The Cheap Diva

Get a Second Opinion and Save Cash

One of the shortcomings of buying merchandise online is that if there is a problem, the customer is pretty easy to ignore.  Lots of sellers handle everything over the internet and don't provide a physical address or phone number for their location.  Even if they did provide an address, the average customer is not going to hop on a plane and travel cross county to confront the seller about the $33.45 gadget falling apart after one use.  One way to reduce your risk of having a bad online buying experience is to get opinions from other customers who made purchases and took the time to rate the seller.

On eBay you can easily get seller ratings, but there are plenty of other resources out there for the resourceful shopper.  To get customer ratings for mass retailers try dealtime.com.  Dealtime.com is a price comparison web site that has a simple rating system where customers can rate retailers they have bought from on a scale of one to five check marks, with five being the highest rating.  Because dealtime.com has such a high number of people using their service, seller ratings are often based on the input of many customers not just a handful.

Sometimes the thing you are buying into is an opportunity, like a work at home opportunity, or a service.  To check out if that "I made a million a month working 5 minutes a week" home based business opportunity is legitimate, go to google.com and in the search engine box type in the name of the company with the work "scam" or "complaint" next to it.  Even the slickest business operators have a hard time hiding from disgruntled customers on the web.

For purchases that involve serious cash, like hiring a contractor, or to check out the legitimacy of a charity, consult the Better Business Bureau online at bbb.org.  The Better Business Bureau registers official complaints, offers accreditation to business that meet certain standards and has a library of helpful articles designed to help consumers make smart decisions.

A World of Style

I have once heard of the retailer World Market as Pier One Imports on steriods.  As far a size and the type of merchandise featured, that pretty much sums it up.  There is a wide selection of imported food and home decor items along with some jewelry to satisfy the appetite for something different and affordable.   

Brighten up your table with these Herringbone-
Border Floral napkins in sets of 4 for $8.96-$11.96. 

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Change your canister labels as often as you change your mind with these Chalk Talk Glass Storage containers for $3.99-$9.96 a piece.  While the containers do come with white chalk, the canister marked cookies in this picture unfortunately does not come with any cookies.

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Don't be a square.  Skip the boring bookcases and buy  Pyramid Shelving with Light Finish for $179.40 instead.  Even clutter looks chic when it is placed on an interesting bookcase.

A Working Wardrobe

Just because your are a corporate pawn doesn't mean you have to dress like one.  It's not only possible to dress with style at work, it's easy.  If your workplace requieres ID badges, indentify yourself as a stylish cubicle queen with a beaded lanyard from Boo Jee Beads.  Boo Jee Beads has a wide selection of chic beaded lanyards in a variety of colors that do a wonderful job of distracting others from the unflattering photo of you on your ID badge.

Pinstrip Black Boo Jee Beads lanyard for $15.00

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When you want to look polished without looking like a stuffed shirt, try a blouse with an interesting detail, like a small ruffle or ruching.  This Notations Solid Ruched blouse for $28.99 which also comes in chocolate, aqua and white, has enough feminine flair, like the slightly puffy sleeves and the tapered waist, to show the world that you are not just one of the guys.

 

 

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Mastering the art of multitasking is easy with this Worthington Belted Sheath Dress for $49.99.  This lined dress is actually machine washable.  It can easily transition from the office to the social hour by wearing a blouse underneath it or a light jacket over it.  To make the transition from warm weather to cool, just wear a long sleeved blouse underneath it with a tailored fall jacket over it.

Raising Eyebrows

Nothing complements a well groomed face like a well shaped eyebrow.  Bushy unplucked eyebrows tell the world you are too busy to care that you appear to have two caterpillars crawling across your face.  Over plucked eyebrows tell the world you know how to use tweezers but you don't how to use restraint.  A well groomed pair of eyebrows opens up the eye area and gives you a more polished look.

Great lighting is just as important when plucking brows as a pair tweezers with a great grip.  More than once I have groomed myself in the poor bathroom lighting only to discover when I caught a glance of myself in my rear cars' rear view window that there were several random eyebrow hairs growing like weeds that I completely missed.  There are two ways to avoid this grooming no no.  Take a tweezers and a tissue (to collect the hairs you pluck) and stand in front of a mirror located in a part of your home with natural lighting to do your plucking. 

Another option is to buy a beauty mirror approximately 6 to 12 inches wide, that has lighting built into the sides of the mirror for better viewing.  Some of these mirrors have a magnification feature.  The magnifying feature makes it easier to identify stray hairs.  On the other hand the magnifying mirror exaggerates the facial features in such an unflattering way that it's hard to come away from the mirror with any self esteem.  I don't recommend using a magnifying mirror.  I do recommend wiping tweezers with a cloth dabbed in rubbing alcohol regularly to keep them clean.

To make fair or sparse eyebrows have a bit more presence apply black or brown eyeliner or eyeshadow sparingly.  For a more efficient makeup routine use a narrow eyeliner brush to apply brown or black powder eyeshadow to the eyelids the apply that same natural looking shade of eyeshadow with the same eyeliner brush in small feathery strokes to your eyebrows.  This technique also works with eyeliner pencils.  I like the Physicians Formula Flatliner eyeliner pictured here, which needs not sharpening, and is available at mass retailers for under ten bucks.  Use the the natural line of your eyebrows and your natural hair coloring as a guide.  A polished appearance topped off by a pair of well groomed eyebrows will have you raising eyebrows for all the right reasons.

Tailor Your Sales Pitch

Being the author of a blog I have a lot of businesses pitching their product to me through emails in the hopes that I will mention it on my blog.  The emails that lead me to featuring their products are the ones that are a consistent with the types of products I feature that I think would be of interest to my audience.  The emails that have me reaching for the delete button are from the businesses that have sent me an email that clearly shows they have not done their homework to determine if their product is right for my audience.  I have received emails from a retailer promoting handbags.  The problem with their pitch is that the handbags they were selling were three times the average price of the types of handbags I normally feature!  Apparently they failed to notice the word "cheap" in the title of my blog.  Plugging a product to the wrong person not only wastes your time and theirs, it makes the seller look clueless and unprofessional.

Whatever you are selling, tailoring your sales pitch to a specific audience and focusing on specific needs will yield better results than a random blitz approach that irritates more people than it entices.  If you are selling food related items like Pampered Chef, find out if you audience is more interested in making healthy meals fast for their family, or if they are looking for fun food items like dessert related utensils and adjust your sales tactics accordingly.  Another example would be if you sell Mary Kay or Avon and most of the women you come in contact with are busy moms who barely have time to put on any makeup at all.  Tailor your sales pitch accordingly.  Focus on a few specific items that will have the most impact for the least amount of time such as lipstick, eyeliner, undereye concealer etc.  Find out how much time the customer is realistically going to spend on making up their face and what features they would like to emphasize or make less noticable.  Show women how they can look pretty in minutes without a ton of products. 

You do not want to be the one who sells any customer a lot of stuff she will never use.  The goal of a smart business person is a long term business relationship with repeated business from happy customers.  Sell stuff the customer is most likely to use and benefit from the most.  Ultimately, selling is simply a matter of matching the right products to the right cutstomer.

Daily Deals on the Web

As much as I love shopping I am perfectly happy to let others dig through the countless offerings served up by retailers to find the real deals among the duds.  There are so many web sites and blogs featuring daily deals that there is actually a web site called siteage.com that keeps a current listing of other web sites that focus on getting great deals.  Siteage.com breaks down their featured web sites into general categories like apparel and electronics for easier shopping.

The bargainist.com reads like a very well informed blog.  Brief posts about deals on everything from apparel and beauty products to home related goods from well known brands are posted regulary throughout the day.  Not satisfied to simply stay on top of the latest and greatest deals, the bargainist.com also features coupons, tips, and for the truly cheap, freebies.

For frugal fashionistas thebudgetfashionista.com features daily deals and get the look for less type articles that will not break the bank.  The types of clothes featured are fashionable items by popular brands that real women can wear without looking like a fashion victim.

Have a Seat

 Some entertaining articles suggest you have fewer chairs available than there are guests.  This is supposed to encourage mingling and allows for more guest in a small space.  For those of us who live in a world outside of glossy magazines, a lack of seating simply encourages confusion and discomfort among guests when they realize they have been put in the awkward position of playing musical chairs.  To make guests feel comfortable, stock up on chairs, cushions, and small end tables within reach of each chair.

To make any guest feel like royalty, buy a Merida II Armchair for $97.49.  Something about the formality, scale and design o the chair reminds me of a small throne.

Most patio sets take up space year round, whether they are being used or not.  This 5 piece Wooden Folding Patio Set for $349.99(also available in a 7 piece version), offers enough seating for intimate outdoors meals then when the weather cools, folds neatly away for convenient storage.  You can always throw on a few cushions to increase the comfort factor.

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If your patio is the size of a postage stamp, or if you just need extra chairs for casual get togethers, being comfortable probably takes precedence over being chic.  The Ultimate Folding Chair for $29.99 is made of weather resistant fabric tied to an easily folded frame.  The design is supposed to reduce muscles tension and pressure on the spine.  At $29.99 it also reduces pressure on the decorating budget.

Banding Together

Headbands are a chic and simple solution to looking polished in the summer heat.  Soft pliable headbands look effortlessly chic without the headaches that come with a stiff plastic headband.  Brightly printed headbands add a pop of color to an outfit and frame the face in something fun and interesting.  For an almost invisible go with anything headband, choose one with an open design, like one that looks like a chain composed of with wide thin links.  For a truly discreet look, wear a headband that is thin and close in color to your own natural hair color.  

Xhilaration Head Scarf - Pink Sliced Dots $7.99

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L. Erickson Cutout Ovals Comfort Headwrap $14.00.

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Claire's Brown Ribbon Triple Headband for $6.50 is available in their stores only.

The Great Face Off

Nowdays it seems like there is a lotion or potion for every part of the body.  Eye creams, hand creams, foot creams, what's next ankle cream?  Instead of stocking up on tons of creams, try using up beauty products meant for the face that didn't work the way you wanted them to, for other parts of your body.  Products designed specifically for the delicate face area are often gentle enough to use on other parts of the body.  

When a depuffing eye cream I purchased turned out to be nothing more than a glorified heavy moisturizer, I applied it to my hands at night for soft silkier hands and made a point of not buying the product again.  I once bought an exfoliating face wash that wash so effective I think it may have removed more than one layer of skin.  After taking a look at my red face in the mirror I decided to use this face wash in the shower on parts of my body with tougher skin, like my heels and elbows.  I can now show off my sandal ready feet instead of my tomato red face.  A face suncreen I used was great at first, but after wearing it for a while it would start to melt and drip down into my eyes, irritating them.  I used up the product by wearing it as a regular sunscreen on my body.  So before throwing away that moisturizer that makes your face feel like it was dipped in grease, ask yourself, "Would this greasy cream soften my elbows?"

Words that Work

I once got a great deal on a vintage camera on eBay in part because the seller did not use any keywords.  Keywords are specific words most likely to peak the interest of the person looking for that item.  It can be the brand, model, year the item was made, materials that the product is made out of, the name of the artist related to the item etc.  In the case of the camera, it was a specific model of vintage underwater camera.  I eventually stumbled across the camera on eBay accidentally by simple typing in the keywords "vintage camera" which brought up thousands of cameras.  The seller made no mention of the brand, model or even the fact that it was an underwater camera.  I bought it a lower price I had seen it sell for by other sellers who sold the exact same model who used relevant keywords.  If other camera collectors had been searching for this camera using more specific keywords, like brand and model, to try to find this item they were most likely unaware that this camera was available for sale.  If you are going to sell something, go on the internet and see what features and words others people selling items similar to yours are using as a selling point.  This is an easy way to find out what information is probably the most important to prospective buyers include this information in your sales pitch.  This approach works for selling items on ebay, a classified ad or just about any other selling tool.

Words describing the condition of the item can be a useful selling tool if the item is in great condition.  The phrase "mint condition" is music to the ears of prospective buyers.  The phrase "in good condition for it's age" is vague, meaningless and is more likely to annoy buyers then entice them.  When I see the phrase "in good condition for it's age" my first thought is "So am I, now tell me something useful!"  If the object being sold has wear and tear be detailed and specific about the flaws when selling the item.  If your are selling a book that someone is buying more for content than decoration, or a piece of furniture with a flaw in an area that can be easily diguised by an end table or throw pillows, some potential buyers might not care about the flaws.  Being up front and specific about the condition of the item increases the buyers confidence in you as a seller.  Whatever your are selling, using the right words can increase your chances of selling your product.