Tightwad Chic

Etsy Selling For Extra Money

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:28:00 +0000

You can mke money selling stuff you make on Etsy. Using Etsy to make some extra money works and is great fun. ake a look at this shop here: Chic Useful Ceramic Gifts.

IKEA AS-IS Success, New Bathroom Sink for $22

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Yeah I know we like to brag a bit but here's another deal from IKEA. Our bathroom sink. Wait I mean our NEW chic bathroom sink for $22. Yep that's right just two number two's side by side.

See the picture, real sleek and chic huh?

Here's the link to IKEA where it retails for $80. Again we found it in the AS-IS section at 70% off and we used a discount coupon we got our last time through the store worth $1.50. Driving down the price to $22. Neat huh?

IKEA Shopping Success, Great Dishwasher for $56

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:04:00 +0000

So here's an example of the tightwad chic IKEA shopping technique. Really it works, you just need to follow the technique.

So this one we'd been looking for a while and were patient. Really we didn't care too much about which dishwasher showed up in the AS-IS section. We just wanted one at the right price.

Well the one that showed up was actually the one we thought we might want.

It was the Renlig found here. Now it retails for $349.

The day we found it in the IKEA AS-IS it had been there two weeks and the discount was 70%. Making the IKEA dishwasher $104. Nothing wrong with it. It was just a floor model.

Then we looked for the IKEA Kicker, the we outlined earlier. Yep we'd hit it big, an additional 35% off. Making it $68.

But wait there was more, isn't there always more? We had a coupon for $10.40 since last time we bought something we'd used our debit card. So that added in took the price down to $58.

But wait there is even more. Don't forget the 3% discount we got by buying it with our debit card. 3% coupon we'll us later made the final price of the dishwasher that retails for $349 an amazing $56 out the door.

Remember this is not a used or refurbished unit, it is brand spanking new, never used. It was just a floor model. They don't even hook them up, they are just mounted in the displays.

So here's photo of our $56 NEW stainless steel dishwasher.

Cool huh? Now that's tightwad chic.

Chic Stainless Steel Hand Railing Construction. Part 3.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:34:00 +0000

So we got the posts up next step was to get the railing tops made and installed. then to quickly wrap things up before Atlas and Taupin figured out how to get upstairs and then fall to their deaths on the concrete floor below. Note: no dogs were harmed in the making of this stainless steel railing building process.

From there we had ordered Douglas fir wood for the railing tops. These we cut to size after the cable was installed to make sure everything would fit well. This took same patience and careful measuring and cutting but over a weekend we got everything fitting well. We dry fit the wood to make sure we had it right.

From there we gave everything a few coat of varnish. We used an oil based Varathane brand product. Oil based varnish is more difficult to clean up they say, but it also lasts longer than water based varnish. Both choices being the same price, obviously the tightwad chic decision was to go with the oil based varnish.

Here’s a shot of the railing tops being varnished in the kitchen. Yep things get messy as you build but hey it saves thousands and you get what you want rather than what you can afford.

The following weekend we installed the top wood for the railing and then tightened up the stainless steel cable by twisting the hardware we’d installed. Making the entire railing nice and taught. We made it just in time as the building inspector came by the next day and passed our railing.

So here’s the finished product. Quite chic, no?

IKEA Shopping the Tightwad Chic Way. In action. Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:47:00 +0000

OK so we got the chairs. Remember these were 63% off retail all through following the Tightwad Chic IKEA shopping technique. They are AS-IS so we still have a little work to do.

Since these chairs are showroom models we need to clean them up a bit. One reason they sat at IKEA for 8 days at this great discount was that they were dirty. So we are now going to pay ourselves $409.40 for about 15 minutes of work cleaning up the chairs.

Here's what one of the chairs looked like before cleaning.

They were dirty, take a closer look at the dirt here in this photo. You could say they were "dirt cheap."

So on the way home with the chairs we stopped by the grocery store and bought some leather cleaner and conditioner for about $8.00. Here's the stuff we used to wipe them down and clean them up.

By the way the ArmorAll stuff worked way better. So we spent 15 minutes wiping them down. Here's the same area after we cleaned it up.

Pretty good huh? Remember for 15 minutes of scrubbing we saved hundreds of dollars, and we got really chic furniture.

Here's the finished chair all cleaned up.

And here are the two IKEA Chairs up in our loft all clean. Not bad.

IKEA Shopping the Tightwad Chic Way. In action. Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Super IKEA Savings In Action

OK So here's a real live example. We were looking for the white leather IKEA Tirup chairs. We knew that there 3 on the showroom floor at IKEA and they'd been there for over 6 months. Pretty good bet they'd be swapped out soon.

We'd stopped by IKEA about once a month. Every time we head to the big city we stop by, run in to the IKEA AS-IS section and peek. Takes 10 minutes, plus we pick up 50 cent hot dogs.

So we went in looking for our chairs. And there they were. Now we were lucky finding two, the quantity we wanted. We knew this would be tough to pull off, but since we planned and had a longer list of items we wanted there was a good chance we'd find something we were looking for.

Yep we found them, 2 beautiful white leather Tirup chairs that retail for $399 each, just sitting there for $159 each.

Here's the tag to highlight our Tightwad Chic find.

Note the markdown date. the chairs had been there for a week at 50%, and then they were marked down an additional 10% the day we bought them.

We dutifully asked for an additional discount using the technique we outlined earlier, but we're denied. This was because we asked the same guy who had just marked them down the same morning.

We then looked for the "kicker" rats. It was 35% off mattresses. We really wanted these chairs so we decided to suck it up and buy them at the minimum discount of 60% off. But hey, that is 60% and we knew at checkout we were going o get an additional 3% off. So they'd be 63% off retail.

So here's the receipt for these chair that should have cost $798.00, and we waltzed out of there with them for $307.60.

Now we get better bargains but this one wasn't too bad. Note the additional 3% discount by using the Debit card. next up we'll show you the chairs. You do need to work a bit, but not that much.

IKEA Shopping the Tightwad Chic Way. In action. Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:17:00 +0000

So you're intrigued about saving big at IKEA? We'll here's an example of the techniques we've outlined in action.

We walked through IKEA and mapped out what we wanted. On our wish list was:

2 x IKEA Tirup Swivel Chair Leather, Retail $399 each

1 x IKEA Renlig Stainless Steel Dishwasher, Retail $349

1 x IKEA Hollviken Bathroom Sink, Retail $80

Now this is the stuff we wanted, now all we needed to do was wait. Yep we waited and over the next 6 months we picked up all these items for at least 60% off.

Next up we'll show you a live example using this technique.

Avoid the IKEA “Twice a Year” sale.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:09:00 +0000

The IKEA twice a year sale. Now they have a sale twice a year (obviously) they usually have some “door buster” items for sale - like a bookshelf for $10 or something. In the AS-IS section they usually haul it all out into the parking lot. Now it is counter intuitive, but we’ve rarely found deals in the AS-IS section during these sales.

The reason? Competition.

You get people that all show up for the sale and then are exposed to the AS-IS section for the first time and think that 50% is a fantastic discount. The fools, little do they know. But the good items are usually snapped up quickly at prices that are way too high. Just be patient, bide your time and show up three or four weeks later when the AS-IS section has time to fill itself back up again, and those bargain hunters are back home sitting on the expensive couch they bought.

Chic Stainless Steel Hand Railing Construction. Part 2.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:28:00 +0000

So we got the posts painted and now we need to install them for our stainless steel cable railing.

Next we needed to drill the holes in the beams for the bolts. This was pretty straight forward once we got the right drill bits.

As a side note, every expense we had in building our house we kept the receipts. All items we did ourselves we keep. This all can be used to apply toward the value of the house. This can allow you to get a higher valuation and thus lower your overall payments if you don’t have 20% down. For example we know that within a year we’ll have enough receipts to show we have over 20% down on our house when we started we had only about 15%. What that allows up to do is remove the PMI (mortgage insurance), saving us about $150 per month - so in sum save those receipts.

Here’s the posts installed. It took some coordination and I think it would be pretty tough alone, but with two people it went pretty quick. Make sure you have a level so you can get the post in straight, otherwise you could go terribly wrong. Trust me we do bad things often, and it can get expensive. So take your time, remember you are trying to save money.

The next step was to go ahead and string the stainless steel cable. This was way harder than we thought. The chica of the house proved her muster by crimping the majority of the cables when I wimped out after about an hour. Yep, it was embarrassing, but we got the job done and she did a great job. All I did was hold the cable.

The crimping process is simple if there are two of you but it takes muscle, yeah I know she was stronger than me. Must have been a forearm thing; at least that’s what I tell myself. Anyway we borrowed the crimping tool from the place where we bought the stainless steel cable. The crimps are just aluminum sleeves you place over the ends of the cables and then squeeze together.

Here’s a look at the crimped cables. It took muscle but was not terribly difficult.

Note to all single guys out there. It's a good idea to find a wife who is stronger than you. One of the benefits is that she can crimp the railing cable as you build your house and you just need to stand there and hold the cables. Think about it guys, there are benefits.

A new IKEA bed frame for $60, everyday.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:03:00 +0000

You see this bed. It was $60. Yep went out and bought it. Tightwad Chic in action, chic hip and perfect for the person looking to get a great bed at a great price.

This bed is one thing that is always available at the IKEA AS-IS section, and I mean always. With two trips you’ll find it. It’s the Malm bed frame. For $60! Nice sleek, chic and clean bed frame for 60$. No need to buy this full price ever. They always have so many rolling through you can find them in birch, oak, white, black just look once or twice and you’ll find it. In addition you can skip the bed slats that cost extra I think about $20 extra. Save your money there and just use some wood you have around the house. We used wood from an old crate. Just cut them to size and we kept the $20 in our pocket. No one will even know unless they crawl under your bed. And if they do that they probably are an axe murderer and you won’t really care that they saw you were a frugal since you’ll be trying to avoid their axe as they try and hunt you down. To everyone else you’ll have a chic bed, and you’ll know its tightwad chic since it cost you only $60 for a great bed.

Sketch of the IKEA outing. You need an IKEA plan. Part 4.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0000

OK you've waited and now it's time to reveal the amazing IKEA "kicker."

The Super Duper Secret IKEA Shopping Tip: “The Kicker”

So you find something in the AS-IS section, it’s on you list. You’re excited. Now remember the “kicker” I was talking about. The thing that makes it feel like you just won the lotto. Here it is. The AS-IS section also has an additional discount. Now I’m not sure if there is a pattern to this, it would be helpful to find out if there is one, but anyway the kicker is the fantastic extra discount they have. When you get to the AS-IS section they’ll have a sign. Last week it was “Take an extra 35% off all mattresses.” Now it’s usually 35% extra but it rotates through different sections like “chairs and couches” or “beds” or “appliances”. You get the idea. Now do the math. We’d been eying a couch that was $1,000, way out of our budget range. We saw it the other day in the AS-IS section. They’d swapped out the entire display of the “Stockholm” design family. It was there for 70% off so it was $300. Plus we looked at the “kicker” and sure enough “additional 35% off couches.” So final price $195. Yep good as new $1,000 IKEA couch for $195. Hip chic and just right for the chic tightwad inside. Sadly we didn’t buy it since even though we loved the couch we didn’t have a place for it since we’d decided a few months before to use the space for something else ion our house. So it’s still there waiting to be picked up by some other thrifty IKEA shopper.

Ask the IKEA people if you do not see it.

Didn’t find what you want. Don’t walk out. Go ask the IKEA worker in the AS-IS section if they have “x” in the back. They’ll head off and look around in the back to see if there is one. This is also helpful when you find one of an item and you need two matching ones.

Ask for an additional AS-IS discount.

So let’s say you find an item you are hunting for. Great ready to checkout? Wait! Do not go to the checkout. Head on over to the backroom warehouse door where the IKEA AS-IS workers are. Head on over there and kindly and very nicely say the following.

“Hi, I was wondering if you could help me? I want to buy this [chair/couch/table/etc] but I was wondering if you could help lower the price any more?”

About 30% of the time you’ll get an additional 10% off and every once in a while if the item has been sitting around a while if you prompt them and ask if they could just apply the “kicker” to it and they will.

Score at IKEA checkout.

Now you re ready to checkout. Careful, don’t just head on over and pay. I know sounds painful to be careful at checkout, but you can save an additional 3% if you plan. IKEA give 3% coupon on all purchases redeemable on future purchases. So if you are buying a chair but also a basket. First go through the checkout with the chair and pay with your debit card. For example, a chair that retails for $399, but you’ve found it for 50% in the AS-IS section. You’ve asked for your additional discount and scored an additional 10% off so it’s $159. No buy it and you’ll get 3% coupon. Worth $5.20. Now go back into the store, get your $30 AS-IS basket for 60% off plus the “kicker” making it $7.80. Checkout with the coupon you just got and use you debit card to pay the remaining $2.60 for your $30 basket.

IKEA lunch for a song.

Now to wrap-up your visit to IKEA, head over to the bistro and get a hot dog for lunch. Now don’t just buy the combo. You can get 2 hot dogs, chips and a drink for $2.50. Now that’s too much money. Instead skip the chips and share the drink (free refills). So get two hot dogs ($1.00) and a drink ($0.75) total $1.75. If there are two of you each eat a hot dog, share the drink, then before you head out refill the drink. Done. A tightwad chic lunch for $1.75 now stroll out of IKEA with your $430 merchandise that you paid $161.20 for. Plus you had breakfast and lunch for two, and spent $3.73.

Sketch of the IKEA outing. You need an IKEA plan. Part 3.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:54:00 +0000

The IKEA AS-IS section is your friend.

So how do you take advantage of the AS-IS section? After you have your new furniture planned out stop by IKEA about once a month. Now this doesn’t need to take more the 10 minutes, because you’re not going to go into the store. You already know what you are looking for and by not going into the store you won’t be tempted to buy extra stuff at full retail price – or even at the low discount price of 10 or 20% off. Nonsense. We go after the HUGE discounts. If it’s not 60% off it’s not a deal. When you get to the store do not go in the entrance. Go in the exit, walk backwards through the checkout right over to the AS-IS section. Walk through and see if any of your wish list items are there. Remember they will show up.

How the IKEA AS-IS section works.

Now it helps to also know how the IKEA AS-IS section works to gain maximum discounts. They initially put the items out at either 50 or 60% off. If it does not move within a week then it’s marked down an additional 10% and so on until it’s gone. You can see on the tag when it was last marked down. So you can gamble and wait until next week if you care to risk it. The more you stop by the better the feel you’ll get for the amount of risk you want to take by waiting until the following week.

IKEA AS-IS couch slipcover trick.

As you go through there are other things to take note of in the IKEA AS-IS discount section. If you are looking for upholstered furniture many people overlook this so pay attention to this tip. Most IKEA furniture has removable slipcovers. So take a good look at the couch or easy chair selection available. If the right couch is there in the wrong color, no problem. Go dig through the “slip cover basket” in there you’ll find all these extra slip covers jumbled in the basket. Dig dig dig and you have a pretty good chance of finding the slip cover you want in there to match the couch you want. If you match those two you’ve just struck it big. The reason the couch probably wasn’t selling was due to its ugly slipcover. If you are a little less frugal or impatient, you can also always find the couch you want and then head over to the regular warehouse section of IKEA and buy the slipcover for the couch you want at full retail price (gasp) but it will still be cheaper than full price.

Learn the IKEA AS-IS “refresh cycles.”

The AS-IS section goes through “phases” as the store refreshes their showrooms. These things happen on a schedule. Like they’ve planned to swap out all the appliances for the new year. Keep your eye out, if you start seeing appliances showing up in the AS-IS section that you saw in the store last time you were through, it’s a good bet they are starting a “refresh” of the kitchen section. This means a wave of deals are on their way. Over then next few weeks you’ll see all of the appliances that were on display start to cycle through the AS-IS section. If you are in the hunt for new appliances this is the time to pounce. Stop by every weekend for about three weeks and you’ll end up with an elegant kitchen at 60% off.

Go with the IKEA AS-IS rhythm.

When shopping the AS-IS section you are looking for the patterns where you see waves on showroom furniture cycling through. This is the reason when you started you went through the store 4 or 5 times over a few months. Remember that cute kids bedroom you liked. See one of the items pop up in AS-IS. It’s a good bet the entire thing will be cycling through the section in the next week or so. Since your shopping of specific things you’ll be able to buy it all. You’ll get every last gizmo or do-dad since you remember what the entire display looked like. While everyone else shopping in the AS-IS section is just passing through looking for an item or two. So you end up with a professionally designed chic room full of furniture at bargain prices.

OK enough for now, but just wait. Next post comes the secret "kicker." Now this is something you just must wait to see this is incredible. If used effectively you can save an additional 35% off your already 60% marked down item. You will be amazed at this technique. Just wait, don't believe it, you'll see. It's really cool.

Chic Stainless Steel Hand Railing Construction. Part 1.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:23:00 +0000

So here’s how we built a stainless steel cable railing for $873, when we were quoted over $5,000 for the same work. Yep do it yourself stainless steel cable railing, or rather how to build a stainless steel cable railing yourself for a price you can afford.

When we were looking to have our hand railing built the least expensive system we could find that we liked was between $5,000-$6,000. Of course we didn’t just want the Home Depot special. We wanted something chic (of course). We wanted a stainless steel cable railing system.

So we finally decided we’d just have to build it ourselves if we were ever going to get what we wanted at a price we could afford. Our builder was nice enough to put us in contact with a metal contractor they’d worked with. We asked the metal contractor to build us customer metal posts from standard metal forms.

For the post we chose L shaped steel and had the contractor cut it to length, drill holes for the cables and also for the bolts. We stopped out at the contractors place. Tossed the metal in the back of our jeep and headed home.

First step was to prime and paint the steel posts. We used a metal primer and then a flat black paint to cover them. Since we live on an Island we made sure we covered the steel all over, since being so close to salt water tends to spur rust faster than normal. We also ended up with paint to touch them up in the coming years to keep them nice.

Here’s a photo of the railing posts drying from the final coat of metal paint. It took much longer than you would have imagined painting these - about four evenings worth of work. I just remember being happy the things were painted. As usual I had figured I would be done in about an hour. Nope, but hey what’s a little work.

Painting the railing posts with metal primer and paint.

So next up comes the installation of the posts, stringing and crimping the cable.

Admittedly when we started this project we had no clue what we were doing, but we just decided we would just have to figure it out. Here's a book I found if you want more info about how to build a handrail, or even if you want to build a vinyl railing (gasp!).

Sketch of the IKEA outing. You need an IKEA plan. Part 2.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:47:00 +0000

The IKEA savings plan comes together.

When we left off you had just finished waltzing by the IKEA restaurant saving yourself and your companion $10 because you planned and already ate for $1.98 for two people. Not to mention the free coffee you had. Hopefully you got seconds on that.

What next? Just wait you'll be amazed. Brace yourself, we continue with our plan...

Refine your list, learn what you want.

Finish walking through the store and you now have your list. You should come back a few more times to refine your list. Stop by the next time you’re in the area and have 45 minutes to walk on through.

The Secret IKEA Shopping Tip: AS-IS

Now here is the trick the Tightwad Chic Secret IKEA Shopping Tips. This is the secret that most people miss, now this techniques has saved up thousands of dollars. Yep thousands. Admittedly we had a house to furnish, but you will end up saving money and can end up with a chic pad on a tiny budget. Also don’t forget to read on down for the “kicker” because when you hit the kicker it’s like you just own the lotto. More about the “kicker” later. OK so what’s the secret? It’s AS-IS. Yep that’s it AS-IS section. Head on over before you leave and take a look around.

Effectively use the AS-IS section

Now the reason most people don’t think the AS-IS section is too great a deal is because they use it wrong. Yep you can find some screaming deals in the AS-IS section but:

You need to know what you are looking for. Remember that list you just made? Now you do know.

You must be patient. All that stuff that is on display will end up in the AS-IS section. It will take a few months, but it will be there eventually. So you’ll need to stop by the AS-IS section about once a month.

Now those two takeaways above may not excite you too much, but next we'll show you how to make the IKEA AS-IS section your best friend. Really like your BFF, really no joke. Just hang on to your socks. More soon, we promise.

Free Fun!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Sketch of the IKEA outing. You need an IKEA plan - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:41:00 +0000

So to pull off amazing savings the purpose of your outing to IKEA is to look at what you like and refine the list of items you like. You should do this three or four times over the course of 4 –6 months planning out the rooms and designs you like. So to make it more fun and fulfilling follow these steps:

Get to IKEA early.

Get up early and head out to IKEA. Skip breakfast, you’ll be having that at the destination. You should plan on arriving about 9:45 AM. Most IKEA’s do not open before 10:00 AM on the weekends. So shoot for a Saturday and beat the crowds.

Get free coffee at the entrance.

When you get to IKEA head to the entrance and pick-up you free coffee inside. Yep inside right at the front before 10:00 AM you get free coffee. Yep did we mention it’s free? Zero cost.

Have breakfast for $0.99.

Next take your free coffee and head directly to the restaurant in the center of the store. You usually can take the short cut past the bathrooms at the entrance to get to the restaurant in about 30 seconds. Can’t find it? Ask. They’ll get you there. At the restaurant order up your 99 cent breakfast of eggs, potatoes and sausage. Skip the coffee, no need you already got that at the entrance. So you’ve just got breakfast for 99 cents. By the way they have this every day but only before the store opens. That’s why you need to be there 15 minutes early.

Stroll and make you furniture wish list.

So now you’ve got your free coffee and a good inexpensive breakfast now head back to the entrance and stroll through the store. Remember you are not trying to buy anything. Pick up the catalog as you walk through and mark off the items you like. Note the prices and start getting excited because you are going to get this stuff at 60% off or even better.

Go ahead dream. Take a look at that $2,400 couch, or the new $650 oven, yep you’ll get those for pennies on the dollar. Make a big list of your key items the expensive ones that are what you’ll be hunting for later.

One important item to note is the number of times your selected items show up in the store show rooms. See what we’re getting at? We’ll you’ll see soon enough.

Skip the expensive IKEA lunch.

OK so as you reach the halfway point you’ll come to the restaurant. But sine you are part of the tightwad chic movement your belly will not rumble and you’ll have no interest in buying their expensive $5 meals, you just ate an hour ago for 99 cents. Keep on going, walk on by.

OK enough for now, stay tuned for the great culmination of this post coming up. Really this is going to shock you how to make your IKEA dreams come true. Soon you will be living in a chic Scandinavian designed paradise the tightwad chic way.

IKEA Shopping the Tightwad Chic Way

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:38:00 +0000

People love shopping at IKEA because they have so many cool looking design items at reasonable prices. Quality varies depending on the item, but overall you can get some cool things at IKEA at reasonable price and still have a chic look.

Though we still find the retail prices at IKEA too much to swallow. Particularly the item we really really want is usually one of the “too expensive” items. Over time we’ve developed what we consider the ultimate technique in getting what you want at IKEA at prices that will make your heart beat faster. Now this technique takes patience but if you follow the rules it can be fun and you get your IKEA gold at prices you cannot dream of – yep up to 95% off retail price. Though we usually end up about 60-70% off retail.

OK so how do you do this? Well first you have to look at a trip to IKEA not as a trip to buy furniture, treat it rather as a visit to the zoo, a museum or an amusement park. It’s an outing to have a meal see some interesting design and a coffee. Oh yeah and you can do this on a dime.

We'll be showing you the technique to IKEA gold over the next few weeks. Hang on for big savings and excitement.

While you are waiting for the next post if you are scared of IKEA furniture since you need to assemble it. Here's a link to a book that takes you step by step how to install an IKEA kitchen.

New Tightwad Chic Toolbar, Now this is cool.

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:12:00 +0000

To Try the Tightwad Chic Toolbar, Click Here

Hey we made a fancy toolbar so you can stream directly into the tightwad chic lifestyle. Guaranteed to shave pennies from you diet every day just by mindlessly staring at it.

In addition you can see the weather and pounce on the latest deals as they are beamed over the Internet right to your eyeballs.

Tightwad Deals Abound

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:21:00 +0000

With the economy turning south tightwad deals are popping up faster than snowflakes in a snowstorm. They are everywhere. Two of my favorite recent deals, one which is still going on and you can take advantage are here:

Tightwad Deal #1: Denny's Free Give Away

It’s not everyday that a restaurant gives away a meal. In fact, the chief executive officer of the nation’s largest full-service family restaurant chain says its never been done. Until now, that is. Come tomorrow, Denny’s is offering customers from coast to coast its signature Grand Slam breakfast for free between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The belly-busting breakfast consists of two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage patties, and two strips of bacon. Sorry, but you’ll have to pay for the coffee, and 99 cents for any additional sides. We won’t even talk calories.

You can read about the tightwad madness here.

Tightwad Deal #2: Krispy Kreme Coffee Deal-o-rama

Now this one you can take advantage of right now. But i warn you it is not for the weak of heart. You must have the will power of a superhero. Right now Krisy Kreme the purveyors of fried sugar coated flour are offer pretty good coffee for 5 cents. Yep that's right you can buy 20 coffees for $1, but you'd have to make 20 different trips. I personally can manage up to three a day without much effort at all.

The key to this deal is to STAY IN YOUR CAR. DO NOT GO INTO THE STORE. If you park and walk on in you'll be sucked into a sweet smelling torture chamber that no one could ever leave without buying at least 3 dozen treats. So go through the drive though, and if you're particularly vulnerable I'd recommend breathing through your mouth until you complete the transaction.

Laying Cable Continued

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:26:00 +0000

What a wonderful way to spend a nice summer day!

Hand Digging to Lay Cable is Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Lay your own cable and save $500. Yes for a day's worth of great exercise, you can save $500. Our cable company quoted us $500 to have this cable trenched in. We did it for $12 by buying a pick and digging the trench ourselves.

Also, we didn't do it for cable TV access. What a waste of money. We did it for Internet access. Why would you pay money to see TV? You can get it for free with an antenna. As a matter of fact we don't have TV at home. Even better it saves you time and you don't get sucked into all the commercial advertising egging you on to buy things.

Tightwad Chic Food Harvesting!

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:43:00 +0000

We can learn a lot from our surroundings. Be in tune with your local environment. This little guy can teach us plenty.

Tightwad Chic Food Harvesting!

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:14:00 +0000

In response to the following:

I was reading your blog – particularly the portion on wood chopping when
what should I see but the following passage:

You can usually find free food along the roadside in ditches, or pick it up at your
local dump, like we do...I would also highly recommend reading a book, from the
library of course, on using a chain saw.

If you are in fact picking up free food from ditches and the local dump your thriftiness has gone too far. And why do you need a chainsaw? I would think the food would already be in a state of decomposition.

I am copying my daughter because she shares some of the “tightwad” tendencies you wish to encourage. I want to impress upon her what a truly slippery slope this is.

Regards – I will be thinking of you and watching the weather report. I hope that those rare snowfalls you experience do not unduly interfere with your ability to find supper.

Dear Reader,

Firstly, thank you for your concern in regards to tightwad chic food harvesting practices. To clarify, I believe what you may have stumbled across was an unfortunate typo. We here at Tightwad Chic do apologize profusely.

Your comment does bring up an important topic that must be noted. Food harvesting is a wonderful way to save on the weekly grocery bill. I like to always be prepared and therefor always travel with two buckets. How often do we stumble across delicious berries only to realize we had forgot our bucket. I have found that carrying berries in your shirt does not always work the way one wishes it would. Again I would recommend visiting your local library and becoming familiar with your local natural food supply. Pay attention to those around you. How often do we hear people complaining about raccoons. Consider this, if raccoons are an issue, food is probably close by. Why not pay a visit. Dress dark and carry a flashlight. Don't forget your bucket. Once you locate the raccoons, you have located your food source. Enjoy.

Due to excess weight a chainsaw just seems impractical to hike with. I would also recommend not chainsawing one's food. Using a band saw to divide up bulk food is just fine, but chainsawing food can be quite hazardous.

House Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Saltatlas) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:36:00 +0000

Here's a site with photos of the home of two chic tightwads. Photos are taken by Gabriel Boone, one fine photographer. The fine architect who worked on this house is from Design Lab. Cara Piscitello is amazing and I think everyone should have her design their home. After the home is complete I think Gabriel should be your photographer. These people both rock at what they do, as you can see. Obviously the house is always this clean, as are the people and animals who live within it.

http://gabrielboone.com/darkroom/share/?n=designLAB

Chickens

noreply@blogger.com (Tightwad Chic Guru) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:37:00 +0000

This is what I'm talking about. Perfect eggs, fresh every morning, from our girls. Did you know it's now perfectly lawful to house up to 6 chickens in Seattle, Bellingham and now in Maine. The trend is growing.