When I was little I remember going into stores with my mom. Wherever we went she had spirited conversations (always about food): discussing dim sum with the lady from China at the laundry, explaining how she made blintzes to the lady from Naples at the bakery. I remember her making coffee cakes and giving them to the cleaning lady who came once a month to clean our house, because even though we had five kids and little money, she had 11 kids and even less money.

She never saw the people who did the laundry or worked in the stores as different from her; she never felt bigger or more important. In fact, she identified with them. She said they were all “little people” — just like her. People who worried from meal to meal, people who never quite fit in to the dominant culture. She admired the courage of those who came from other countries in their pursuit of a better life in America. She would ask us to imagine what it would be like to be plopped down in the middle of India or Africa, obviously different, unable to speak the language. How would it feel to be treated poorly or to not be seen as people?

She was a truly kind person and she believed one should never be deprived of his or her rights or judged as less for being different. If they didn’t hurt you, didn’t hurt someone else, then it was none of your business to interfere with their beliefs and ways they chose to live their lives. Wasn’t that why her parents and those who had come before had made the perilous journey and suffered such hardship to come to this country?

Her world was made up of “good” people and “shtick dreks” (look it up). She never judged people by race, religion, or, in her later years, sexual orientation. Her message was to see people for who they were as a person: CEO or bottle washer. She lived a good and righteous life. She was never famous, never rich, never an “important” person, but when she passed away hundreds and hundreds of people came to her funeral. Through our tears we laughed at how she would have loved the state police escort that stopped traffic on the busiest highway in Boston to escort the miles-long cavalcade of cars that accompanied her to the cemetery.

So, it’s seems fitting that right before Mother’s Day  President Obama finally came out and with a little help from Malia, Sasha (and Joe), changed his position on same-sex marriage. But, it is disturbing that just days later, the Virginia House refused to appoint an openly gay prosecutor, who had garnered bi-partisan support, a judgeship.  

Please share: “Have No Intolerance for Intolerance” to Facebook  and Twitter.

1. Herbs

Whether the mom you’re recognizing for all she does lives in an apartment or on in the country, nothing spices up a meal more than fresh herbs.  Arrive with shovel in hand ready to plant  them for her in the garden or in a window box.  (Make sure your assortment includes lemon verbena so she can brew the best herbal tea ever.)

2. Melitta Coffee Cone and Filter

The single best cup of the day is the first cup. The simplest and best coffee is made using this $2.99  Melitta cone. Period. (So reasonably priced you’ll have enough left to spring for designer coffee beans and a gorgeous new mug!)

3.  Hip New Nail Polish and Manicure

Give her a manicure because on Mother’s Day she shouldn’t be lifting a single well polished digit. We’re in love with the rad-hot-new NARS colors for spring. 

4. A Massage (Mom is Worth the Splurge)

As every mother knows, there is not a day that goes by without worry about her little (or big) darlings. Today’s your day to take the stress off her shoulders– (you are responsible for it, after all). Spring for a gift certificate for a long relaxing massage.

5. A Book

If the mom (sister, aunt, friend, cousin …whoever you’re Mother’s Day gifting) is a romantic, a cook, a bird watcher, a travel fanatic, a quilter, hiker, sewer, basket weaver? Whatever her passion or interest there is a book that will thrill her. Better yet, give her our latest: Smart Mama Smart Money, the anti-Tiger-anti-French-Mom’s-have-it-all-figured out sane approach to parenting that will relieve her guilt and let her sleep better at night:)

We’re proud to announce the first edition of our Bitches on a Budget hat is now on sale!

Fully adjustable, made of 100% cotton and just $19.95.

Write to us at: info@bitchesonabudget.com.

When was the last time you bought kale?

It’s packed with nutrients, antioxidants, and it’s touted for anti-inflammatory agents. Best of all, it’s delicious and it’s cheap.

If you’re like us, squirreled away in the back of your junk drawer are old gift cards. Maybe you got a Burger King gift card from the office secret Santa, but you’re a health food fanatic and that stuff is never crossing your lips. Or you’ve traded the gas-guzzler for a bicycle and have leftover ARCO or BP or other gas cards. Convert these unused ‘assets’ into hard cash on Giftah.

Never heard of Giftah? It’s a clever site, buying and selling unused gift cards. From Bloomingdale’s to Walmart, CVS to Walgreens, Nike to the NFL Store, Giftah trades cards across hundreds of product categories and services.

Say you’ve got a $25 dollar card to Petsmart, but your 18-year-old Chihuahua is now in pet heaven, Giftah will give you 82% (as of this writing) of the face value of the card. This translates into $20.50 cash money in your pocket. Wait. Before you get too excited, you’ll need to shell out some time and money to send the card to Giftah by registered mail. But, if it’s just sitting there gathering dust, be smart, grab the cash.

We think Giftah is a smart way to repurpose cards you’ll never use, but if you’ve got a card to a store or service that you will likely buy from don’t take the discount on the face value.

Now that you’ve dug all those old cards out –it’s the perfect time to use them!  (Your welcome.)

…

It’s that time of year when everyone is rushing around in a gift buying frenzy.  So many presents to give: family, friends, teachers, service providers…so little time…so little inspiration. It’s exhausting and expensive. Our solution? Buying local arts and crafts.

Each holiday season at a college near us faculty and students hold a ceramics sale. In a scene reminiscent of the ‘running of the brides’, but one fraught with shattering consequences for a mishandled item, we get in line early to snatch up hand crafted pottery pieces at bargain prices.  Whether we give the gift by itself or filled with home baked goodies (later this week, we’ll share some yummy ideas), each piece is unique and fun.

Support local artist association events to find paintings, jewelry and other one of a kind gifts– it’s good for your budget.

We spent the day baking canele de Bordeaux for holiday gift giving. If you haven’t had one of these orgasmically delicious little gems you haven’t lived. They’re the perfect confection: crispy and caramelized outside, soft and custardy inside. For years, we braved long lines at our favorite bakery to buy them. But, our little addiction was starting to get pricey, not to mention time consuming, so we decided it was time to make them ourselves. While the recipe is simple: milk, eggs, butter, rum, sugar and vanilla, the baking technique is a bit tricky, but easily mastered. In full disclosure, buying the silicon molds to bake them in is a bit of an up front investment –but, over the long run should prove to be cheaper than buying them at the local baker.

Don’t you want to get on our list?

  Retailing Lessons

Once upon time, before shopping became theater; before our identities were defined by what we wore; before we became alienated from our core values of family, friends, and charity; before we became the buy-buy-buy, need-it-now generation; before shopping became a substitute for other kinds of pleasure, life was lustier.

Proof?  Weren’t families a whole lot bigger?

Sixty years ago Wal-Mart didn’t exist. Neiman Marcus was only in Texas. Victoria’s Secret was just that—some horny guy’s wet dream. There were few indoor malls, massive chains, or outlet centers. Hard to get your head around, huh? Like fashion itself, the business is in constant flux. It’s hard for even the savviest bitch to keep up. How to deal? Learn the stores. Understand their strategies. Know when merchandise rolls in and when it must go out.

Take back the power!

Brick and Mortar Flows

Bloomie’s, Target, Zara, Nordstom . . . all major stores start each new season with fresh inventories. Planning and buying of merchandise is done based on past season’s sales. Depending on the business, fresh goods roll in at the start of each season and are replenished either monthly or bimonthly. To maintain a fresh feel and to finance future purchases, the merchandise must flow. New goods in—old goods out. This is critical shopping intelligence.

Couple this knowledge with the fact that, at most big chains, seasonal goods arriving on the floor are out of sync with real life. For instance, you live in Chicago. It’s February, zero degrees, and you’re wearing a winter coat as you cruise through your favorite store freaking out at how small the bottoms are on the new bikinis. Hello, it’s February! Months and months away from summer. Yet here’s the summer stock, already beckoning.

Make this craziness work for you. Remember the goods keep flowing, and the merchants must make space for the new stuff by marking the old stuff down. So the winter jacket that arrived in August will be getting marked down just about the time you need it for winter, while the teeny-tiny bikini should be on its second markdown by the time you can go swimming in the lake. This is called clearance.

Don’t be fooled, though. There’s a difference between seasonal clearance and goods bought to be sold on promotion. When the latter happens, a big slug of goods are bought, marked too high, and put on the floor to establish a “regular” price (usually for four to six weeks, but this depends on laws state to state). Later they’re marked down to trick all you budget-minded bitches into thinking you’re getting a bargain.

Be suspicious. If there’s a whole lot of one item on the floor, marked at, say, 20 percent off regular price, chances are it was jacked up and you’re not getting a bargain. Be wary of circulars and catalogs “promoting” items—think about it; you’re a smart B: They bought and planned to promote these goods at “sale: prices months in advance.

Recognize the difference between a clear-out-the-stuff-because-the-season-is-aging kind of sale and a general business-is-so-sucky-we-need-to-motivate-people sale. Normal bitches should respond to a one-day-only-everything-is-on-sale sale only if they need things.

Likewise, take a pass on the stores that offer $50 off a purchase three weeks from now if you spend $250 or more today. See this for what it is—a sleazy seduction to get you into bed again. Succumb only knowing what they are doing to you and only if you have tremendous discipline. Plan precisely how you will spend that $50 three weeks hence—say on sorely needed underwear or bras. Better still, just say no. Since you’re a normal person lacking discipline, you’re likely to be a promotional victim and either miss your seven-day shopping window, or, if you get back in time, spend more than that $50 certificate.

Use the stores—don’t let them use you. The best way is to know what you want (recon) and to keep an eye out for those magical days when clearance and promotions happen simultaneously. Only on these days do we allow ourselves to shop at the high temples of fashion. Say you have been watching a fabulous pair of Robert Clegerie shoes, a Jil Sander sweater, or a Marc Jacobs coat that arrived in August—all orgasmically gorgeous but also hideously expensive, so in this economy they’re still hanging around. Now it’s December/January (May/June for spring merch) and they’re marked down for clearance. Wait. Keep watching. Soon the store needs to do a general promotion to make room for new goods (they just keep coming) and raise some cash. What happens? The waiting pays off. Now you get another 20 or 30 percent on top of the already marked-down price. Pounce. This is the absolute perfect storm of a smart-bitch buy.

In the end, if all else fails, stores still need to move the goods out. They need the space, and any cash in hand is better than an old schmatte sitting on a hanger in the stockroom.

Since digging up bargains is what we do best, at fall harvest time we rock out on root vegetables. They’re versatile, nutritious, delicious and cheap, cheap, cheap.

First up?

Turnips. No making faces! You’ve just never been introduced to the right turnip. Let us be the matchmaker.

Depending on the variety, or when they’re harvested, or how long it takes to get them from farm to table, and on preparation method, the flavor pop in a turnip can run the gamut from bitter to sweet to crunchy to tangy. We embrace them all.

Add turnips to the pan of a simple roast chicken, a root vegetable mélange, or a pot roast. Puree them. Make soup, pickles, and chips with turnips. Slice baby sweet ones raw into a salad. Since every eco-friendly bitch on a budget should always use the whole thing — don’t forget about the greens. Make a fresh tossed salad, throw them in a soup or steam and finish the turnip greens with a drizzle of olive or sesame oil.

Our favorite preparation is braised. Like all our recipes this is just a guideline. You can increase/decrease the amount. Cook more or less. Add another root vegetable to the mix, your own herbs, a different stock.