Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters

With all the importing we do for fruits and vegetables I have become rusty on which fruits and vegetables are ripe in what season.  You can find almost anything now at anytime. But from traveling thousands of miles you have to put up with buying frozen or somewhat unripe produce.

Then I found FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org. … a complete resource for those of us that can’t remember what grandma taught us about fruits & vegetables. About the only thing I remember is that Fruits and vegetables are at their cheapest price when they are in-season. With Springtime around the corner it’s time to learn how to choose, use and get the biggest bang for our buck with fruits & veggies.

At FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org.  you can learn about vegetables, nutrition, meal planning around seasonal vegetables, buying on a budget, long term storage and more. You can even ask an expert about preparation, nutrition content. Label reading, menu and recipe advice etc.

Broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, squash, and even Rhubarb more will be come more familiar and be on our menu more often by using their planning and tasty menu guide.

Now you have no excuses.

Bargainist.com

Bargain hunting has always been in and right now getting a great deal is super hot. The new trend in 2010 is coupon use, freebies and discount codes. Looks like a lot of folks are jumping on the band wagon helping us find deals in town and on the web.

The Bargainist is a national website with coupons, discount codes and deals listed on everything from designer boots to electronics. Recent leads to online deals include a Guess boots at 40% off, a Nike Coupon, a 70% off at ShopBop, and a 25% off a $30 purchase at Pro Flowers and a Nikon Coolpix L20 camera for $90 instead of $120.

They cover a lot of goods at discount websites but they also get and post links and info on less common savings like a 20% off coupon for Kenmore kitchen appliances at the Great Indoors and a 62% savings at at the Watchery on a Movada Junior Sports Chronograph watch.

You’ll also find a section with “How to” and “Money Saving” tips. Always useful for getting the best deal.

Bookmark this one. Visit it often. It’s fun and packed full of info and savings!

BigCityDeals

In a big city like Los Angeles, there are big deals to be found everywhere. Competition is fierce amongst retailers. Importers and manufacturers abound! Services want your business!
Nice to have help finding them from Big City Deals.com.

Similar to Groupon, this free site (Big City Deals) lists specials money savings deals in Cities nationwide for just one day. Ya gotta move fast to get the deal.

Recent savings have included a 30 minute golf swing evaluation by Golf TEC in Santa Monica at $25 instead of $85. And $25 of SOS Emergency Preparedness products for only $10.

Still in it’s Beta mode (working out the kinks), Big City Deals posts BIG savings for big city dwellers like us. Actually for anyone who loves a deal.

Big City Deals is a nice new addition to money saving websites.

TheFairest.com

Similar in concept to the Gilt Group, Rue La La and other online Sample Sale sites, TheFairest.com offers 2-3 day sales on quality better upscale cosmetics and beauty products at 50% savings. We’re talking cool brands here Juara, La Rocca, Skin Nutrition, Bodyography, Clarks Botanicals, Butter London, Korres, Tarte, Warren Tricomi, Stila MOR Cosmetics, and more…. All for a song!

This weeks deals include 50% off savings on the cosmetic line by Bodyography. Cream blush was $7.50 instead of $15. Duo eye shadow was $8 instead of $16 and concealer was $7.50 instead of $15.
Clarks Botanicals was also on sale at 50% off. Their cellular lifting serum was $177.50 instead of $355 and the deep moisture Mask was $36 instead of $72.

Shipping is buy UPS and a $11 item and a $177 item each cost $5.95 to ship.

Keep an eye on this one for deals on your favorites cosmetic lines!

Skin Care RX

I hate paying retail. But there are some things I have been forced into paying retail for. One of the categories I used to pay retail for was skin care products. Now that I see an Esthetician I have been able to try some really good skin care products. I cannot switch back to department store or CVS brands.

So I went on a hunt. An internet search turned up SkincareRX.com. Easy to search and read about product, this site is for the most part retail. But after I signed up for their e-mails, I started getting 20% coupon codes regularly about once a month.

When I get them I load up on my favorite product.

You’ve got a lot of quality choices here with brands like:
AFA
Bioelements
Boske Dermaceuticals
Cellex-C
Dermalogica
Epionce
iS Clinical
Kinerase
La Roche-Posay
MD Forte
M2 Skincare
Murad
MD Skincare
Obagi
PCA Skin
Prevage MD
Relastin  
… and many more

The site is secure, shipping is fast, and product always arrives in excellent condition.
They also have specials where if you buy a certain amount, you’ll get FREE shipping.

This months 20% off code is BASICS20

StubDog

With the recession in full swing, everyone is getting on the discount event band wagon.
If you’re still not finding entertainment venues you like at a discount, a new site worth a try is Stub Dog.com

Like Comedy Clubs but can’t always afford to go? StubDog.com has savings of 50% or more on local comedy clubs. Next Tuesday you can see Jo Koy at the Hollywood Improve for $7 instead of $14.  You’ll also find half price tickets to the Knitting Factory and other cool comedy venues.

But that’s not all….

You’ll also find serious discounts to events and entertainment like Speed Dating, Pilates Classes, Film Festivals, Spa treatments, Night club shows, Beer Festivals,, Shakespearean plays and more.

Hooray for another way to see local entertainment for less. Yep, we’re totally digging this!

BeautyTicket

I am soo tired of waiting for giveaways and promotions to buy quality cosmetics and feel like I got a deal.

So I was more than a little pleased to come across Beauty Ticket.com. Here you can save 20%-80% everyday, with an average savings of 50% on major better brands of cosmetics. Yves St. Laurent, Nina Ricci, Orlane, Bourjois, Clarins, Joey New York, Laura Mercier, Lancome,  Borghese, MD Skin care,

There are no complete lines here but a quick weekly check will pull up deals on eye shadows, lipsticks, nail color, face creams, face powder, pencils, mascara, eyeliner and more , most heavily discounted. 

You also find body and spa products here by Orlane, Perlier, Perscriptives, Trucco and Borghesa and gift sets and kits.

I loved the Pop Beauty “Hell Gorgeous make up kit with 36 eye shades, 10 lip glosses, 6 cheek shades and 2 applicators for $18.99 instead of $48. The Borghesa Seasonal Lip pallet was also a good buy at $10.99 instead of $28. The MD Skincare serious lip treatment was $28 instead of $60 and the Joey New York roll on Blemish fix was $6.99 instead of $22.

 Beauty Ticket.com is fun to browse and can save you some serious mullah. Get beautiful for less at the Beauty Ticket.com

ECrater

When rents are high, foot traffic is slow, where do retailers and small business start ups go? Ecrater.com

Ecrater.com a 100% free online marketplace and a free ecommerce website builder. Sellers receive customizable free online stores. In addition, all products get listed in their free online marketplace. So like Etsey.com, they have smaller creative start up businesses using it to get their online business going and some of these offer some outstanding deals.

Here you’ll find a wide variety of small online stores. From designer clothing to magazines, and art to antiques. Kind of like an online swap meet but better.

Some stores are tiny with great deals. One shop on ECrater I liked was My Designer Closet http://www.mydesignercloset.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3514877

This online women’s resale boutique had a new Marc Meredith Sweater dress at just $70 instead of $160.

Another bigger store, Tillie’s Tidbits had a wide variety of women’s & men’s fashion accessories. http://tilliestidbits.ecrater.com/ Featured was a pair of Ed Hardy deck shoes for $47. And a NWT Kate Spade women’s hot pink straw purse for $125…Retail is $265.

The jewelry, vintage and collectibles sections had the most dealers listed with a full range of pricing from bargain $5 pins to pieces in the hundreds of dollars.

E Crater.com is good online site to cruise for hard to find items as well as for fun..

DiscountJungle

My hot hair iron died this week. This grooming tool had become a staple around our house and having it die created, well, an issue. Replacing it quickly was imperative.
A quick trip to the neighborhood beauty supply found several cheaper versions at $39-$59 and the professional quality ones ran $189-$225… ouch!

After some online research, I realized that buying a higher quality hot iron was a better buy in the long run, I just had to find it at a deal. I looked through several of the pricing search engines & Price Grabber etc. for the brands I was interested in. I found one of the highest rated hot irons, a T3 Tourmaline on DiscountJungle.net. The retail was $200. I got it for $94.99 and then to appease the fashionista kid I had it send 2-day air for an additional $20.

It got here super fast (within 36 hours) and so beautifully shipped that I went back to peruse the site again.

There is a lot of audio home theater and car gear here. Everything from speakers and sub woofers to LCD monitors, equalizers, alarm systems, home theater systems, phones, TV tuners, small appliances, beauty products, antennas and so much more all at 33%-65% off. Most of the discounts were in the 35%-50% range.

Judging from the impeccable service, accurate pricing and quality of the product, I’d make Discount Jungle a regular website to visit when you’re looking for car accessories, home electronics or Audio/Video products. The only caveats are a 20% restocking fee applied to returned items and California residents pay sales tax.

So do your homework first. Be sure it’s what you want and then go for it. You’ll pay a lot less at Discount Jungle.

The Accidental Wine Company

This may seem a little early, but with all of our lives so busy getting ahead of the Holiday rush is important. If you plan on giving wine or serving a fine wine at any of your upcoming holiday celebrations, take a look at www.AccidentalWine.com. Savings here average 20%-40% on better wines from a wide variety of vineyards. You won’ t find 2 Buck Chuck here, but wines worth giving and enjoying on special occasions.

Deals spotted on a recent visit include a 2005 Au Bon Climat Chardonnay $12. That runs around $22 elsewhere. A bottle of 2005 La Tunella Pinot Grigio. is priced here at $12 instead of $17 and a 2005 Kenneth Volk Santa Maria Cuvee Pinot Noir is $22 instead of $27. A 2004 Silverado Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is well priced at $22.33 which runs $35-$49 all over the web.

If you’re a wine connoisseur, The AccidentalWine.com site could be a dream come true

DrVitaminSolutions

My entire family is health conscious and several, including my husband are members of Life Extensions. I won’t get into the incredible value of the supplements from Life Extensions except to say they do cutting edge research into health issues and they sell high quality supplements that are the best available on the market& but at a price that makes CVS plain wrap vitamins look like giveaways.

I can’ t regularly afford them (only when they go on sale) and a lot of us on tight budgets can’t. But the one thing that all of us can benefit from are high quality vitamin and mineral supplements. Financially speaking….Taking care of ourselves now can save a bunch in medical costs later. So when my mother in law called me early in the morning to tell me about a website that sells Life Extensions for less& I though she was kidding. But it’s true and after convincing me this site was legit I am passing on the info.

Dr. Vitamin Solutions sells many of the Life Extensions supplements at 30%-65% off. The guy that runs the site negotiated a deal with Life Extensions where he can sell for less.

I am interested in the two per day multi vitamin. LE sells them at $18.95. Here they are $13.95. Their DHEA supplement is here at $33.95 instead of $48.95. Since the Fall winter flu months are ahead of us I also priced out the L.E. Immune Protect with Paractin at $20.95 instead of $29.95. However, you’ll have to sign up to make a purchase.

I do like Life Extensions information and membership that I get thru hubby. But being able to get their high quality supplements for less is even better.

Thrifty Kitchen

I love it when life is made simpler and cheaper. Both happen at ThriftyKitchen.com.

For a $10 a month subscription you can have weekly family dinner recipes based on the discounts and sale items offered at your local supermarket. You can save a bundle by eating what’s on sale each week! You choose the store you prefer to shop and the number of hungry people you need to feed - they do the rest!

Each week, on Thursdays, you log in and see what’s on sale each week as well as information on applicable coupons and where to find them or print them online. Then on Friday you go back to view “This Weeks Menus and Recipe Meal Plan” for tasty recipes that use those ingredients. You print your customized shopping list and purchase the ingredients in one shopping trip, then just follow the instructions for each day’s meal prep.

These tend not to be gourmet meals but are family-friendly, nutritious, and simple to make. The recipes are adapted from a wide variety of sources including website owner Lisa Leete own family favorites, cookbooks, cooking magazines, online cooking sites, and reader submissions.
The menus are highly varied, but some ingredients are more common than others. Chicken is a frequent ingredient, as it is lower in fat and very reasonably priced compared to many other protein sources. Vegetables are a major player in both side and main dishes. If you see an ingredient in a recipe that you know won’t go over well with your family, simply leave it out.

Seems like a good way to spend less and eat better!

ChillOutLA

Okay, so I am gonna let you all in on my little secret. For the last 15 years I’ve been teaching commercial dance classes. I didn’t drop them after I became a bargain shopping guru. But I did slowly cut back as my work load increased and am sadly down to just one a week which is soon to be history.

Dance as a first love had always been a way to relieve stress, stay in shape and use my creative juices. As a teacher, I have never had to pay for a class and I am now facing paying for something I have received for free. Off hand I’d say I am spoiled. But it’s time to get on the ball and start the search for both R & R and a good exercise program… be it yoga, pilates, weight training, ballet classes or whatever.

Which brings me to Chill Out LA. This online site give you the low down on local spas, classes, yoga and other “centering” activities to help both mind and body stay in shape. Every Thursday they send out an e-mail packed with info on spas, massage centers, yoga studios, meditation workshops, and rejuvenating getaways are truly affordable. Not just the over-hyped “Hollywood glam” stuff. Real classes, real people at real prices.

The last e-mail I received had power yoga classes at $8-$10 a pop which is below the Westside norm of $12-$18. Most of the sources tend to be in LA proper but since sign up is free it’s worth it. Hopefully they’ll expand as their readership does. An easy way to find the sources that take care of your bod…. for less.

FragranceNet

Valentine’s Day is so close. If you have a loved one some where other than here, you’d better get on it.

One of the classic presents for Valentines Day is perfume. www.FragranceNet.com has been a long time favorite for fragrance purchases online. Their consistently good selection, fast shipping and savings of 5%-55% have shoppers saving on their favorite scents.

Everything from standards of Oscar De La Renta 1oz EDT spray for $19.80 instead of $38 to sexy bottle of Jean Paul Gautier 1.7 EDT for $55.89 instead of $60. There’s any easy alphabetically search available in either men’s or women’s fragrances.

A new surprise for me was the skin care products carried on the site. Some of these were at substantial discounts and others at retail. Products from Clarins, Dermalogica , Estee Lauder, La Prairie, Murad, Mac and more.

Another plus here is the free shipping in the USA for purchases of $60 or more. It’s a great way to give or get a lovely Valentines Day gift. Orders to be delivered by Valentines Day must be ordered by 2/7.Valentine’s Day is so close. If you have a loved one some where other than here, you’d better get on it.

One of the classic presents for Valentines Day is perfume. Fragrance Net has been a long time favorite for fragrance purchases online. Their consistently good selection, fast shipping and savings of 5%-55% have shoppers saving on their favorite scents.

Everything from standards of Oscar De La Renta 1oz EDT spray for $19.80 instead of $38 to sexy bottle of Jean Paul Gautier 1.7 EDT for $55.89 instead of $60. There’s any easy alphabetically search available in either men’s or women’s fragrances.

A new surprise for me was the skin care products carried on the site. Some of these were at substantial discounts and others at retail. Products from Clarins, Dermalogica , Estee Lauder, La Prairie, Murad, Mac and more.

Another plus here is the free shipping in the USA for purchases of $60 or more. It’s a great way to give or get a lovely Valentines Day gift. Orders to be delivered by Valentines Day must be ordered by 2/7.

Amazon Outlet

With the holidays just around the corner and all of us trying to keep our information secure during online purchases, I thought I’d check into the outlets at a tried and true, major online store.

Amazon.com is a fairly priced website. The Amazon Outlet is an extension of the regular site with additional discounts of 10%-50% on a variety of items usually found on their site. This outlet section includes deals from the independent sellers that Amazon partners up with.

There is a ton of product here, from computers (both new and refurbished) to sundries, bedding, toys, electronics, books, apparel and so much more. If you shop Amazon, you’ll want to start your bargain search here.

A quick cruise around the site yielded deals in every section. I found a Phillips DVD recorder for $200 instead of $399. A Panasonic 5.8 Ghz cordless phone was well priced at $54. An Audiovox portable personal video recorder w/ 2.5 LCD was $74.99 instead of $219.

The apparel section was quite large with dozens of name and designer labels. A bit of something for anyone (guys and girls) from plus size to infant. The bedding section had a good selection of higher end bedding. No poly junk here. The toy section was huge and you can browse by age appropriate toys. Books and music were overflowing with choices. This on line outlet is huge!

With all the goodies available, you may never leave your home to shop again. Simply put…lots of tempting deals

SheFinds

The boutiques and designers of New York are always at the top of fashion divas shopping list. But us hip West Coasters, Southerners and equally savvy Mid-Westerners can’t always hop on a plane to shop these designer digs. Enter www.SheFinds.com.

Owner Michelle Madhok, knows the trends and where to find them. Her expertise and knowledge give consumers everywhere the insight they need to get the latest styles and products that fit everyone and every budget. She reads all the fashion publications, scopes out the streets of New York and scouts the stores to find out what’s worth your while. Then she surfs the web for the best style finds and put them at your fingertips in her free weekly newsletter.

Like BargainsLA.com, SheFinds.com is packed with great ideas and sources. You’ll find out about new trends, products, designers and shopping boutiques before the masses and where the sources are for those items. But the area that She Finds has that Bargainsla.com does not offer (or I’d lose my mind) are leads to some of the best online sales in “Deal Alerts”. She Finds digs around, scopes ‘em out and saves you time and money by helping you find the best the web has to offer. As all savvy shoppers know, the best bargain shoppers are armed with up to date information. Here’s a great place to get that along with the goodies.

If you’re a shopping fashion diva or just a “wanna be”, She Finds.com is the place to visit to get in the know.