This is “Budget”?
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I’ve had a subscription (free, of course!) to Budget Living Magazine for about a year now. There are parts of this magazine I love, particularly the “Making It” section—there are some great DIY projects there.
Flipping through this month’s issue, though, I was overwhelmed by the costs of their “bargains.” In a section on kids’ back-to-school deals, they featured a $40 GapKids blazer, a $48 poncho, and a $59 pair of cargo pants. And this for kids, who will outgrow it all in a couple of months.
Or perhaps what you really need is a purse to carry your little dog around… good news! The ones in BL start at just $46! A hip flask? They’ve got you covered. There’s a lovely doughnut flask (doughnut?!?) for $50 (a thought: maybe if you feel the compulsion to carry alcoholic beverages on your person, there are other areas where you might be able to trim some costs).
It goes on and on and on… their fashion article features in one outfit:
- $225 shirt
- $185 cutoff jean shorts
- $200 boots
- $25 earrings
That’s some outfit! Good thing it’s “budget”!
A quick aside: the Budget Living forums are actually pretty good.
What’s the point of this post? Well, it’s mostly rant, but it does bring me to a question for you. What do you read? I don’t think that I’m in the minority for thinking those figures are ridiculous, but if that’s what passes as “budget,” what do real penny-pinchers read? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve had a free subscription to Budget Living for quite awhile now, and I can’t believe the stuff that they put in there. Every once in awhile there’s a useful tip from Clark Howard, but even here most of his stuff is so basic and ‘common sensical’ that it’s hardly worth publishing. The bottom line is that Budget Living sucks.
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fivecentnickel.com
Frugal tip: You can subscribe to Clark Howard email newsletter for free http://clarkhoward.com/inside/newsletter.html has some handy tips on occasion
Hello dahling: I TOTALLY know what you mean about the not-so-budgety Budget Living. I have been severly surprised by their idea of “budget”. Not to mention, that all the “save pages” where they show about 10 of the same item (i.e. a purse) and always show the nicest fanciest most expensive one with a nice little “splurge!” graphic slapped on it. It defeats the purpose of showing the others, because as a “champagne-taste, beer-budget” kind of girl, I look at all the other purses and decide I’d still prefer the $350 one. Yes, it’s not Prada at $1000, but it’s not budget either.
Typically, the only article I like in my free subscription is the party planner in the back. Which sounds really “blonde” of me. Whee, parties.