Twitter Deals

The Topic: Tech Tips

The Dish: When you're on a tight budget, saving money can feel like a full-time job. Frugal living shouldn't be a constant worry, and I'm working on making my methods habit rather than chore (Yes, even I succumb to convenience-store snacking and weeknight events more than I should.) Thanks to fancy modern technology, finding a network of like-minded people is easier than ever. If you're a Twitter fan, like millions of other people, near-constant updates on hot deals and useful coupons has never been easier. I've briefly mentioned the benefits of Twitter before, but now I have to share a few great sources.

In addition to keeping up with the dribble of your favorite celebs and, more importantly, the latest news in veganism (from VN's lovely tweets to your favorite veg companies), there are a number of accounts devoted to tweeting savvy steals. Vegancoupons is a great place to start, doing the dirty work of weeding out the irrelevant, non-veg updates. Mambosprouts isn't exclusively veg, but for natural food products, it's a great resource. Ever seen those little coupon books at your local health food store? That's Mambo Sprouts, and they put out some great discounts on delicious veg products. HealthyLifeDeal also focuses on whole foods, including Trader Joe's tips, free Rice Dream, and more. Sign me up.

The Final Word: Frugal tweets are many on Twitter, on everything from travel deals to grocery steals. A little digging can help you find lots of amazing resources, and a quick "follow" guarantees reliable updates. Just remember to check it daily! And by daily, I mean every five minutes, because it's crazy addictive. Are you a twitter fiend? Who are your favorite tweeters?

Discount Groceries

The Topic: Smart Shoppers Go Salvaging

The Dish: What if I told you about a magical place where you can buy entire boxes of Luna bars for $1, snag fruit leather for a dime, and stock up on Cherrybrook Kitchen baking mixes for a couple bucks? Would you go there and buy up all of the amazing vegan products before my next trip? Because if so, forget it.

Just kidding! These wonderful places are discount and salvage grocery stores, hiding in a town near you. My particular secret shack is tucked away on a remote road in Southeast Missouri, and it's a must-stop every time I visit my hometown. Luckily, there are similar stores spread across the US, waiting for the savviest of shoppers to discover them. In my lexicon, they're referred to as "dented-can stores," mainly due to the dirt-cheap prices I pay for slight cosmetic flaws. Let's say you come across a slightly crushed box of your favorite cereal. Guess what? Take the cereal bag out of the box and voila, no more ugly dent. While some products may be a few weeks (or months) expired, you'd be surprised how amazing a Lemon Zest Luna Bar tastes when it costs 17¢ and you're hungry for something other than cheap rice and beans.

While this is completely anecdotal and not conclusive, the word is that many of these goldmine salvage stores are located in sketchy-ish neighborhoods, but don't let that scare you off—looks can be deceiving. My dive at home may appear abandoned, but once you're inside, there's shelves upon shelves of cheap goods to dig through. It's like a treasure hunt trying to find your favorite veg-friendly brands, and I've scored some great deals. My mom and I figured out the savings of one of our visits, and we managed to buy $150 of non-perishables for $40.

The Final Word: Many discount grocers don't advertise, so try asking around your community to see if there's a popular local spot. And of course, Google proves incredibly useful for perusing the underground rumblings of cheap consumers. Now go! I have a 50-cent dark chocolate bar to eat.

Designer Looks for Less

The Topic: Poor Couture—Cruelty-free and a Fraction of the Cost

The Dish: While the fashion world is already focusing on fall, I'm finally ready to embrace spring and update my wardrobe. After revisiting a few designers' spring collections, I came to the conclusion that spending upwards of a grand—one thousand dollars—on a casual outfit was, to put it gently, freaking insane. The problem? One look at the Marc by Marc Jacobs spring collection. Hey clothes, why are you so pretty and expensive? Hey Mr. Jacobs, why do you use leather and other animal-unfriendly goods?

To remedy the situation, VN Editorial Assistant Liz Miller led the way through one of her favorite pastimes: Bastardize the Designer Duds. The mission: Snag a photo of your favorite designer outfit, set a budget, and hit the (affordable) stores.

Obviously, we weren't looking for exact replicas of high-priced items, but runway fashion has a convenient way of trickling down the retail line, sneaking into the majority of items for sale at our store of choice—Forever 21. With the exception of the belt and purse, we managed to find everything at San Francisco's three-story location. Here's the financial breakdown:

Item: Designer / Deal

Plaid Top: $168 / $19.90

Blazer: $228 / $24.90

Shorts: $158 / $17.80

Belt: $110 / $20.00

Shoes: $463 / $14.80

Bracelets: $84 / $5.80

Headband: N/A / $4.80

Total Cost: $1,211 / $108

Total Savings: $1,103

That is a lot of biscuits, ladies and gentlemen.

The goal was to find pieces that 1) replicated the outfit's overall tone rather than serve as a carbon copy, and 2) more importantly to me, were wearable and versatile. Take the jacket, for example—I found a style that was more similar to the original, but I never would have worn it again. I remember hearing a shopping tip years ago, claiming that in order to get your money's worth out of an item, you should wear it once for every dollar spent. The likelihood that I'll wear this blazer 25 times versus its counterpart's requisite 228 times is pretty good.

The purse was a previous investment, designed by the certified-vegan Urban Expressions. It was a bit of a bullet for me at $49.95, but it's the perfect size and style for everyday use, especially for carrying around multiple layers for unpredictable spring weather (or, you know, every day in San Francisco). And while affordable, accidentally vegan clothing can be great, it's always nice to support all-vegan, eco-friendly companies, too.

The Final Word: Of course, $108 is still a lot to drop at one time, and I don't often buy complete outfits. It's a smart idea to use what you have, building a look around one or two pieces already hiding in your closet. At the very least, checking out designer collections can help fire up some cheapskate creativity to put some spring in your style.

21st Century Coupons

The Topic: Living the good life, half price

The Dish: When I was little, my mom used to cut me a deal when it came to cutting coupons: For every penny-saver I snipped that was used, I pocketed the difference. Sure, it didn’t really save us any money on groceries, but Mom broke even and I walked away with a few dollars to my name (you can get a lot of banana Laffy Taffy for $5.) Today, I never manage to clip coupons, partly because I’m pressed for time and partly because finding relevant products is a rarity.

While I recommend keeping your eyes open while flipping through the Sunday paper (assuming, of course, you still read the paper), there’s another option for the city-bound and tech-inclined—Groupon, a website focused on daily deals offering around 50 percent off a huge range of goods and services, from restaurant gift certificates to discounted dance classes. San Francisco even had a deal recently where buyers received $50 worth of organic groceries for $25. If we were playing NBA Jam right now, that would certainly get a “Boomshakalaka!”

Currently, Groupon operates in 52 cities across the US and offers a handy request form to get your city on the map. There’s one deal a day, and a certain number of people have to buy in before it’s finalized, so passing the word along to your cash-strapped friends is encouraged. If you manage to wrangle some referrals, you can even earn account credit—real-live spendable dollars—and score more savings.

The Final Word: Registration is free, and it's a simple way to score a great bargain with minimal effort. Get registered, sign up for daily e-mail alerts, and embrace all that is Groupon.