And now…the things I currently own instead of an SLR

Cole Haan black leather flats, Orange Cole Haan Bag, Lucky Earrings
Cole Haan suede [waterproof!] boots, BellezaPro flat iron
Cole Haan patent leather open-toe heels

Not pictured: Butter London nail polish in Mariner, 2 Recessionista Tees, 1 long-sleeve burnout tee, one floral green scarf, one off-white scarf, 5 Golden Rings, four calling birds, three …

Next shopping spree will include ONE digital SLR…I hope.

Happy Shopping!

Happy Saving!

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I have to admit that I’ve been so busy shopping for others (er..and myself), that I’ve paid very little attention to what’s been going on in the world. This morning I decided I would do a little shopping catching up on current events. I skimmed through CNN, Reddit, NYtimes and here are some interesting and not so interesting stories being covered in today’s news.

Tiger Woods and Governor Mark Sanford are unfaithful. Mrs. Sanford is filing for divorce, Tiger’s wife moved to a different house in the same neighborhood. I could have lived my entire life having never read these stories and I would be just fine.

Terrorists! Americans arrested in Pakistan because they thought they ought to wage jihad. With terrorism becoming a regularly featured topic on the news (not to mention how lightly the term is used), I’ve become rather desensitized to stories like these. Two thumbs down.

In more relevant news Kucinich plans to force vote on US withdrawing from Afghanistan. This was in response to Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s announcement that he wants the American troops to hangout in Afghanistan for the next 15 years. The focus had been on Iraq for so long that I was compelled to do some refresher reading on Afghanistan. I found this great article in TIME magazine.

Obama accepted his Nobel Peace prize. You can find my opinion on there here.

They’re talking about Climate in Copenhagen. Judging by the articles on the NYTimes site dedicated to this, they are talking a lot!

And this concludes my morning of catching up on current events.

As for the shopping, you can blame Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere for inspiring me to go on a spending spree. Stay tuned for what not to do when you should be on a budget.

And whatever you do, don’t miss my Recessionista Party tonight!

Only a couple more days until my Recessionista Party.

Don’t forget to email me at chasingeducation@gmail.com to get your discount code.

Send me your phone number for a text message reminder an hour before the event.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clkg/ / CC BY 2.0

I mentioned in my ‘Tis the Season for Sweet Deals post that I would provide a strategy for participating in JoJolie auctions. I don’t have a strategy for you, but I do have a review and it’s not pretty!

Everyone is looking for a great deal. Times are rough for everyone and looking fabulous requires a lot of creativity. My recent experience with JoJolie goes to show that some things are too good to be true. Do your research ladies!

You receive 5 free bids when you sign up for JoJolie and then you have to purchase the rest of your bids in packages. For details on how this works check out  How to Shop at JoJolie.

If you’re seriously bidding to win, forget about getting by with your 5 free bids. You have to be serious. You have to buy bids and you have to buy a lot of them. Don’t let the $3 price tag on JoJolie’s homepage fool you. The bids can cost you nearly $1 each depending on how many you purchase.

Let’s do the math.

If you check out the JoJolie website you’ll see that the Coach Nubuck Brooke Bag sold for $6.55.

Bidding starts at $1 and it goes up a penny for each bid. So it took 555 bids to get the price up to $6.55. Let’s say each one of those bids cost 75 cents (which requires you to buy a bid package of 25 bids that costs you $18.75…wait a minute $18.75 + $6.55 is $25.30, which is NOT $6.55, even if it is a good deal. And chances are you won’t win a bag with just 25 bids, but I digress.)

It took 555 bids to get to $6.55 cents meaning that at 75 cents a bid (which is generous, because some people may have paid more for their bids depending on many (or few) they bought) the price of that purse was more like $416.25. That cost is shared amongst all the bidders, which is great if you win. But if you lose (which, by the way, is most likely in a game of chance), you just paid for some stranger’s Coach bag.

Sounds a lot like gambling, doesn’t it? Maybe you win, maybe you lose, either way they’ve got your money.

It was a frustrating–and expensive!–experience that I do not wish to repeat.

My online Recessionista Party, however, is not a game of chance. You’re not gambling! You’re getting awesome deals and free shipping!

I have been selected to be one of the first to host an online recessionista party!

This means that you will receive an additional 30% off already discounted Recessionista Shop prices on designer handbags, shoes and accessories.

There will also be new products available in the shop just for our party!

As of right now the party will be held this Friday from 7:00pm tp 9:00pm EST. Stay tuned to my blog for any changes! (I’m considering changing the date to Saturday during the day. Let me know what works for you in the comments. Thursday is also an option, but I fear it’s rather short notice.)

If you would like to join the fun, please provide me with your email address in the comments.

If you’d like a text message reminder, email me at chasingeducation@gmail.com with your phone number.

Rest assured that all of your personal information will be kept private!

For my sanity, I adopted a one for them, one for me gift-purchasing philosophy. It’s even more stressful on my wallet– but hey, you can’t put a price on your sanity.

This season I set out to find the sweetest deals and boy did I hit the jackpot!
“A Recessionista is one who, despite an economic downturn, evokes the creative power and continues to look like a million bucks while only spending a few.”

Not only does Recessionista have incredible accessories and shoes at parties in Utah and Idaho, but now you can purchase earrings, hats, scarves and more on the Recessionista Blog using paypal.

Visit the blog regularly and you’ll find incredibly giveaways like this coach handbag!

My other sweet deal secret is Jojolie– an auction site where you can bid on designer bags for just a few dollars! Purchase “bids” in bulk for around 75 cents and then formulate a strategy on how you’re going to win. I still haven’t formulated my strategy, but I’ll let you know when I do.

Happy Shopping!