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.

HiddenLosAngeles

One of my little hobbies is to discover the unusual and unknown treasures of Los Angeles. Apparently I am not alone in this endeavor.

Cool new website, HiddenLA.com lists local interests, off beat locations, calendared events and other treasures about Los Angeles that are just out of the main stream.

Owner Lynn Garrett has a sense of Los Angeles that will make you cheer.
According to her Mission Statement,
“Los Angeles spans over 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km2), is home to almost ten million people, and is one of the most complex and diverse cities on Earth. There is no way to stereotype a place like that or really understand it in a weekend, a week, or even a year……It’s impossible to truly understand what Los Angeles holds unless you are willing to rip off the packaging and look inside of the box.”

Her discoveries are interestingly fun, off beat and surprising all at once.  You’ll find an appreciation for Los Angeles that you hadn’t thought you felt.

As a native Los Angeleon, I reminisced through the Flashback section on ABC 7’s Dr George Fishbeck, savored the calendar of events, appreciated her post on a FREE Book Swap and laughed at the Long Beach Crawfish Festival.

Everyday something new is added on this neat site.. You’ll catch yourself saying things “Ooh, this is cool!” and “Who’d have thought” and “I didn’t know that!” while cruising thru this packed site.

HiddenLA is a gem of a site for anyone visiting or trying to learn more about the soul of this city.

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!

Groupon

Holy Cow this is cool!
This website uses the power of group purchasing to get consumers incredible deals on the best local goods, services, and culture. Groupon features one daily deal on everything from restaurants, teeth whitening and sporting events to paintball, hypnotherapy sessions and boat tours. By requiring a minimum number of customers to sign up for each deal before it is available, Groupon uses collective buying power to negotiate jaw-dropping prices.

The way it works is that everyday they send you an email with the deal du jour. If it’s one you like, purchase it, get your friends to join in, and if enough are sold, then the savings are yours. If not, then your card isn’t charged, and you try again another day.

Recent Groupon’s in LA have been:
$50 for tickets to LA Women’s Tennis Championship on 8/8. $85 value.
$35 for $70 meal at Porterhouse Bistro
$13 Whale Watch off Newport Harbor, $30 value.

If enough people purchase, the next day you’ll get the deal via printable coupon.

Sign up through email, and every morning your inbox gets the deal of the day. You have till midnight to decide, and if the deal isn’t for you, then you always have tomorrow

Favorite Newsletters

I like to stay informed. Getting the inside scoop often leads me to bargain sources, companies, innovations and ideas that I can pass on. My day always begins with checking news sites, shopping and news blogs, and the slew e-mail newsletters I am signed up for.

Two e-newsletters that always have tantalizing tidbits of information are Jens List and Robin Sax facts.

Robin Sax’s, Saxfax Weekly is a self-published e-newsletter sent out by a Robin Sax. This Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, legal analyst, speaker, and author has been seen on many media outlets.

She is also a pretty savvy consumer and has made it a hobby to be in the know. In her weekly newsletter (Thursdays) she shares a variety of information, including contacts and resources, whether it be for a nanny, notary, web designer, legal information, or a specialized gift and like me she shares her info for free. How could I not like her and what she does!
www.robinsax.com/

One of my daily fixes come to my in box as Jen’s List. This valley mom daily newsletter is packed with community information, especially useful for moms but also of great for general interest.

I have been subscribing since last Spring and have received dozens of resources for nannys, home improvement, money management, home sales and rentals, entertainment, legal, health, kids classes and schools and more. Leads run from the Valley down to the South bay.

I wish I had had her as a resource when my daughter was little.

www.jenlevinson.com/

Stay in the know and link up with these two savvy chicks!

ItalianPottery

Santa Barbara seems so close. Yet it is still 2 hours away in clear traffic. After getting a tip about a great Italian Ceramic outlet up there and 8 weeks passing by not making the trip, I thought I should check out their website.

Thankfully at their www.ItalianPottery.com you can also find savings of 25%-50 on Italian pottery. This direct importer scours the Italian countryside searching for the most interesting designs and patterns. Selling direct to the public, you can find plates, bowls pitchers and platters in dozens of designs. You’ll even find masks, hanging tiles, planters and flower pots.

An Allegria pattern serving plate retails at $97. Here it’s $54. An Allegria Garlic keeper jar is $50 instead of $90. My favorite, an old world pattern Terrazza, has floral and pomegranate design on a bright yellow background. Here the pitcher is $73 instead of $104. The Amalfi pattern has many decorative tiles, wall plaques and artwork. A tile with a Madonna and child is $7.50 instead of $11 and decorative tiles with address numbers on them were $8 each.

Everything is shipped UPS Insured, making shipping costs something to pay attention to.
All in all, with gas prices high and time valuable you can let your fingers do the shopping on the net and still save without the drive.

ExperienceLA

New to Southern California? Or are you an old timer. Either way with summer here it’s time to get to know all the cool places and stuff we have to offer. But with gas at over $3 a gallon, it’s time to get to know the area via the metro.

At www.ExperienceLA.com you figure out how to get around and many of our wonderful sites by using the metro. Reader Jennifer G writes in …”We plan our family outings around the metro system. We’ve been to Universal Studios, Hollywood & Highland, Aquarium of the Pacific, California Science Center, Staples Center, and the Disney concert hall so far! They even have a section where you can find free events in the L.A. area!”

I found a link to a large number of our regional farmers markets and festival and fairs. Since there is always something going on in L.A…. From traveling art exhibits and live theatre to sporting events and festivals… Start planning your adventures by using the LA County Cultural Calendar and Experience LA.com. It should be your first stop.

EmergencyCafe

As a native Californian I have lived through 3 good sized earthquakes. The Sylmar quake from 1971 is one of my earliest scary memories. Most of us who have been here awhile take earthquakes seriously even though we live with it with the attitude “it goes with the territory”. But many of you new to Southern a California don’t know what you need or how to put together an emergency kit. Everyone in California should have one.

This is where Emergency Café comes in. Operated by Cari Butler, this entrepreneurial mom Emergency Preparedness began when her daughter started pre-school and was required to have a personal emergency kit. It occurred to her that everyone should have their own personal emergency kit at an affordable price. She now provides consultation services for families and businesses, as well as offering the Emergency Café line of kits.

For do it yourselfers you’ll find a check list of supplies to take to the store. For those of us with less time, you can purchase kits starting at $55 for a one person kit up to $205 for a five person kit. There are backpack kits for your car, pet kits, under the bed kits, tools, ladders… the basics all reasonably priced, all in one place.

Stop by www.emergencycafe.com for your emergency supplies.

Come on, get on it, it’s been 12 years since the last big quake! Some might say we’re over due for a good shake!

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.

Estate Sales

Savvy bargain shoppers can get real deals on estate furnishings, collectibles and artwork at Estate Sales. Estate sales are where the dealers shop to find inventory for their antique shops. Outside of cruising through local papers for listings, where can people go to get information? Try Estate Sales LA sales calendar www.estatesalesla.com

Here they list the Estate sales they will be conducting in the Los Angeles area along with a brief description of inventory offered. They don’t list pricing, so it’s up to you to decide when you get there to what’s offered up for sale is a reasonable deal. Like all bargain hunting … do your homework.

Another source on the internet to try for estate sales and garage sales is Craig’s List garage sales page http://losangeles.craigslist.org/gms/. Craig’s List has pages for cities nationwide so you can even help Aunt Edna find a garage sale near her home in Milwaukee.

GotPrint

Some things take awhile for me to feel comfortable with. Shopping online wasn’t one of them until it came time for me to print up some postcards. I was still stuck in the 1990’s where you walk into a print shop and place your order. Printing was not something I felt comfortable doing in cyber space.

My girlfriend Lorelei had designed and printed up my last batch of business cards and swore by www.gotprint.net. I was so relieved not to do it over the internet that I really was surprised when I walked into this small working warehouse with my disc and was directed to put my order in through their site. I had to establish an account and ALL of that was done online whether or not you lived nearby. Thankfully I used their in house computers to do that.

Got Print finished my order 3 days before they said they would and it came out perfect. I printed up 5000 5 x 7 postcards for $449 plus tax. Since I was local I could pick them up and avoid shipping costs. The quality and service was excellent and everyone involved was extremely helpful and courteous.

After cruising their site I realized you can do almost anything here online. Business cards, booklets, brochures, mini menus, posters, press kits, CD covers, letterhead… anything you can print. You can upload directly to them or send in a CD disc via the mail. They check it for any problems before they print. They can accept any of the following file formats: .TIF, .TIFF, .EPS, .AI, .PSD, .JPG, .PNG & .PDF

The pricing is better than just competitive… it’s a down right bargain. Some specials on now include 5000 full color brochures for $368, 5000 full color front and back business cards for $99 and 5000 full color front and back 4 x 6 postcards for $239.

Because of the quality and pricing I will use Got Print for all my printing needs… ordering over the internet and picking up in person. But even if you live out of the area, it’s a real deal!