Adventures of a Frugalista
26Apr/122

Event: Mystery Authors Book Signing

Tonight, Salt & Pepper Books in Occoquan, VA, hosted a Mystery Readers' Event featuring the authors Krista Davis, Avery Aames, Lucy Burdette, and Sheila Connolly. The store is primarily a cookbook shop, but they also have a nice selection of novels, particularly mystery ones, that have a food focus -- think the mysteries with recipes in the back. The four authors were there promoting their food-related series: Davis' Domestic Diva series set in Alexandria, VA; Aames' Cheese Shop series set in Providence, OH; Burdette's Food Critic series set in Key West, FL; and Connolly's Apple Orchard series set in Granford, MA.

In addition to signing their books, the authors had free goodie bags for all attendees, and Salt & Pepper provided refreshments -- cheese & crackers, juices, and delicious cupcakes.

Read on for photos and lots of details!

22Apr/120

HAUL: Bag Book Sale

I've become a regular at the bag book sales at my local libraries. (For more info on the sales, check my first bag book sale post from September.) I don't even bother to go to the first two days of the book sales, when the books are sold individually, and only go on Sundays, when the books are sold by the bagful.

The sale today was $3/bag, which is still a great deal, but "pricey" enough that we don't get as many people driving in from places like North Carolina (yes, really!) to buy whatever books they can grab to re-sell on Amazon.com. While there were a fair number of people at the sale, the pushing & shoving was at a minimum, and there weren't many "take every book on the shelf" types, which enabled all the customers to take more time and care in our selections. I managed to cram a total of 48 books into my two bags, plus I picked up another 2 at half-off their sticker prices. (All the branches usually have at least some used books that aren't included in the bag sale; at this branch, the ones that can't be included in the bags are half-off their sticker prices on the bag day.)

The Goods

I was so excited about my haul that I forgot to take my customary stacked books photo, which is a real shame since it took me quite some time to stack all 48 books! Luckily, I snapped a pic with my webcam for Twitter; I apologize for the low resolution.

Library Haul

48 books

Library Haul

2 half-price books


All in all, I came home with 50 books for $8.50, which works out to an average of $0.17/book. Not the cheapest per book average I've gotten so far, but a pretty darn good deal nonetheless!

Continue reading for all the details on titles and how much I saved on each book.

2Apr/120

HAUL: $7 at Village Thrift

I've gotten into the habit of going to Village Thrift, my neighborhood thrift store, once a week, usually on discount Sunday or Monday, just to see if there's anything good. Some days I'll score a big haul -- $50 or more -- but other weeks I'll pick up only a few items (or none at all). Today, I only got a few books and a tank top.

The Goods

Tank

Blue tank top

Books

3 books


I picked up 4 items for a total of $6.70, about $1.68/item.

Continue reading for the individual prices and other details.

7Mar/120

HAUL: $4.50 at Dollar Tree

Some of the products at dollar stores are low quality, but others are the same products you'd buy at other stores, but for less. I usually check for books, which are a great deal at $1/each, and greeting cards, which are always two for a dollar.

The Goods

Greeting Cards

7 greeting cards

Book

1 hardcover book


That's a total of 8 items for $4.50, or about $0.56 per item.

The Details

  • 7 greeting cards: 7 greeting cards for $0.50/each, compare at $1.50 to $3.00 each
  • The Prodigal Mage by Karen Miller
    MSRP: $24.99 | PP: $1.00 | Savings: 96%
15Feb/120

Free eBooks: 02/15/2012

At the start of every month, you can usually snag some pretty good books as free e-books from Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (for nook). The University of Chicago offers a free e-book each month as well. Read on to see the 55 freebies I've snagged so far this month, with book descriptions from the sites and links to purchase them.

Please Note: While all of these books were free at the time of my purchase, that does not guarantee that they are still free or that they will remain free. Make sure you check the price listed before purchasing any books.

13Feb/122

HAUL: $75 at Village Thrift

Due to its proximity to my house, Village Thrift has quickly become one of my favorite thrift stores. In the past several months since my first visit to the store, I've tried to check in once every other week or so on half-price Sunday or Monday. Last night, I scooped up one of my smaller Village Thrift hauls, but nabbed the priciest single thrift store clothing item I've ever purchased.

The Goods

Tank

Black tank top

Shirt

Purple V-neck shirt

Shirt

Purple long-sleeve shirt

Shirt

Plaid shirt

Jacket

Brown satin jacket

Coat

Wool coat

Jeans

Lilly Pulitzer jeans

Jeans

Dark gray jeans

Books

2 books


In total, I scored 10 items for $74.50, which is an average of $7/item.

Continue reading for all the price and brand info.

31Jan/120

Free eBooks: 01/31/2012

In the first half of January, I picked up 32 free e-books from Amazon.com (for Kindle) and from Barnes & Noble (for Nook). The free e-books dropped off a bit this month as it's no longer the holiday season, and my total for all of January is less than my total for just the second half of December. Read on to see the 22 freebies I've snagged since January 15, with book descriptions from the sites and links to purchase them.

Please Note: While all of these books were free at the time of my purchase, that does not guarantee that they are still free or that they will remain free. Make sure you check the price listed before purchasing any books.

15Jan/120

Free eBooks: 01/15/2012

At the start of every month, you can usually snag some pretty good books as free e-books from Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (for nook). The University of Chicago offers a free e-book each month as well. Read on to see the 32 freebies I've snagged so far this month, with book descriptions from the sites and links to purchase them.

Please Note: While all of these books were free at the time of my purchase, that does not guarantee that they are still free or that they will remain free. Make sure you check the price listed before purchasing any books.

31Dec/110

Free eBooks: 12/31/2011

In the first half of December, I picked up 43 free e-books from Amazon.com (for Kindle) and from Barnes & Noble (for Nook). Surprisingly, the second half of this month has been even more fruitful, making this the most successful month of freebies since I started this blog, and possibly the most successful month since I bought my nook a year ago. Read on to see the 64 freebies I've snagged since December 15, with book descriptions from the sites and links to purchase them.

Please Note: While all of these books were free at the time of my purchase, that does not guarantee that they are still free or that they will remain free. Make sure you check the price listed before purchasing any books.

15Dec/110

Free eBooks: 12/15/2011

At the start of every month, you can usually snag some pretty good books as free e-books from Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (for nook). The University of Chicago offers a free e-book each month as well. The first half of December was significantly more fruitful than the first half of November (and even than the second half of November), in part because of the approaching holidays; publishers are offering more samplers and previews than usual, as well as Christmas-themed books and stories. Read on to see the 43 freebies I've snagged so far this month, with book descriptions from the sites and links to purchase them. (I also received 9 free books for Kindle yesterday that I had pre-ordered in the summer.)

Please Note: While all of these books were free at the time of my purchase, that does not guarantee that they are still free or that they will remain free. Make sure you check the price listed before purchasing any books.