products, including bracelets, ID lanyards and
bookmarks, are available at
https://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=unique&unique_page=mc&cause_id=1165
—Danielle Bullen |
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Boyfriends for Hire and Robots for Sale
Next time your boyfriend or husband
refuses to get off the couch or bashfully admits he doesn’t know how
to fix the drooping curtain rod, contact “Boyfriend for Hire.” This
New York City-based company, started by self-taught handyman Eli
Ben-Shoshan, will send out a Mr. Fix It to conquer any task, big or
small, that your man may be trying to put off. Leaky showerhead?
Deteriorating kitchen? No problem. They’ve got you covered.
Don’t worry: these boyfriends are
strictly temporary. As Eli stated in an interview with WABC News,
“We’re here to take care of business, not that business.” We advise
you to assure your guy of this fact before setting up an
appointment. Boyfriend for Hire charges a flat rate of $50 an hour,
with no limit on the number of tasks to be completed in that time.
Though the company services primarily the New York metro area,
there’s a search function on the site: plug in your area code to
see if a branch has opened near you. Franchise opportunities are
also available. Visit
www.boyfriendforhire.com for more information or to set up your
“date.”
If you have $7,000 to spend, you can
buy your own little electronic helper. NUVO, the humanoid babysitter
and companion (sorry, it doesn’t fix toilets), is available from
Tokyo-based ZMP, Inc. This 15-inch-tall robot has a very special
feature: a programmable digital camera in its eyes. Leave NUVO at
home to provide built-in surveillance. Or task it with monitoring
your sleeping baby, and it will send a steady stream of photos to
your cell phone. Writing a check and forgot the date, or want to
know what time it is? Ask NUVO, and in a female Japanese accent, it
will give you time and date. Looking to set the mood for a romantic
dinner? Simply ask NUVO for some music, then crank its head to
increase the volume. Watch TV with NUVO beside you, and don’t be
startled if it blinks, moves its arms, shakes its head in
disappointment, or shouts “Yea!” You never have to be lonely again.
Visit
http://nuvo.jp to view a demonstration video or to order.
The Web site predicts NUVO soon
“will become your … special partner, making your lifestyle more
active and rich.” We get closer and closer to living The
Jetson’s life every day, don’t we?
—Emily Shebak |
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Disposable cameras help us capture many memorable
images—like
a baby taking her first steps through the green summer grass. Now
this same memory can be recorded even more precisely on a new
disposable device; convenience has reached a new level. Pure Digital
Technologies, a small company based in San Francisco, has created a
pocket-sized, one-time-use video camcorder, which sells for only
$29.99. It has a 1.4 inch color playback LCD screen, weighs a mere 5
ounces, holds 20 minutes of digital recording, and saves the
recordings onto a memory chip. It only has three buttons; how simple
can photography get?
These disposable
camcorders are currently available at CVS drugstores. CVS also
provides one-hour processing of your memories onto DVD for $12.99.
Stop by your local CVS drugstore on the way to the beach. Your kids’
antics, building castles in the sand, and the sounds of the crashing
waves can’t be captured any better way.
DVD players, Tivo’s
and camcorders are fine. But now there’s another kind of
must-have home-electronics gadget that’s worth the money,
especially if you or someone you love has a heart condition or is at
risk of having a heart attack
(cardiac arrest is the No. 1 cause of
death among women). To the rescue: automatic home defibrillators.
These simple-to-use, computerized medical devices have saved many
lives since their introduction to the consumer marketplace several
years ago. According to
www.consumersinfousa.com, nearly 80 percent of sudden cardiac
arrests tend to happen in the home. Without immediate action, 95
percent of those under cardiac arrest die before reaching the
hospital.
Thanks to lowering
prices, FDA-approved home defibrillators may soon become as
commonplace as an American Red Cross emergency kit.
Home
defibrillators now run between $1,000 and $2,000. For more
information or to purchase one, visit
www.americanaed.com or
www.amazon.com, or try your local drug store. Some medical
conditions meet the criteria for medical necessity under health plans,
so check with your insurer to see if the cost might be covered.
Best-Kept Secret Shopping Experience?
Ever wondered
where that bag that went missing on your plane trip to Tahiti ended
up? The Unclaimed Baggage Center would like to make up for all the
hours you spent fighting with the airline from your cell phone, as you
lay out on the beach dressed in your traveling clothes. (The memory is
making you feel unseasonably warm, I know). This center, with
locations in Scottsboro, Alabama and Boaz, Alabama, sells items that
once belonged to riders in the sky. Imagine the people who travel by
plane: they want to look stunning while on vacation and professional
on business trips, so they are packing the hottest items in their
bags.
Set into the foothills of the Appalachians, this 34-year-old store is
described at
www.unclaimedbaggage.com
as “one of the great hidden bargain centers for savvy shoppers.” Over
one million items circulate the store yearly. Clothing dominates, but
luggage, jewelry, electronics, books, and cameras can be found at
drastic discount prices, too. There is online shopping on their
website; however, the entire inventory is not available online. To
experience every unique find, plan a trip on a discount flight to
Alabama… .
—Emily Shebak
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There’s something
about a money clip that spells m-o-n-e-y . . .
lots of it. Until now, money clips have been primarily a man’s
accessory. That’s about to change. Visit the C hic
Clip$ store, selling “Money clips for hip women” (www.chicclips.com)
and you’ll find clips compact and pretty enough to carry your cash
and credit cards—even business cards—in an evening bag or tucked
into a jacket pocket, for those days when you’re rushing off to the
store and don’t want to drag your heavy purse along with you. Can’t
beat that for a feeling of freedom! The price for these stylish
clips, covered with Swarovski crystals: $45.
Got a friend who’s recently divorced and in need of a toaster
because her ex “took everything”? Visit
www.theytookeverything.com, “the gift registry and resource for
the newly single.” There you can order her a survival basket, a
cookware set, a can opener, even a TV. The selection isn’t the
greatest and, especially for the big-ticket items, you can beat the
price elsewhere, but the thought is nice. Why not suggest that your
friend register there, so that you can get an idea of what she
needs, besides sympathy and support.
Friends and
family members will sing your praises,
if you give them
a gift certificate to Apple’s very cool iTunes Music Store.
Electronic gift
 certificates, sent with your personal message, can
be purchased for as low as $10—which, at 99 cents per song, will buy
your recipient 10 songs. Prepaid iTunes cards are also now available
at Target stores. And here’s an excellent idea: you can set up a
recurring allowance account so that your kids have an easy way to
legally download their favorite tunes. If you tend to buy a lot of
CD’s, the iTunes Music Store is a great way to save money, too,
because you can pay for only one or two songs, instead of an entire
CD. And, face it; even your favorite artist tends to have several
dogs on every CD—songs you just never listen to. Works for MAC and
Windows. To learn more, visit
www.apple.com/itunes/.
Worth the Money: Consider signing up with Women & Company’s
financial-planning package. The service isn’t independent—it’s
backed by Smith Barney and Citicorp—and it isn’t cheap. But at $125
per year, you get a lot for the money: including access to financial
consultants and tax advisers, plus an elder-care referral hotline
and discounts on a variety of financial products and services. Go to
www.womenandco.com for more information. Gift certificates and a
free three-month newsletter are available. |
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Beauty & Strength”
are on sale for $10, in the form of a calendar featuring the faces
and stories of some incredible, indomitable homeless women. Faces
like
 that of Arnette Adams, pictured on the cover
at left.
Proceeds from the
calendar benefit the
Church
of Mary Magdalene and its Mary's Place Day Center for homeless women
in Seattle. The next time you meet a homeless woman on the street
where you live “look them in the face—don’t look away like they are
some kind of lesser being," urges Eve Faulkes, the graphic designer
who helped put the calendar together. To purchase the calendar,
visit
www.churchofmarymagdalene.org.
In
our “Worth the Money” category: if you want smooth legs at a
fraction of the time it normally takes to shave them in the morning,
try Schick’s new Intuition Razor, with a wide, wide blade area and
shaving soap built right in. It costs $7.99 (replacement cartridges
are another $7.99 for a package of three). But the time that broad
blade saves is priceless. One staffer who tested it said it was like
“using a magic hair eraser.”
Best-kept
secret for anyone who has dogs who love squeaky toys:
www.cherrybrook.com. Shop for all your pet needs where
professional breeders and dog-show handlers shop—and where you can
get a bag of 12 squeaky toys, normally priced at $3.95 and up a
piece, for only $17.56.
Serious Child’s
Play:
The
 Hammacher
Schlemmer catalogue has a “child’s personal bank teller” that looks
and acts like an ATM machine. It’s a great way to teach your young
kids the thrill of saving money. Encourage them to deposit their
allowance and keep track of their savings. A built-in calculator
figures deposits, withdrawals and account balances. Price: $29.95. Also
available on
www.hammacherschlemmer.com.
Send your
suggestions for “worth the money” items or “best-kept secrets” to
editor@makingbreadmagazine.com and we will publish them here.
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A
house and a car are the two purchases that define the American Dream
for many people, and yet they often seem the hardest to come by.
Here are two suggestions for finding good deals in these areas. The
first is an old housing trend that’s making a comeback; the other is
a brand-new transportation solution that saves money two ways.
I f
you’re looking for a starter home but are discouraged by the high
prices in your area and convinced that you’ll never save enough for
a down payment, consider buying a pre-fab, or manufactured home.
Made popular by Sears in the early 1900’s when you could actually
buy build-it-yourself home “kits” from the Sears & Roebuck
catalogue, many of these early prefabricated homes are still
standing—and the concept is undergoing a revival. Dwell magazine
sponsored a national prefab home contest this year; you can follow
the progress of the construction of the winning design at
www.thedwellhome.com. The magazine’s editor, Allison Arieff,
co-wrote a coffee-table book, “Prefab,” detailing the many
advantages and shapes of these dwellings.
With costs ranging from $25,000 to $30,000 for the simple “mobile
home” look to $50,000 to $70,000 for a larger, three-bedroom,
three-bath
rancher and up, experts estimate that you can save 20 to 25 percent
off the cost of traditional new-home construction. Even
with land not included, that’s a good deal. Though lenders are still
a little leery of issuing mortgages on prefabs, that’s changing. If
you have good credit and own the land you’re going to put your
prefab on, you should have no problem getting a mortgage. For more
information about styles, retailers, financing and lots available in
your area, visit
www.thehomestore.com.
Now, for a cheap set of wheels: go look at Toyota’s 2004 hybrid
car, the Prius, due out in mid-October. Priced at under $20,000
(invoice price) and getting 59 m.p.g. in the city (51 m.p.g. on the
highway) you’ll save money at the dealership and at the gas tank.
With gas prices predicted to go up from already peak levels that
will save you hundreds of dollars a year. The Prius engine
automatically recharges as you drive, so you don’t have to plug it
in. Two other hybrid-car models currently available are the Honda
Civic (carrying an invoice price of $12,357) and the Honda Insight
($18,284).
By
using these partially electric-powered cars, you help reduce our
Nation’s reliance on foreign-oil producers and you’re kind to the
environment, as well as your pocketbook.
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We tend to stay
away from pricey stores like Tiffany’s, except to window shop, but
as Holly Golightly proved in that classy classic film “Breakfast at
Tiffany’s,” there’s something for everyone and in almost every price
range in that elegant temple of diamonds and
desire. Today, window-shopping the Web site (www.tiffany.com),
we found many items under $150 (you can search by price), from a
sterling silver Paloma Picasso zig zag ring ($125, above left) to an
oh-so-suave money clip for $75 and a charming basketweave bone china
cream pitcher for only $45.
The same holds true for other high-end retailers. At the legendary
toy store FAO Schwarz’s Web site (www.fao.com),
for instance, we found a Bargain Bazaar page, featuring a wide range
of playthings at discount prices, including the Harry
Potter Whomping Willow Game, at right, priced at $29.99, down from
$39.99.
Museum shops are another often-overlooked shoppers’ paradise. They
represent one of the best places to find quirky, original,
one-of-a-kind gifts for someone else—or yourself. At the American
Museum of Natural History (www.amnh.org)
store, you can pick up everything from reasonably priced jewelry,
games, and dinosaur T-shirts, to a glass cutting board covered in
chocolates ($19.99), in honor of the museum’s current Chocolate
exhibit. Or, for the genius in your life, an Einstein cereal bowl
($12.00), commemorating the museum’s Einstein exhibit. At the
Georgia
 O’Keefe
Museum shop (www.okeeffemuseum.org),
admire the beauty and price ($25) of its calla lily scarves
(left), patterned after the artist’s bold work.
Art
museums, history museums, natural history museums, children’s
museums, regional and theme museums, the gift possibilities are
endless: One of our favorite finds were the Civil-War era sewing
patterns (17-inch waist and whale-bone corset not included), in case
you want to look like you're the belle of your next ball, for sale
at the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, Georgia, priced at $31.50
and $35.00.
For a
comprehensive list of museum shops, visit
www.musee.com.
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If
you believe in equal pay, then you’re a feminist—and if you want a
cool way to display those sentiments this summer, visit
www.msmagazine.com and check out their “This Is What a Feminist
Looks Like”—or, if you really want to take a stand with your attire,
their “Radical Feminist”—T-shirt. For your daughter, there are T’s
with the pro-fem messages “Listen to Girls” and “Girls Rock!” And
for those of us over a certain age (what is that age these days?),
there’s one with the label “Outrageous Older Woman.”
More
verbose T’s spout: “Feminism is the radical notion that women are
people,” and this right-on quote by turn-of-the-century writer
Rebecca West,
"I have never been able to find out precisely what
feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I
express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat."
Then
there’s this one with attitude:
"Because woman’s work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or
boring or repetitious and we’re the first to get fired and what we
look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's
our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it […] for lots
and lots of other reasons we are part of the women's movement." That
quote’s so long they had to move it to the back of the T!
Prices range from $15 to $21, and they all come in fitted and loose
sizes so that they’ll fit you to a …well . . . a T.
Even if you
don’t want to walk around with your feminism showing, visit the site
for the fun of seeing the flash graphic of Margaret Cho, Whoopi
Goldberg, Camryn Manheim and Ashley Judd proudly modeling their
“This is what a feminist looks like” shirts.
And
if you want to use your money to help support women in politics who
are committed to changing the status quo for women, visit
www.emilyslist.org, “the largest financial resource for women
running for elective office,” and make a contribution. Supporting
political candidates and causes of your choice is one of the most
powerful things you can do with your money. |
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Whether you’re springing
for a wedding gift or splurging on some fancy crockery to brighten
up your table, you won’t go wrong visiting edish.com (www.edish.com).
It’s the perfect place to find replacements for your own wedding
china or buy a special gift for another lucky couple. The site
specializes in hard-to-find china patterns and offers expert advice
to help you identify and value your own heirloom china, plus tips
for care and display. Make their “Deep Dish Discounts” page your
first stop
on the site, where you can find an assortment of patterns, like the
assortment of patterns, marked down by
50 percent, marked
down by 50 percent. Not only can you buy china here (mix and match
for your own unique table settings), you can also sell it. And if
you’ve ever wondered whether there’s really bone in bone china, they
have the answer. (Yes, it’s what gives good china its white color.)
Nothing to serve on your best china? Why not spring for some fortune
cookies? Ask
www.fancyfortunecookies.com to customize your fortunes and
tuck them into
cookies baked in fancy flavors like Luscious Lemon, Double
Chocolate and True Blue Blueberry. These colorful, prognosticating
treats (right) make great graduation-party or wedding favors.
Minimum order is 200, starting at around $76 for the lot. Buy a bag
for yourself and eat one every day.
 When spring fever really hits, drop by
www.burpees.com and check out its
Internet exclusives, like the grape tomatoes at left, priced at
three plants for $9.95. Grow them
in your ‘victory” garden or on your kitchen window sill, and save
money at the supermarket. While you’re there, sign up for Burpee’s
great free newsletter and consult the fun “Garden Wizard,” which
will identify the plant that’s right for you, even if you don’t have
a green thumb! |
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Valentine’s Day
and chocolate go together like a horse and carriage . . . or love
and marriage. Appeal to your sweetheart’s sweet tooth and ego by
giving the
best—Godiva.
A little of this fine confection goes a long way, and there are gift
boxes in all price ranges. Take, for instance, the “Bearer of
Sweetness” shown above. Priced at a mere $20, it comes with six
luscious, foil-wrapped chocolate hearts and is embroidered with
“Godiva 2003.” No purchase is necessary to enter Godiva’s
Valentine’s Sweepstakes for the chance to win a matched pair of
“horseless carriages”—BMW Z4’s, valued at $84,000—for your sweetie
and yourself, or one of 50 Spa Vacations for two, valued at $2,650.
Look for Godiva Valentine’s Day Gift
Boxes marked with a red heart (they contain game prize cards), or
write to receive a free game card by mail. For sweepstakes rules and
address, visit
www.Godiva.com. You must be 18 and a resident of the U.S. or
Canada to enter. Game ends February 28, 2003.
Over the holidays, a
MAKING BREAD
subscriber, on her way from France
to Washington, D.C. to visit family, passed through Philadelphia. We
met her at the train station and marveled at her ability to travel
light. All of her gifts and clothes for a week’s stay were carried
in one large duffel bag and a tote. If you’re planning a trip this
winter or spring and are in the market for some large luggage at a
small price, check out
www.ebags.com. Netpack’s 21” duffel (right) is now on sale for
$14.99, a 25 percent
markdown.
Boyt’s Riviera wheeled duffel, priced at $134.99, is 50 percent off.
A deluxe shoe bag comes free with qualified purchases.
This bargain baggage site also sells business
accessories, briefcases, a lovely variety of leather handbags, and
wallets….to carry all your dough. The funky, stylish Nicole Miller
cell phone case, pictured at left, is priced at $9.99—a 62 percent
savings!
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With the holidays
coming, Barbie is on the wish list
of many young girls. Barbie
hasn’t aged much since she hit stores in 1959, but Mattel, the
company that makes her, has matured with the times, offering an
expanding inventory of diminutive dolls. There’s Amazing Nails
Barbie, Dream Glow Barbie, Holiday Celebration Barbie, Rapunzel
Barbie, Barbie as Bond Girl, African American Barbies and many more;
There’s even a “Bank with Me” ATM for Barbie. What money lessons
that teaches, we’re not sure. But the Barbie we like best is the “I
Can Be …” Barbie. So far, this new series of Career Barbies has two
dolls, Doctor Barbie and Art Teacher Barbie.
Visit
www.Barbie.com, and let your daughter vote for the next doll in
the “I Can Be…” series, designed to “encourage young girls to
explore a wide variety of
 career
possibilities.” Should she be a librarian, an architect or a
policewoman? While you’re there, you and your daughter can read
interviews with a real pediatrician and art teacher and learn facts
about these careers. Did you know that 50 percent of new medical
students are women?
The
site has other fun activities for moms and daughters to do together, such as
making the “Pumpkin-Turkey Place Setting” at left. You can even
download a Barbie Screensaver and arrange for a “Happy Birthday Call
from Barbie” (at $2.49 per call).
Moms looking for fantasy fashion mannequins of their own can surf on
over to
www.chanel.com, where real-life models who could double for
Barbie strut the runways, showing off Chanel’s Haute Couture Fall
and Winter 2002-2003 collection, its
Ready-to-Wear Spring and Summer 2003 collection, and its 2003 Cruise
collection in a flash photo presentation. Too expensive for this
girl’s budget. But it’s fun to dream! |
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How
about helping to pay for financial literacy workshops for battered
women who need information to help them secure their independence
and safety? If you’d like to make a contribution towards this good
cause, and the many other services that the National Coalition
Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)
supports—and get some rollicking good music in the bargain—visit the
organization’s Web site,
www.ncadv.org. Order Saffire’s new album, “Ain’t Gonna Hush!”,
from
Alligator Records
and the record company will donate 10
percent of the purchase price ($16.98, including shipping and
handling) to NCADV, ranked by Worth Magazine as “one of American’s
100 best charities.”
The
three women who comprise Saffire, also known as “the Uppity Blues
Women,” are acclaimed worldwide as a funky, feisty, feminist,
acoustic blues band. Since 1990, pianist/guitarist/vocalist Ann
Rabson, guitarist/harmonicist/vocalist Gaye Adegbalola and
multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Andra Faye have been singing
original songs and reviving classic blues standards in the spirit
of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. "Contagious boogie-woogie rhythms and
lyrics with enough brass to stock a knuckle factory" is how People
magazine has described the trio, known for addressing women’s issues
in their sassy songs and bluesy rhythms. Their last album, “Live and
Uppity,” featured a song titled “1-800-799-7233,” the phone number for the
National Domestic Violence Hotline.
For a taste of their sound,
click here
.
We
guarantee you’ll get up from your chair and start boogying when you
hear it. Saffire’s other albums are available on the site as
well, with 10 per cent also
going to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
     
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Calling all
ice-cream lovers! If you’ve been thinking about switching
long-distance service providers, check out the deal that
www.workingassets.com is currently offering. Sign up with
Working Assets Long Distance and you get 60 free minutes of
long-distance calls every month for six months, a 7 cent per minute
rate on direct-dialed state-to-state calls, for $4.95 a month, and
local toll service where available—plus a coupon for a FREE pint of
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream every month for a year!
Even sweeter is this part of the deal: Working Assets donates 1
percent of your charges to nonprofit groups selected by Working
Assets members (meaning you get to suggest and vote on who will
benefit). The site also has a Shop for Change section, listing
affiliated merchants who will donate 5 percent of your purchases to
nonprofits selected by you, the “Responsible Shopper s,”
who frequent their stores. Participating stores are all over the
lot, from Eddie Bauer Outlet and Harry and David to Ethnic Grocer
and Nirvana Chocolates. Hmmm…we can’t seem to stay away from those
sweets. Nonprofits that have benefited include the
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Children’s
Defense Fund and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. All
charities are carefully vetted before inclusion on the list. |
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What puts “the coast in roller coasters?” Name one of the most
luminous stars ever known? Parents and grandparents can give
students in the family the answers to these and countless other
questions by subscribing to
www.britannica.com. Sign up for a free 72-hour trial, and browse
the Britannica’s legendary breadth of knowledge, archived on the
Web, at your leisure. The trial and subsequent subscription, should
you choose to subscribe at the monthly rate of $9.95 or annual fee
of
$59.95, buys you unlimited online access to the complete 32-volume
Encyclopedia Britannica, including audio and video clips, a
pop-up dictionary and two Britannica offshoots, the Britannica
Concise Encyclopedia of Quick Answers to Everyday Questions and the
Britannica Student Encyclopedia, geared for children in grades 5
through 9. In short, all
knowledge all the time.
What are the answers to the questions above? Gravity puts the coast
in roller
coasters,
as a fascinating article detailing the history of the giant
structures explains.
And no, the star in question isn’t Ingrid Bergman (pictured above),
whose bio is available
on
 the
site, however, but S Doradus—a supergiant star in the constellation
Dorado that radiates
almost
one million times as much energy as the Sun.
From our
DEPARTMENT OF OSTENTATIOUS CONSUMPTION:
Spotted on E-bay recently, a mink coat for Yorkies, priced at
$1,999. An individual in Germany bid $999.00 on this canine fashion
statement. It is chilly in those northern
climes, after all….
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 OH, THE THINGS THAT MONEY CAN BUY!
Move
over, Half.com! Fifty percent doesn’t cut it any more. It’s a
Bargain-Hunter’s Bonanza at Overstock.com (www.overstock.com),
a Web site offering brand names at prices marked down as much as 70
and, in some cases, even 90 percent off.
How
can they afford to do it? “Manufacturers
produce billions of dollars in excess inventory each year.
Overstock.com has built a relationship with select, leading
manufacturers to
purchase those extra products at deep discounts and pass the savings
on to you,” they explain. “Often, the price you p ay is far below the
manufacturer's cost.” At companion site Overstock B2B.com (www.OverstockB2B.com),
companies can register for savings below wholesale prices.
Best of all, under the site’s flat-rate shipping policy, all orders
are shipped for $2.95.
The selection is spotty, based on a constantly changing inventory,
and some items are marked Limited Stock. In the Electronics
category, where we found some good deals on digital cameras, some
were marked as “reconditioned factory models,” which could mean that
you’re taking a chance on buying a
reconditioned lemon. But Overstock’s 15-day return policy offers a
safety net. Customer-review comments are also helpful, as with the
Nicole Miller leather jacket pictured at right, about which one
pleased purchaser wrote to alert others that it runs small, but it’s
“well worth the money,” marked down from $369.99 to $86.99—a 76
percent discount.
The
best bargain we found: the Vera Wang Red Bow Duchesse Gown, pictured
above. List price: $2990.00. This red-hot designer dress can be
had at Overstock.com for $299.99. That’s a 90 percent savings! |
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Lillian Vernon (aka
Lilly Menasche)
started her specialty mail-order catalogue company in 1951, using
$2000 of wedding gift money as her startup capitol. Today, that
company brings in $250 million a year. She’s built her success on a
reputation of delivering good quality at low prices. Check out the
“Christmas in July” specials on
www.lillianvernon.com and you may start humming “Oh, Tannenbaum.”
The 3-foot-tall light-up topiaries, below, originally priced at
$429.98 per pair, are now only $99.98, and icicle light sets, so
hard to find last winter, can be had here at half-price for $19.98.
Other good values spotted on a tour of the site include the
delightful 9-foot-tall Garden Gazebo, above, priced at $79.98, and,
in the Clearance section, a very cute Garden Peg Rack for only
$3.98—down from $12.98. One of Vernon’s specialties is personalizing
items at no extra cost to the buyer. The “Best of Personalized”
section includes such items as a Wood Growth Chart for kids and a
wooden Teacher’s Apple.
Speaking of “Christmas in July,” don’t forget to take
advantage of all those 50% off, Dog Days of Summer sales, which your
local malls and retail shops feature this time of year. Get a head
start on your holiday shopping. You’ll make it a lot easier on
yourself and your budget, come December, if you do. |
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Can’t get away this
summer? There’s no cheaper vacation than the vicarious kind:
spending a carefree afternoon by the pool or on your porch, lost in
a strange new world of (take your pick) romance, adventure, mystery,
travel writing, science, science fiction, poetry, humor,
autobiography, history. You name i t,
the world is yours, in print and online, for hundreds of dollars
less than the cheapest airfare you could ever find.
Headed for the
beach? What’s a beach without beach reading? The sexier the better.
For an endless supply of bodice-ripping novels (“steamy stories so
full of scorching hot passion, you’re liable to singe your fingers
just turning the pages!”)—whew!—plus advice on writing your own
page-turner, go to
www.eharlequin.com (free shipping on orders over $15; “two free
books and a free gift” sign-up offer; many books under $5).
For more cheap
reads, try recycled books. The used book selection at
www.amazon.com is prolific. Other sites selling used books
include
www.abebooks.com,
www.powells.com,
www.alibris.com,
www.bibliofind.com, and the woman-owned small business,
www.afamilynook.com , specializing in multicultural titles sold
at discount prices.
Miss Oprah’s Book
Club? The latest selection in Kelly Ripa’s “Reading with Ripa” Book
Club, “The Bachelor,” (above, right), by Carly Phillips, purposely offers
fluffier fare (“Said book shall haveth no message what-so-ever. It
shalleth be fun, frivolous, fast and fiction”), and can be had over
at
www.barnesandnoble.com for just $4.19.
Of course, for
totally free book fun for you and your kids, don’t overlook the best
book bargain around—your local public library.
Got a great summer
book to recommend to other
MAKING BREAD
readers? E-mail
gail@makingbreadmagazine.com with your suggestions and a brief
review. |
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Got auction fever? Pull yourself away from e-bay and check out the
goods offered for sale at
www.shopgoodwill.com. There, you can register as a buyer for
free and bid on items listed for sale from Goodwill stores around
the country, finds like the “Wags to Riches” numbered plate, right,
and the Tommy Hilfiger purse, below. Everything from antiques to
clothes, collectibles to cameras, is available, generally for a very
reasonable (read: cheap) price. Since
you don’t bid on the items for sale at local stores, you’ll probably
find a better deal by going to the Goodwill store nearest your home,
but the assortment available online is much broader. Either way,
you’re
helping a good cause: 86 percent of the
proceeds raised from sales in Goodwill’s 1,940 retail stores goes
toward providing job-training and employment services, job-placement
opportunities and post-employment support. In 2001, 544,765 people
received career services from Goodwill and 103,765 people were
placed in jobs outside the company, in fields such as financial
services, computer programming and health care. |
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Of the top
five women on a recently
published list of
“The 50 Most
Powerful Women in Business,” four have stay-at-home spouses. At the
office, what those women also have are administrative assistants. If
you are starting your own business and can’t afford to hire the
full-time support you need, consider using a “virtual assistant” for
special projects. “VA’s are independent contractors who provide
administrative support or specialized business service from a
distance, through the Internet, fax, telephone or another method of
communication. They can help a company that needs extra people to
meet seasonal demands; provide unique skills for a special project;
or step in to meet the demands of business growth, locally,
domestically or globally," says the International Virtual Assistants
Association (IVAA).
Tasks that VA’s can
perform range from word processing and database development and
management, to event planning, human-resources support,
translations, transcriptions and travel arrangements. Rates run the
gamut from $15 to $100 per hour; monthly retainer fees can be
negotiated.
“During
your initial meeting, b e
sure to ask questions. Communication between you and your VA is
crucial,” says Victoria
Parham, a business owner from Anchorage, Alaska.
The IVAA’s Web site (www.ivaa.org)
lists accredited VA’s around the globe—one of them just might be
able to pull a rabbit out of a hat or make an emergency disappear
when you most need it. You’re on your own in finding a stay-at-home
spouse! (But if you’re a stay-at-home spouse yourself, who is
looking for a part-time occupation, the job of virtual assistant
just might work for you.) |
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Here’s something to help you shorten your to-do list before you or
your daughter say, “I do” this summer. SisterLola.com let’s your
fingers do the walking, narrowing down your search for the perfect
wedding dress. Just settle in front of your computer with a cuppa
tea, log onto
www.SisterLola.com, and browse through a lace-and-satin-filled
world of gowns of all shapes, sizes and designs. Select the gowns
that appeal to you and SisterLola will create a custom-tailored
catalogue of your choices, which she’ll mail to you, complete with
photos,
“customized
vouchers”
for discounts on your dream dresses, contact information and maps to
participating retailers close to your home. Bridesmaid’s dresses,
tuxedos, veils and accessories are also featured. Cost of the
catalog is $6.95—less than the cost of a bridal magazine
subscription.
Next, head over to
www.LegalZoom.com for a prenuptial agreement. This site takes
the hassle and expense out of filing many basic legal forms, from
prenuptial agreements ($119 for a standard prenuptial agreement
created by LegalZoom, compared with the estimated $732 that a lawyer
might charge) to wills ($55 versus the $366 that a lawyer might
charge), incorporations, trademark filings—and
yes, dare we mention it—divorces, as long as they are uncontested
($249 where no minor children are involved, versus the estimated
$1880 that a lawyer might charge).
The site cannot dispense legal advice, but it was created
by lawyers, and all forms are reviewed before they are filed (at no
extra cost) with the proper authorities. LegalZoom staffers will
alert you if the answers you submit
need amending to comply with requirements before filing. Other
cheaper sites, such as
www.TheWillExpert.com and
www.Willmatic.com, do not review submissions. For more
complicated legal problems, LegalZoom offers to forward a
description of your dilemma to lawyers, who will bid on the job. And
here's another feature: Tele-Lawyer puts you in touch with a legal eagle
by phone at a cost of $3 per minute. In this case, talk is not
cheap! |
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Want
to own a piece of McDonald’s, Disney, or Coca Cola? How about taking
a bite
of Krispy Kreme, or giving Bill Gates a piece of your mind at the
next shareholders’ meeting? You can do all of that and more, for less
than $100, when you buy one share of stock in your favorite company
from www.oneshare.com.
Granted, one share a mogul does not make. Still, it’s kind of
like buying a piece of the American dream, and it is a good way for
kids to begin to learn about
the stock market. The site’s My First Stock Program makes a great birthday
present.
The stock you select for your child under this program comes
packaged with
“fun projects, online games,
and an investment guide for kids to
teach them to be owners and not just consumers.”
While the site’s specialty is selling single shares
of
stock, which they offer to frame for
attractive wall display at an additional
charge (you can buy a
cheaper frame
at your local Wal-Mart),
one share entitles you
to receive
annual reports and dividends.
Che ck
out their DRIP Plus list, if you want to get
more
serious about stock
investment. Buying a single share in a company
that sponsors a DRIP, or
dividend reinvestment fund, allows you to
participate in that fund. Under these plans,
you purchase stock directly from the company and your dividends are
automatically reinvested in purchases of additional stock.
It’s another painless, low-cost way
to “take stock.” |
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We’ve heard of green thumbs—but green toes?
Greenfeet.com wants you to tread
lightly on our Earth. To help you do that, it sells natural,
environmentally safe products from its e-commerce site,
www.greenfeet.com . In honor of Earth Day, April 22, throughout
the month of April the site will be offering compact fluorescent
light bulbs (CFL’s) at cost.
“The goal is to encourage consumers to give CFL's a try,” says
Valerie Reddemann, the founder of Greenfeet.com. “With energy costs
continuing to rise, now is the time for consumers to take charge of
their electric bills. By swapping out energy-sucking incandescent
light bulbs for highly efficient CFL's, lighting costs can be
reduced by as much as 75 percent,” she says. “Replacing one
incandescent light bulb with an energy-saving CFL bulb reduces
carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere by 1,000 pounds and saves
$67 dollars in energy costs over the bulb's lifetime.”
CFL’s are more expensive than regular bulbs, but they last from
eight to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use about 75
percent less energy, and produce 90 percent less heat while
delivering more light per watt.
As long as Greenfeet’s Earth Day offer lasts, you can buy a
13 watt CFL, which replaces a 60 watt incandescent bulb, for $4.36 a
piece. The same bulb would cost $9 at other stores. Light bulbs
going off in your head yet?
Don’t like “the company” your daughter keeps? Want to teach her the
joys of running a hot new company and managing her own money? Get
her HOT COMPANY— a board game
that lets her experience the ups and downs of being the boss,
running a start up and managing it to profitability. As many
as four people can play. It costs $29.95, plus shipping and
handling, and is available at www.independentmeans.com.
Look at it as an investment in your child’s future!
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The 102-story Empire State Building was sold last week for $57.5
million. OK, so that price is a little steep for most of us, but it
shouldn’t stop us from setting our sights lower. Real estate, in the
form of a “fix-her-up” starter home, rental property, or second
vacation home, is the best investment any woman can make, according
to many experts. Every mortgage payment you pay buys you equity, or
ownership, in an asset that you can use in any number of ways, from
collateral for a small business loan to a source of rental
income—and always as a tax advantage.
Don’t have
enough for a down payment? Putting your own roof over your head is
easier than you might think: investigate
lease-with-the-option-to-buy arrangements, check the newspapers for
tax sales, and don’t overlook properties in low-rent districts that
are on the verge of being rediscovered. Ask whether your city or
municipality offers buyer-assistance programs or incentives for
purchasing properties in certain neighborhoods. One woman bought a
row home in Delaware for $47,000 under just such a program; 10 years
later, she sold it for $100,000.
For those
who’ve been in the military, 100 percent financing is available
through the Veteran’s Administration. Also, ask your realtor about
county or municipal down-payment assistance programs, which might be
available to those in your area who are willing to attend
money-management classes.
Realtors know what mortgage lenders are looking for and they can
offer advice on how to get your credit in shape before applying for
a mortgage. They’ll “pre-qualify” you and give you an idea of just
how much you can afford
 to spend. In the meantime, start
“window-shopping.” Looking at homes will give you the
incentive to increase the amount you’re saving each month towards
your down payment.
While
you’re looking, just for laughs check out the three-bedroom,
one-and-a-half bath home sweet home in Celoron, New York, pictured
at right. Listed on Ebay and priced at $98,000, it was the childhood
residence of a lady who made money being a very funny homemaker. Her
name: Lucille Ball. |
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There’s
a first time for everyone—and if you haven’t already booked a great
vacation deal on the Internet, a good place to start is at
www.virgin-vacations.com . Virgin Atlantic Vacations is
currently offering a “London 6-night April Fling,” including
round-trip Economy airfare on Virgin Atlantic Airways, round-trip
London airport transfers to the city center via the Heathrow or
Gatwick Express, six nights’ hotel accommodations in London,
breakfast daily, and hotel taxes and service charges. Prices start
from $599 per person, based on double occupancy for departures from
New York. Travel is valid from April 1 through April 30, with all
travel booked by April 21, 2002
Better yet, go for Virgin’s “March Fling” package, which is
currently selling from $499, with travel valid from March 1 – 31,
with all travel booked by March 22, 2002. Virgin Atlantic Airways
serves London
from New York (JFK), Newark, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco,
Washington (Dulles), Miami,
Boston, and Las Vegas. For reservations and inquiries, call Virgin
Atlantic Vacations
at 1-888-YES-VIRGIN (1-888-937-8474).
For a taste of
the funky and foreign on our own shores, visit
www.roadsideamerica.com. There, among other tips and tourist
recommendations, you’ll find a section called “Globality,” featuring
foreign sites in the U.S. If you have a hankering to see Britain’s
Stonehenge, but don’t want to cross the Atlantic, for instance,
you’ll find you need go no farther than Alliance, Nebraska, where
you can gape at “Carhenge” (pictured above). Only in America…. |
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“ I
just love finding new places to
wear diamonds,” coos Marilyn Monroe as fortune
hunter Lorelei Lee in the 1953
film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
Now, thanks to a new supply of
diamonds, mined in Australia and cut and polished in India, where
labor is cheap, that sparkling
gem can be every “girl’s best friend.”
Kmart offers a $49 pair of diamond stud earrings that Martha
Stewart wannabes can wear with
pride, and Wal-Mart reports that diamonds account
for 2 percent of its overall sales.
In our search for good values on the
Web and elsewhere, we stumbled upon Zales’ Value Vault (www.zales.com ), where
the jewelry chain offers “quality jewelry
at auction-savings prices.”
Values found in the “no-reserve
auction” section of Zales’ “Vault” range from a 14K gold 2 3/4
CT. “Emerelle diamond ring,” listed at a retail value of
$6,250 and a high bid of $3,008; to a 14K gold rope bracelet, valued at $185 with a high bid of $17; and 1 CT. diamond
solitaire earrings, valued at $1860, with a high bid of
$330.
We wonder where Marilyn would have
worn those. . . .
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Where can designer suits, coats, and dresses by the likes of Michael Kors, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Badgley Mischka and DKNY
be had for as little as $15? Where can you get a first peek at
what’s going to be HOT this spring? We won’t keep you on pins and
needles. Check out www.voguepatterns.com,
a cool Web site for those who want to dress stylishly and save BIG
money—even if th ey can’t sew.
So you say you’re a klutz with a needle and thread…you think
a hem is another word for the bottom line? Well, these patterns are so affordable, so timely and so
detailed that even if you buy them and give them to your
neighborhood seamstress, along with some luxe fabric in which to create them for you, you’ll still be saving hundreds of
dollars on the latest looks for spring.
You can purchase a pattern for a vintage Bolero dress from the ‘40s
and vamp
like Be tte
Davis in “All About Eve,” find an evening or bridal gown to shine
in. Doll clothes, maternity
wear, lingerie . . . even a plus-size collection . . . can be had
here. PLUS accessories
like shawls, bags, hats, and men’s vests. Links to related sites
where you can order fabrics, “notions,” and sewing machines, and
links to sewing guilds and associations, are listed as well.
Sew…what are you waiting for?
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Items from
the sublime to the ridiculous spotted recently on a tour of
Neiman Marcus’s online catalogue (www.neimanmarcus.com
): First, for the man in your life who’s having a mid-life
crisis, here’s just the thing—a little red sports car. The
BMW Z8 model car, pictured at left, comes filled with
chocolate hearts ($18).
Then, for
the outdoorsman who wants to take
the comforts of home (or at least the football game) with
him into the woods, Neiman Marcus has a lantern/TV. This boy
toy comes complete with compass and flashlight, so your man
can find his way home to you in the dark, and is priced
at only $100. It was named “a great gift for guys” by
InStyle magazine.
A fashion note for the trend-setters among us: Belts are in
this year. Unfortunately, the sweet-looking, hippie-style
nubuck belt bag, pictured at right, priced at $175, won’t
help you tighten your belts if you’re doing some
budget-cutting this year. But maybe, if you dig into your
closets, you’ll be able to resurrect a similar look from
your own (or your Mom’s) happy hippie days! |
OH, THE THINGS THAT MONEY CAN BUY!
In
the wake of the Enron debacle, one reassuring sign that good
old-fashioned capitalism and entrepreneurial spirit are
still alive and well was spotted this week on ebay, where
more than one Enron “Vison and Values” paperweight with the
words “Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don’t
belong here!” engraved on it were put up for auction by
former employees. When we last checked, the high bid was
$167.
Other enterprising former employees have posted such
items as the Enron Code of Ethics manual (last bid: $200)
and an Enron Stock Certificate issued to
commemorate the first time the energy company’s stock hit 50
(listed at $300 and counting). Seems the now-bankrupt firm's
employees, whose retirement funds took such a hit,
know how to make the best of a bad situation.
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