Frugal Friday!

Umm... have you guys heard of TheFind.com?! It's amazing! It's so great, you can type in anything you may be looking for online....let's say you want to find the best deal on a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps (yes, please!) then it pops up with every store, their price, etc. that is selling them. It makes searching for the best online deals so much easier. They have some coupons on the site as well. Love it. Definitely one that I'm adding to my bookmarks!

Frugal Friday!

Do you want to make someone's face look like this when they open their Christmas gift this year? Strapped for cash for the latest gadgets? Well, A & B are here to save the day! Okay, I'll stop writing like a used car salesman now. The truth is that we are getting closer and closer to the gift giving season and this is a very important time to exhibit frugality! For saving on gadgets I really love refurbished items. I have been finding myself drooling over a dyson vacuum on Overstock.com and reveling at how cheap Kitchenaid mixers are on the Kitchenaid website (in the outlet, refurbished section) and in previous years A & I have gotten both an ipod and a laptop off of the refurbished section on mac.com. I also got A a refurbished electric razor off of Amazon.com a few x-mases ago. They really are an amazing resource and you get things you really want, that would normally be too expensive, for so much less!

Frugal Friday!

Some lovely ladies I "crafted" with a few weeks ago mentioned using their "groupon"(I'll be honest, I thought we were moving into some risque girl talk!). Quickly, I learned that it is another website much like Living Social with local savings, it's great. I've signed up and already got an x-mas gift for A I know he'll be excited about! They have salon, spa, hotel, food, entertainment, fitness classes, other classes, you name it! All at amazing discounts, Groupon also has an iphone app for those of you with iphones (come on Verizon, have one out before x-mas!). It's also all over the U.S. (they're even getting it in Salem, OR soon!?). One thing that I really like about Groupon is that on their sidebar they've got all of the other local deals that are just out of your city, and if you live somewhere like the Bay Area that's amazing because there are so many other towns close by that are also having "Groupons" that day. Check them out, they're great, and it's really amazing to do things you would already do, for at least half off; or things you didn't think you could do because it was too expensive. My dahlings, the internet can make ALL your dreams come true! Err....yes....

Frugal Friday!

While obsessing about Le Creuset again (and no, I still haven't used them! I'm afraid, and clearly a weirdo. I'll get over it, thinking I'll cook a chicken in the round one tonight!) A friend of mine told me about the website Slickdeals.net where you can sign up for your favorite things, be it Le Creuset, a Yudu , portable margarita maker, etc. You will then get sent an alert when anything with that name gets posted. So, the other day I got an email allerting me that Le Crueset had been mentioned in a post, sadly it was only to say that it was excluded from the online 20% off sale that Macy's was having that day. But, my friend had been alerted about some Le Crueset pieces she bought in the past, as well as a crazy sale on their tv and more. I need to add more to my interest list so I can broaden my savings, but it seems like a great Frugal Friday resource (and even for stocking up on Christmas gifts as well!) and I look forward to more "slickdeals" coming my way! 

Le Creuset Update!

In addition to seeing our amazing friends get married in Oregon last weekend, A & I were also able to make a little stop at the Le Creuset outlet!

It was a little overwhelming, but as I was looking for the map to find the store there was a flier saying that Le Creuset was having a Buy More Save More sale and so the pieces I had picked out all ended up being an additional 35% off! I was pleased with my savings and ready to get cooking! This is what I got, and my savings:

5.5 qt. pot originally $315, priced at $196 (Sale price $68.60)

Skillet originally $190, priced at $112 (Sale price

$39.20)

Sauce Pan 2.75 qt. originally $170, priced at $161 (Sale price $56.35)

Stainless Steal Nob (for higher temp oven cooking) originally $10, priced at $10 (Sale price $3.50)

Cast Iron Cleaner (because they're so expensive that I am now terrified!) originally $12, priced at $12 (Sale price $4.20)

So, let's add that all up, if I had bought this all at a non outlet store it would have been a

whopping total of $697 (plus tax if it was here!)! Then, if it had been literally the day before (which was prior to the "Buy More Save More" sale) it still would have been $491! My grand total at the outlet, without sales tax and with the BMSM sale was only (yes, I know, not "only" but this was my grown-up present to myself!) $319.15!! Now, I just need to read the thirty page instruction booklet, search the net a bit for helpful hints and then you know, actually cook something and I'll be ready to enjoy my luxurious new gift!

FYI the pieces are now on our kitchen table much like a display, oh and I did get the "Carribean" color that I loved so much afterall! (These are the pieces I got as pictured).

Frugal Friday!

Are you like us, and haven't been able to think up anything good to be for Halloween, or have decided that going as Lady Gaga for the third year in a row is a little much? Well, you're in luck! Stagecraft Studios is having their last studio blowout and you just might be able to find that perfect look you've been going for! It's both Saturday and Sunday this weekend and should prove to have some goodies!

Frugal Friday!

It's obvious that Le Creuset is a classic, elegant staple to anyones kitchen, but I'll admit that I thought that was only in the kitchens of "fancy people" and those lowly folks that cannot spend hundreds of dollars on a few pieces and aren't professional chefs would just have to do without...but wait, there is another option!

First let me say that I have been edging towards the switch to cast iron for awhile because of the impuritues and otherwise scary things in non-stick pots and pans. This summer when A & I were home in Oregon I picked up an adorable burnt orange cast iron frying pan to begin the collection. While I was in France my host cooked

everything in cast iron pans and it just added to the luxurious timeless feel of France, but that's another story. A few weeks ago a friend of mine from Oregon wrote on her blog that, bizarely

enough, she too was making the switch, AND she found out an

amazing thing...there are Le Creuset outlets!! You can find their locations here: http://www.lcstores.com/locations.asp and my BFF told me that they also sell them at TJ Maxx! Well, A & I are going up to Oregon for oh, about 30 hours, for one of our best friends weddings (Go J & A!) this weekend and on the way to the wedding I will be stopping at the Le Creuset outlet to see what I can see. So excited! Now, you too can be a "fancy person"! I think that I'll get a few key pieces and add vintage ones as I find them. I really want this color (it would match my kitchenaid perfectly) but I'm worried about staining and browning over time...I also like the idea of doing a mix of colors like a little rainbow collection, who says they have to match?!