Shoe Leather: Behind the seams of Shoestring Magazine

Shoestring News: Indie film On Broadway now available

Some of you may have seen the interview in the launch issue of Shoestring Magazine with our friend Dave McLaughlin, director of On Broadway, a fabulous film starring Boston natives Joey McIntyre, Eliza Dushku, Mike O'Malley, and Lance Greene (plus cameos from native Boston comic Amy Poehler and her husband, Will Arnett).

Ginger and I had the pleasure of screening On Broadway earlier this year while Dave was still showing on the festival circuit, and I'm thrilled to announce that the movie is now available for rent ($2.99) or purchase ($9.99) globally by digital download, exclusively from Amazon.com.

It's a great way to support independent artists, get a jump on holiday shopping, or have a cheap date night or movie night at the same time.

And, if you haven't already, check out The Making of an Indie Movie, our interview with Dave about making On Broadway, on Shoestring Magazine now.

Frugal Foodies: Pop Culture Pot Luck Suppers

Last night, some friends and I kicked off another exciting season of Bravo's hit culinary reality show, Top Chef, with our favorite frugal foodie tradition: the Pop Culture Pot Luck. Especially right now, it's a fantastic way to hone your chops as an amateur chef while at the same time taking a huge chunk out of your monthly fine dining expenses and getting to spend time with other geeks for anything gourmet.

So, how does it work? Every Wednesday night from now until the finale, about a dozen of my favorite foodies will gather for a weekly pot luck supper where we recreate dishes from the past five seasons of challenges on Top Chef (on a dime, of course) and watch the newest episode together. We each take turns hosting a week, and each host then cooks the main entree while everyone else vies for the amuse bouche, appetizer, salad, and dessert courses. Plus, everyone brings a bottle of wine under $10 to $15 to pair with their course. (I brought a bottle of $2.99 Charles Shaw sauvignon blanc from Trader Joe's last night, which was surprisingly good.)

The best part about it is that we created a fantasy league on Fafarazzi.com to track our favorite "cheftestants" and our three-person teams (see mine at left and below) score us points each week for winning challenges, swearing, and using favorite catchphrases from the show, among other things. At the end of the season, we'll award first, second, and third place prizes for the Top Foodies. Just like a regular fantasy sports league, each player kicks in a small amount at the beginning of the season ($25), which we'll use towards prizes and catering the finale party to the theme of the exotic locale in which the final two episodes are being filmed. Last year, we had the fabulous fortune of finding out that the founders and offices of Fafarazzi are based right here in Boston, so we invited them to join us.

To create your own free account and choose a team, and to either create or join a fantasy league, check out Fafarazzi. And, if you haven't already, subscribe to Shoestring Magazine for free now to get the whole scoop—including photos from last night's event with Todd Galloway from Fafarazzi—in next week's issue!

Newsletter, Issue #2: Buckling down, but not out

(Photo of Giulia Rozzi courtesy of Mindy Tucker: http://www.withreservation.com)

We just sent out the second edition of Shoestring Magazine's weekly newsletter!

Read it online now or subscribe for free today to have the best tips on finding The Good Life for Less delivered straight to your inbox every week.

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Perhaps we're still riding high on the optimism of a newly elected President, but this week, everything seems rosier—even the prospect of the holidays during this economy.

We took a hard look at our fears of austere frugality and found that there are cheap-chic brands promising to be easy on the wallet while at the same time doing good globally, U.S. retailers working with consumers to avoid an all-out shopping freeze as we get closer to Black Friday, and simple ways we can work together in our communities to keep kids safe and sound (and moms sane) with childcare options for even a Shoestring budget.

When resourcefulness reigns, it's easy to buckle down without being down and out. And if all else fails, at least we can be thankful for the friends who remind us to laugh.

~ Melissa
Stealfinder-in-Chief

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Check back later on this week for blog posts with an update on private sale shopping sites (there are more new additions to the market!), tips on how to host a clothing swap, and the long-awaited scrapbook from my Shoestring tour of the Smoky Mountains in September.

Plus, subscribe to our newsletter to get next week's inside scoop on the best online coupon sites, tips for hosting Thanksgiving dinner under $100, and cheap, crafty gifts with a serious sense of sentiment and style.

Shoestring Events: Shoestring Magazine has launched!

Today was an historic occasion, for the country as a whole and for the team here at Shoestring in particular.

Like the Democratic party, for just under a decade we've been dreaming of this day, of launching this resource, offering valuable tips and advice for the way we really live—regardless of station or salary, creed or credit score. Finally, the time for Shoestring is now, and we celebrated by sending out our inaugural newsletter this afternoon.

So, whether frugality is in your blood, and the thrill of being thrifty is a family tradition, or you're just looking for ways to save a few bucks until the economy turns around, we hope you'll share your support for Shoestring with your friends by shouting it from the rooftops (or just Facebook and Twitter.)

Email us, post your comments on our blogs and our articles, add us to your bookmarks or RSS feeds, and, most of all, enjoy your new guide to finding The Good Life for Less!

Oh yeah, and sign up for your free subscription to Shoestring now. :)

~ Melissa
Stealfinder-in-Chief

Shoestring Shopping: Marshalls gets a brand new bag (er, tagline)

As a former erstwhile copywriter for an off-price retailer, I always get a kick out of other people's ad campaigns targeting products as "the look for less," "discount designer," or "high style at a low price."

Mostly, especially these days, it's a farcical equation: traditionally mid-priced or high-end brands trying to make themselves seem Everyman in light of the current economy, or low-end, exclusively-made-in-China retailers trying to make themselves seem chic, classy, and a great value (both of which force me to either spit up in my mouth a little and immediately change the channel, if they're egregiously fake, or, if benign, just chuckle to myself and skip, via the magic of DVR, to the continuation of my regularly scheduled mind candy programming).

Which is why I tonight was so singularly impressed with Marshalls' new campaign and tagline. Seemingly capitalizing on the transparency trend, Marshalls' creative team (or the agency they hired) has nailed in a nutshell the actual process of how true designer goods find themselves in the off-price, highly discounted market.

Here's the script of the commercial (I'll post video later if I can find it online):

[At fashion show, hard focus on thirtysomething female in the front row.]

"This is Lynn. She's a buyer for a posh shoe boutique. She wants to be the first to discover the next hot trend. So, when other buyers started eyeing this designer shoe [zoom to gold lame leather peep-toe booties with 2 1/2 " heel and trendy pleats on the vamp], she ordered more, causing them to do the same, causing Lynn to go completely overboard. Marshalls will take those expensive shoes off her hands at a ridiculously low price for their new Shoe Megashop. Her competitive nature is now your Shopportunity. It pays to be Shamelessly Shopportunistic.TM"

Now, the real truth is that the process highlighted in this 20-second spot generally takes about 18 months to come full circle in the real world, meaning that it used to be impossible (or relatively so, outside of competitive NYC and LA warehouse sample sales) to get in-style, in-season looks at real people prices. But, that's all changing, like everything else, due to technology and the speed of internet time.

Check back in mid-October for the Shoestring launch issue and our in-depth feature article on the burgeoning trend of online sample sale sites.

Until then, shop for discount designer shoe trends at Marshalls' Shoe MegaShop and enter the Marshalls "Love Affair of the Sole" $1,000 shopping spree sweepstakes.

I don't know how Kate Newlin, author of 2006's Shopportunity!, feels about the new branding, but I do know that every good Bargainista could always use another pair of shoes—especially when they're wearing that sexy red price tag emblazoned with my favorite four letter word: SALE.

Shoestring Events: Fluff Festival 2008

I'm a sucker for all things old-timey, especially when it a) favors creature comforts (especially foods), and b) supports local history or local business. Lately, due to the economy, I've been doing a lot of both. Especially on the PB&J sandwich/bag lunch front.

That's why yesterday, Travel Pants and I celebrated the anniversary of the creation of one of life's simplest and most affordable pleasures: marshmallow Fluff.

In my psuedo-hometown (ancestral hometown slash coming-of-age stomping ground?) of Somerville, MA, birthplace of Fluff and home to the annual What the Fluff? Festival, we celebrated this wondrous creation by snacking on $1 Fluffernutters (made with also-locally-produced Teddy Peanut Butter), Rice Krispie treats and cupcakes from Kick Ass Cupcakes, viewed an exhibit of original art from the Fluff Boy comic book, and, last but not least, voted for the Pharoah of Fluff.

Since its late, and, as the adage goes, a picture says a thousand words, here's our photographic coverage on Flickr.

My only regret? Being too full to try the Fluff Alexander.

Shoestring Music: MP3 Sale at Amazon.com

Thanks to my friend Chuck for this great score!

For what seems like today only, pick up or download Radiolina, the new album from Manu Chao from Amazon for just $2.99 (which, at 21 tracks, is like paying just 14 cents a song.)

My sister (soon to be known to readers everywhere as Shoestring's worldly, cheap-chic vacation columnist, Travel Pants), got me hooked on Manu Chao while she was living in Montevideo, Uruguay, a few years back. I could barely pronounce his name correctly, but quickly got hooked on Manu's modern blend of chill-out music with a cosmopolitan, jet-setting intellectual feel (Manu has a hybrid French and Spanish upbringing) and subdued political activism messages.

Apparently, that resonates with Americans right now, as it seems like he's starting to finally draw a following. Pants and I went to check out a new hipper-than-thou Boston boutique the other night, and guess who was on the loudspeakers?...that's right, Manu Chao.

Get your groove on and support the budget-friendly news you love from Shoestring and Bargainista by  downloading Manu Chao now from Amazon.com.

Modern / world music not your thing? Download Jay-Z's entire Life & Times of S. Carter, volume 3 for just $0.99!

Free Money: Mental Floss $50,000 Tuition Giveaway

Thanks to my good friend and former writer, Karen English, for the intro to this awesome magazine, Mental Floss (edited by her brother, Jason, whom I hope to meet someday).

Mental Floss is currently hosting a $50,000 tuition giveaway contest (five awards of $10,000 each) on their site, for use towards tuition and books during the Fall 2009 semester.

Here's the deal, from the horse's mouth:

"In 750 words or less, explain why you (as the most deserving person on the planet) should win a $10,000 prize for tuition/books in the fall of 2009. That’s it! The contest is open to full-time students pursuing an undergraduate degree at an accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the U.S. or Canada in the fall of 2009. (Applicants must turn 18 by August 15, 2009.) The contest closes on January 31, 2009, and full details can be found at tuitiongiveaway.com."

Sadly, graduate students (or those wondering if, given this economy, they should spruce up their resumes and/or GRE / GMAT / LSAT / MCAT scores) aren't eligible, but you can always subscribe to the magazine anyway to increase your intellectual capital (and base of fun, random facts for bar conversation). Enjoy—I know I do.

Love smart, independent media? Support Shoestring, Bargainista.com, and Mental Floss by subscribing to the print version of Mental Floss through Magazines.com. A portion of every subscription goes to support the very blogs you are currently reading. And they say it's hard for one person to make a difference. Poppycock.

Shoestring News: RIP Paul Newman (and Newman's Own?)

This morning, I awoke in a haze—partly due to cold medicine, partly due to my pre-coffee detangling of last night's debate rhetoric—to the sad news that Paul Newman, actor and activist, passed away at age 83, after a long battle with cancer. Rest in peace, Cool Hand Luke. All our love and sympathy goes out to your family and friends.

Since the early 80s, Paul and his eponymous brand, Newman's Own, have been at the forefront of the natural foods and responsible consumerism movements, and, at Shoestring, we're enormous fans of Paul's body of work, not only as one of the best American actors in the history of Hollywood, but as a socially conscious entrepreneur. I would even venture so far as to say that the way he's handled his successes over the years have made him an idol of mine.

Paul and Newman's Own have made high-quality, all-natural foods and products available to the masses for almost 25 years, and now, like our economy, the Newman's Own future is unclear, which infinitely saddens me and is a double blow on a dreary Saturday. My cabinets are stocked with the likes of Newman's Own dog food, which was a security blanket last year during the pet food contamination scare and eventual recall, and Newman's Own salad dressing, which comforts me during what seems to be a never-ending quest to regain my coed figure before turning 30. Just as his smart, anti-hero films were a touchstone during my rebellious, brooding teens and early twenties, his brand was a go-to during the early years of the "green" trend.

Paul's foodstuffs are just like he was: accessible to anyone, anywhere; equally high brow and rough-and-tumble; both classic and cutting edge. We're hoping his family and his executive team will choose to let his likeness and legacy survive, even, and especially, as we mourn his passing.

Support Paul Newman's family company and charitable causes, while at the same time supporting the news you love from Shoestring and Bargainista, by shopping for Newman's Own products through any advertisement in this post.

Shoestring Events: Free Museum Admission

Thanks to our friend Lynn Truong (who I met at BlogHer earlier this year) and her web site Wise Bread for the head's up on Museum Day 2008, held nationally tomorrow: Saturday, September 27th.

Sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine, the fourth annual Museum Day 2008 features free admission (by signing up for a printable pass on the official Museum Day web site) to hundreds of museums and cultural institutions nationwide. There's coverage in each state, so we're sure that all you Bargainistas will be able to find something fun, free, and intellectually inspiring to do tomorrow. Especially here in Boston, where it's raining buckets. I'll be hiding out at the Museum of Fine Arts with my Ginger Ninja if you need me.

Museums not your thing? Find budget-friendly sports, theater, movie, and more tickets at StubHub.com. A portion of every transaction made through the advertisment below goes to support Shoestring Magazine and Bargainista.com. You love us, you know you do.