The Cheap Diva

A Litle Preparation Prevents Job Interview Panic

I'm not a career coach but one thing I can tell you is that you should never go to a job interview sweaty and smelling like cat hair.  Because I wasn't fully prepared for a recent job interview, I came dangerously close to doing just that.  The interviewer was supposed to contact me between 3 and 5 PM to set up a time for the actual interview.  I was expecting the interviewer to set up an appointment for the next day or maybe an hour or two after he called. 

I volunteer at a local animal shelter socializing (holding and petting) cats.  I decided to help out at the shelter for a few hours and be done by 1:30, leaving me plenty of time to get home the day the interviewer was going to call.  Knowing that I was going to be covered by cat hair by the time I got out of there I hadn't bothered to take a shower prior to visiting the shelter.  

I got home in plenty of time to receive the phone call.  I didn't bother showering because I wanted to shower right before the interview.  Also I didn't want to miss the interviewers phone call because I was in the shower.    The interviewer calls right on schedule and asks me if would mind meeting him at a local coffee shop in 10 minutes!  I was tempted to say, "Gee that depends, do you mind if I smell like stale sweat and cat hair?"  but of course I didn't.  What I did do was agree to call him back when I was ready to leave.  Then I took the fastest shower I have taken in my entire life, slapped on the bare minimum makeup needed for public viewing, figured out what top to wear with the black pants I had planned on wearing for the interview, printed out a recent resume and then hustled my freshly showered butt out the door.      

I actually arrived for the job interview on time so my last minute preparations didn't hurt my chances of getting the part time job thank goodness.  The experience was a lesson in preparedness.  I should have had a resume printed before hand.  I should have picked out the top I was going to wear for my interview outfit and I should always be freshly showered when a prospective employer calls because when it comes to job hunting you better be prepared for anything.        

Payless Shoes Reaches New Heights

Because I fall a bit short of the ideal six foot supermodel stature, I like to step out in a stylish heel to give me a little lift.  A wedge or a stacked heel offers the height I like without the awkwardness of trying to balance on a pencil thin spiked heel.  Payless Shoes has a terrific selection of high heels at low prices.  

A neutral colored shoe that blends in with your skin tone like this Karmel Pleated Wedge for $17.99  creates a leg lenthening unbroken line between the shoe and your legs.  The curvy wedge heel furthurs the illusion of height.   

This Dexter Lynn Chop Out Wedge on sale for $14.99 also comes in solid black or white, but I encourage you to think pink and save the boring neutral colors for your more sensible shoes.

What makes the Levin Gladiator Sandals for $22.99 the perfect gladiator sandal is the fact that they don't look like typical gladiator sandals.  What I mean by that is they don't have so many straps and studs that the minute the gladiator trend is out of fashion they look outdated.  By showing only the  slightest gladiator trend influence and polishing up the look with a stacked heel, these shoes will look fresh and contemporary long after the gladiator trend has passed.

The Secret to Experiencing a Richer Life

I picked up a copy of  The Secret DVD at a local thrift store for a few bucks.  One of the points made in the video is that we want things, like a new car or nicer house, because of the way we believe those things would make us feel.  This inspired to think about ways to enjoy those feelings associated with expensive luxury items without the expensive price tag.

Let's say I've been lusting after an outrageously expensive sports car whose advanced engineering is designed for the sole purpose of breaking every speed limit in sight.  Why do I want a new car when the one I have runs just fine?  Because I sit at a computer all day and the typical speed of my office chair is zero miles per hour.  I want to experience the adrenalin rush of moving at top speeds but I'm not prepared to pay top dollar.  So what are my options?  If I am a die hard adrenalin junkie I could strap myself into the scariest roller coaster ride available at a local amusement park.  If I want a slightly tamer driving experience where the emphasis is on fun I could hit the go cart track at the local family fun center and let my inner child do the driving.  Either way I get to experience the rush and sense of adventure that I was attracted to with the expensive sports car.  In reality I don't need a new car, what I need is a new experience that will generate the kind of positive feelings I associate with driving a fast car.

If you take a closer look at what represents true luxury to you it's usually pretty easy to see what emotional needs those luxuries appeal to.  A desire to live in a beautifully decorated mansion suggests an appreciation of exquisite objects placed in an opulent setting.  To satisfy this desire to be surrounded with beautiful objects displayed in an attractive setting, look no further than your local museum, a botanical garden or a historical home that's open to the public.

I am not suggesting you give up your fantasies of luxury living.  What I am saying is you deserve to enjoy life NOW, not some day when you win the lottery.   The more you look around for frugal yet fabulous experiences, the richer your life will become.      

Take a Memo in Style

Having limited space to contain what seems like an unlimited amount of stuff is such a common style challenge that designers are forever coming up with stylishly clever storage solutions.  This Display-It Storage Mirror for $599.oo from Pottery Barn rotates 360 degrees so you can easily pin new pictures on the memo board, stow your stuff on one of the shelves or admire yourself in the full length mirror.  Granted the price istn't exactly cheap, but sooner or later it's bound to go on sale.

Even the most mundane memo takes on an air of elegance when attached to this White and Black Memo Board Frame for $24.99.  It's impossible to spot in this picture, but their are two pockets at the bottom of the board for storing your less that picturesque odds and ends.

With this multitasking Memo Wall Clock for $39.99 you can post notes of your appointments and know at a glance if you are running on time.  If you prefer a clock with actual numbers you can always attach a memo with the number 12, 3, 6, and 9 in the appropriate places.  That way you will never have to write a memo to yourself to buy a clock you can actually read!

Forever 21 puts its Faith in the Plus Size Market

While some retailers insist on clinging to snob sizing offering nothing larger than a size 12 (Yeah I'm talking bout you Express and The Limited!), Forever 21 has come out with a line of plus size clothing called Faith 21.  For the most part, the Faith 21 line skips the traditional frumpy shapeless looks traditionally associated with plus size clothing and offers the kind of super trendy clothes women will look and feel good in.  The line could be seen as recognition that stylish women come in all shapes and sizes, but my skeptical side tells me the plus size line simply recognizes the fact that curvy gals have cash too.  The reality is that if you want to stay competitive in this tough marketplace you better start selling stuff in sizes the average American woman can actually wear.

Zipper Strap Portrait Tunic $22.80

Talk about dangerous curves!  This Vanna Pleated Dress for $22.80 emphasizes the bust with a deep V neckline and waistline that suggests an hourglass silhouette even if your figure isn't shaped like an hourglass.  The skirt part is flared and flirty enough for a night on the town but could also work for for daytime.

The vivid colors and rich pattern of this Paisley Knit Tunic for $17.80make me want to run out right now and start shopping for turquoise and copper jewelry to complete the look.  It looks like the stylist paired the tunic with pants, but I can also see it topping a long flowing skirt in a solid color for a more bohemian feel.

Get 7 Shades of Lipstick for One Low Price

 I've come across some beautiful deals, but I've never seen a product that allows you the luxury of changing your lipstick as often as you change your mind for under $10.00 until now.  The Avon SpectraColor lipstick  for $9.50 takes the idea of doing more with less to the extreme.  Two compatible shades of lipstick, one light and one dark, are contained in one convenient tube.  By simply turning the dial on the lipstick tube you can change the color of your lipstick.  Blending the two shades of lipstick can produce up to 7 different shades of lipstick thereby eliminating the need to pack your  purse with multiple lipsticks.  The lipstick duo comes in a variety of shades from subtle neutrals to rich wine shades so there really is a shade for everyone.  Make that shades. 

Time to Save Some Cash

An essential ingredient to saving money when entertaining is timing. Inviting people over to your place during the dinner hour and preparing an entire meal complete with appetizers and an meat course is more expensive than an afternoon brunch with some sort of egg dish, like frittatas, as the main dish with some muffins and fruit for side dishes. Where a superb evening meal calls for a fine wine, an afternoon brunch calls for fruit juice and maybe iced tea or coffee. If you are in a celebratory mood, you can include Mimosas with your brunch. Mimosas consist of orange juice and champagne. So you can go ahead and splurge a little on the champagne knowing that the orange juice will increase the number of glasses it fills.

An evening cocktail party with a variety of appetizers and decent alcohol can leave you with a hangover of debt. If you are in the mood for a few cocktails and lots of company, contact your local bars or restaurants and see if they have a room where you and your guests can party. When you invite guests make it clear that you are simply arranging a get together for cocktails. You aren’t treating everyone to appetizers and appletinis.

Inviting people over for coffee and dessert in between meal times is an affordable way to play hostess. Slicing a pie or cake is a time consuming process because you have to stop and ask everyone how big of a piece they want. Either cut the dessert into different sized slices ahead of time, or offer a selection of cookies, muffins, pastries or another dessert that doesn’t require any slicing. Even if you serve gourmet coffee, this type of social is still a pretty sweet deal.

Gilt by Association

While taking an interior design class I learned about the art of illusion. How to make budget friendly furnishings look rich was one of the most valuable lessons I learned.

Cog Double Glass Mantle Clock $59.95

The instructor, who was a professional interior designer, shared her secret to creating an upscale look by the clever way she displayed her clocks. She displayed a collection of bargain priced clocks all on the same wall with one rare and expensive clock placed in the center of the group. Her guests never suspected the collection was full of budget friendly pieces purchased though mass retailers. Anyone who visited her home just assumed all of the clocks were valuable, because that one valuable clock lent an air of importance and elegance to the other clocks. I call this affluent by association. If you display one high quality valuable item amid a bunch of cheaper similar items, it gives the impression that the cheaper items are valuable as well.

The whole affluent by association opens up a world of possibilities. Instead of limiting you display of collectibles to eye candy meant to be touched and not used, why not display stuff you actually use like it was a valuable collectible? Some well designed oven friendly and microwave safe baking dishes or refrigerator ready pitchers are as posh as they are practical. These commonly available dishes could easily be mistaken for the kind of vintage dishes collectors snap up at antique stores. A china cabinet filled with elegant dishes designed for everyday use mixed in with actual collectible dishes similar in style, strongly implies that everything in the cabinet is a valuable collectible. The closer in style the collectibles are to the everyday dishes, the stronger this illusion is.

Framing an ordinary object by placing it in or on something exquisite elevates the look of that object. A cheap pillar candle resting on top of a beautiful candlestick does not look cheap, it looks like the perfect complement to it’s holder. Artsy postcards picked up at a museum shop for a few bucks looks like a million bucks when placed inside elegant matted frames then arranged on a wall or table in a stylish manner.

A simple monogram added to plush bath towels or a nice bed throw adds a nice personal touch as well as a touch of class to your decor. A plain bed throw looks like an ordinary blanket until you add a monogram and place the throw across the bottom of the bed neatly folded on top of the bedspread with the monogram displayed for a five star hotel effect. Monogramming isn’t always cheap. Wait for great deals on the towels and bed throws so you can splurge on a fine monogramming job done by a local embroidery company.

You don’t have to be rich to decorate rich. By including enough well chosen upscale touches throughout your home you can easily create the feeling of living in luxury every day.

Keep Your Clothes Looking Great

Taking proper care of your clothes has practical benefits, they last longer when you take better care of them, and then there is the issue of image. If your clothes don’t look good than neither do you. When you feel like you look like a worn out frump you probably aren’t projecting a lot of confidence and confidence is an essential component of style no matter what your personal style is.

A few preventive measures will keep your clothes looking newer longer. A few lavender sachets tucked inside your closet will repel moths and other fabric loving insects. When it comes to fabric, moths have expensive tastes. They prefer to dine on natural fibers such as fine wools, cottons, and even cashmere. Some people don’t care for the smell of lavender, but having clothes that smell slightly of lavender is certainly more chic than having them smell like mothballs.

Nothing gets clothes bent out of shape faster than the wrong hanger. A thin wire hanger is the worst possible hanger to hang your clothes on. It causes bumps in the shoulders of the garment and distorts its shape. The second worst is probably the hangers that are flocked to keep garments in place. The flocking is typically found on cheaper hangers and can start to wear off after a while. Ideally a hanger would be about ½ an inch wide depending on the type of garment it is supporting. A fine knit that tends to mold to the shape of the hanger may call for a more generously padded hanger. If a knit is a looser knit, a bulkier weight or for any reason it tends to lose its shape easily, store it flat in a drawer to prevent it from stretching. There clothes hanging in your closet should have a little space between them. Overstuffing your closet crushes clothes and causes them to wrinkle. For me not having to iron is excellent motivation for cleaning out my closet and streamlining my wardrobe.

Handbags often end up on the dustiest parts of your closet, the floor or shelf. To prevent your trendy totes from turning into dust catchers, put the handbag inside an old pillowcase before storing it in your closet. To keep leather handbags or shoes looking shiny and new, polish them with vegetable or olive oil.

Before putting anything in your closet be sure it is ready to wear. Look for stains, loose hems and buttons or any other issues that you don’t want to discover after you put it on and you are halfway out the door. Ultimately everything in your closet is there to make you look good with very little effort.

Before You Hit the Beach, Hit the Bottle

During warmer months wearing a hat protects hair color from fading in the sunlight, but you can’t dive into your favorite swimming hole with a hat on. Well you could dive in with a hat on, but I don’t think it would do much for your swimming technique or the hat.

Once you go from frolicking on the land to splashing like a mermaid, you have other hair issues to deal with besides the sun. Chlorine from pools and ocean salt water can cause serious damage to hair including drying it out and in the case of chlorine, possibly changing the color to a lovely algae green depending on your hair color.

Before taking a swim take a few minutes to apply a lightweight conditioner to your hair. The conditioner acts as a barrier between your hair and those unfriendly waters, so be sure to saturate your hair completely and allow the conditioner sink in before diving in.

There are more hair conditioners on the market than I can count. Some of them are specifically designed to protect your hair at the beach. Instead of slathering your hair with expensive conditioner that’s just going to get washed out to sea anyway, try a cheap all natural hair conditioner like organic coconut oil. Olive oil is another terrific hair conditioner, but coconut oil smells more natural and exotic at the beach where olive oil makes you smell like a salad dressing. Put a little coconut oil in a plastic travel bottle and you have the perfect poolside hair care product.

Laundry Strategies to Make your Clothes Last Longer

Finding a bra that fits, flatters and gives you a little lift is such a shopping achievement that once you found the perfect bra you want it to last as long as possible.  A cheap way to extend the life of your bras if you don't hand wash them is to put them in a mesh lingerie bag before putting them in the washing machine.  A lingerie bag protects your bras by preventing them from getting wrapped around other clothes and getting stretched out of shape in the wash.  It also protects other clothes in the wash by preventing bra hooks from snagging other clothes. 

Mesh lingerie bags are intended for lingerie of course, but if you're tired of trying to solve the mystery of how socks disappear in the dryer, you can buy a lingerie bag just for socks.  After washing the socks just toss them in the dryer while they are still contained  in the lingerie bag.  Lingerie bags are usually made out of synthetic materials which don't always respond well to high heat, so don't set your dryer on blazing hot if your are going to toss a lingerie bag full of socks in there.

Lingerie isn't the only thing designed to feel fabulous to the touch.  There is nothing like stepping out of a shower and into the gentle embrace of a nice fluffy towel.  Unfortunately, with repeated washings commercial fabric softeners can build up on towels making them less absorbent.  Pouring 1/4 white vinegar into the wash with the rinse cycle not only softens fabric just as well as a commercial fabric softener, it can also help remove fabric softener buildup from clothes.  With white vinegar your clothes may not come out of the wash smelling like a spring meadow like they would with the more expensive commercial fabric softener, but not to worry, they won't smell like white vinegar either.   

For an environmentally friendly that removes stains from clothing, take 1 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of baking soda after the wash has started and their is water in the washer to distribute this natural stain remover. For the kinds of stains on white fabrics that would normally require heavy duty bleach, try adding 1/2 of 3% hydrogen peroxide to the wash in the bleach cup of your washer or directly to the wash after it has filled with water and then add your clothing to the washer.  Eco friendly 3% hydrogen peroxide is composed of  water and oxygen, but like chlorine bleach it can damage fabric so be sure to test it on an inconspicuous part of the clothes you are going to wash before washing them.  Hydrogen peroxide can often be found at drugstores and mass retailers. 

Organic Facial Towelettes are Kind to Your Face and the Environment

Makeup remover towelettes are incredibly convenient for travel.  Just pack the number you need for the trip, plus a few extras just in case, into a zip loc bag and away you go.  The one major drawback to traditional towelettes is that they are used once and disposed of to sit in a landfill forever since they are not biodegradable.

Physicians Formula Organic Wear Facial Makeup Remover Towelettes allows you to keep the planet and your face a bit cleaner.  The towelettes are biodegradable, the aluminum container is recyclable and you won't find any parabens or synthetic fragrances among the skin friendly ingredients.  All of this wholesome goodness can be yours for about $10.00 at your local drugstores or other mass retailers. 

Volunteering is Always in Style

Pick any decent size metropolitan area in the US and you will find plenty of high style social events and attractions.  Typically some of the most fabulous local events, the ones that involve a dazzling fashion show, a delectable dining experience and decor to die for, are also some of the most expensive to attend.  The good news is that many of these events are for a charity and by volunteering for certain charities you can attend fancy fundraisers without going broke buying tickets. 

Many charities host fancy dinners and events as part of their fundraising efforts.  Stuffing envelopes and calling for donations are great ways to support a charity, but they might not get you in the door of some of the more swankier events.  If you want to participate in these upscale events be sure part of your volunteer responsibilities require you to be physically present at the event.  Whether it's a designer show house or charity fashion show, volunteering for positions such as guest greeter or ticket taker allow you to experience the event up close and personal.

I am not suggesting attendance at fabulous events should be your only motivation for supporting a charity.  What I am saying is that by giving of your time and efforts to a worthwhile charity and enjoying the occasional social outing for free as a result, you are creating a win win situation for everyone.

Volunteering doesn't have to be limited to charitable events.  Volunteering to be an usher at a local theatre is a terrific way to experience a variety of wonderful performances without having to buy season tickets.  No matter where you donate your time and efforts, volunteering can be your ticket to a truly enriching social life.

At Crate and Barrel the Accent is On Style

If you love style but you are on a budget chances are you will get bored with your decor long before you have the cash to completely redecorate.  Home accents, like rugs and pillow, offer an affordable way to update a space that could use a little freshening up.  Crate and Barrel offers the kind of home accents that add some real personality to a space. 

The exotic pattern of this Yasmine Rug $79.95-$699.00 offer a bountiful bouquet of beautiful colors to brighten your home.  On a more practical note, the dark brown background is great for hiding stains!

Yes it is possible to capture the nautical spirit without going overboard with seashells and boat motifs.  The crisp stripes in sand and vivid blues of the Zachary Pillow for $24.95 evokes the look you would expect to find on a luxury yacht.  Cruise into summer with style by pairing the pillow with white or sand colored stain resistant cushions on a couch or chair.   

When I think of pattern I often think of striped or floral patterns like the ones pictured here.  It's easy to forget that patterns comes in many forms, like the herringbone weave pattern of this Seluma Magazine Basket for $29.95.  The advantage of creating visual interest with a neutral colored accent that with an interesting texture is that it's easier to coordinate with other pieces in the room since clashing colors and patterns is less of an issue.  On other words, if covering your floor in an exotic floral design is a bit bolder than you're comfortable with, texture is a virtually foolproof way to introduce pattern into a room. 

Looklet.com is Worth a Closer Look

Looklet.comis a fashion web site that allows you to dress different runway type models virtually from over a thousand pieces of clothing.  With the added feature of being able to chose from different backgrounds, it's almost like styling your own fashion shoot.  This is a terrific web site for entertainment, but I wouldn't recommend it for shopping.  Some of the links for the clothes direct you to web sites in foreign countries and are not in english, while other pieces of clothing are available only at certain stores, not online.  Even if I could get my hands on the clothes, I doubt I would want to pay the prices they are selling for.

The real fun of looklet.com comes when you start combining designer pieces on the models in ways that are just too outrageous for words.  The program layers new pieces of clothing over what you already have on the model, so if layering a swimsuit over a tailored blouse accompanied by a sequined skirt topped off with a cowboy hat is the virtual style statement you want to make, go for it.  High end fashion designers have been making ridiculous looking outfits for years, now it's your turn! 

The Green Year Book Review

 A lot of advice regarding eco friendly behavior involves reducing waste, which is terrific for anyone on a budget since reducing waste often results in saving money.  The Green Year: 365 small things you can do to make a big difference by Jodi Helmer is packed with the kind of eco friendly tips that will leave you with more green in your wallet. 

The book is organized in a way the offers one eco friendly tip for every day of the year.  Everything from improving your gas mileage through proper car car to reducing energy costs in your home to cheap natural substitutes for chemical laden cleaning products is included in the book.  In terms of being cheap and easy, the advice in the book is extremely doable.  Read this book for yourself and you will discover that it really is easy being green.

Buy One Get One Free Deal on L'Oreal Cosmetics at Ulta

Every week ULTA has some sort of sale on cosmetics and beauty products.  And every week I keep my eyes open for the kind of deals worth bragging about on this blog.  As usual they have plenty of stuff on sale, but the Buy 1 get 1 free deal for select L'Oreal cosmetics and their sale on ULTA eye pencils were the stand out deals for me.  I bought two different shades of L'Oreal Infallible Plumping lip gloss (regularly $9.99 a piece) and an ULTA Automatic Eye Liner (regularly $7.00 but on sale for $1.00) and applied the $3.50 coupon that come with their advertising flier towards my purchase.  After the sales and coupon I ended up spending less than $9.00 for about $27.00 worth of merchandise. 

I don't really notice any difference between the lip plumping version of the L'Oreal Infallible gloss and the regular version, but it lasts longer than a typical lip gloss and the color looks natural, so I can overlook the lack of a plumper pout.  Some of the products I mentioned here are not available from ULTA online so if you have an ULTA store in your state I suggest visiting the physical bricks and mortar store instead of shopping online.  Shopping online may offer convenience, but it will never offer the sense of instant gratification that comes from finding the perfect cosmetic item and taking it home with you immediately after paying for it.

Putting the Home in Home Office

The wonderful thing about a home office is that you can literally make yourself at home and create a working environment that is tailored to your personal needs. Sometimes space limitations may require you to combine your working space with some other type of living space. When a home office is part of a bedroom or living room, it’s essential to integrate the home office trappings into the décor in a way that doesn’t look like you have an office cubicle parked in your living room.

Spotlight Credenza $549.oo

A stylish home office typically revolves around a stylish desk. The bigger and bulkier the desk the harder it is to integrate into the home décor. For my current home office I accidentally bought a console with two drawers instead of a traditional desk. A console is narrower than a desk and often used in areas like hallways. This mistake turned out to be a happy accident because my home office is located in a bedroom and the narrow console blends in with the furnishings much better than a wider desk would have.

It’s not necessary to buy a desk with huge drawers large enough to fit piles of business related files. Buying cabinets and other containers to hold files allows for more flexibility in how you arrange your furniture in a room. Some file cabinets are designed to look like dressers to blend into the home environment more easily. To keep smaller sets of files close at hand without a filing cabinet, you can buy a stylish tote bag specifically designed to hold files. Or you can simply run out and buy a roomy tote bag and insert a file holder inside the bag.

No matter how stylish the furnishings, between printers, computers and office supplies, it’s difficult to disguise the home office aspect of a room completely. What you can is downplay the office vibe by coordinating pieces in a way that reads harmonious home décor not hard working home office.

In my home office/bedroom the black console that I use for a desk sits in between a black cabinet with mirrors on the front doors, and another cabinet that is completely covered with mirrors. The silver pulls on the drawer of the console subtly tie in the mirrors while the black framed memo board hanging above the console, the wall clock with the black and silver frame and the black paper tray sitting on the console create a coordinated harmonious look. In the corner of the room I have a rocking chair with a silver chrome frame and black vinyl cushions. The end table next to the bed and the cabinet at the end are also all black. The black furnishings work because the walls, carpeting and other furnishings in the room are lighter in color which prevents it from feeling like a cave.

One of the cheapest ways to make your home office feel more homey is to reduce the amount of paperwork sitting around. There have been moments where it looked like I collected papers as a hobby because I had so many piles of them sitting around. Once I started going through papers and organizing them into files or throwing them out I found it not only improved the look of the room it improved my productivity as well. It’s easier to find what I need when I don‘t have to move mountains of papers to find it.

Add Shopping Malls to the Endangered Species List

With so many retail stores closing it was only a matter of time before shopping malls followed suit.  Shopping malls have always had their own life cycle that eventually makes some of them close do to changes in local population and shopping habits, but the current trend towards people spending less is causing a rise in the number of shopping mall closings.  The Yahoo Finance article entitled America's Most Endangered Malls talks about the mall closings, providing a lengthy list of malls in danger of becoming extinct.  When I found out one of the malls in danger of being extinct was a mall I used to work at I wanted to celebrate and do a happy dance (I hated working in retail).  Before I had a chance to bust a move I thought of all the people losing their jobs which made me feel a lot less celebratory and a bit sad for those people relying on retail jobs to pay the bills.  Retail has always been a tough business and the bottom line is that when so many different retailers offer such similar uninspired merchandise there isn't much motivation for shoppers to spend. 

Don't Get Scammed by "Job" Opportunities

Like many people concerned about their finances, I have looked into supplementing my income with a part time job.  So far my efforts to land a part time job has exposed me to various scams and zero legitimate job offers.  What pisses me off the most is that the jobs that I thought I was applying for never really existed. 

For example, an advertisement on craigslist for a "job" opportunity was worded in a way that made it sound like they were hiring freelance writers to write about architecture and design.  I emailed my resume to the business thinking it was a writing position.  When the business that ran the ad emailed me about the job they talked about how their clients pay them to hire people to act as customers and rate the level of service they receive at their businesses.  If you read between the lines you realize what they are really saying is that the position is for mystery shoppers, which by the way is not a very well paying job.  I didn't email the company back because I don't want to work for a company that deceives job applicants.

Distinguishing a real job from a bait and switch situation is hard when you look at the classified ads because they are flat out misleading.  It's when you get an email from the business behind the classified that it becomes obvious it's a scam.  I mean if it was legitimate, why wouldn't they tell you up front what the job was?  Here are some warning signs of a scam.

There is no mention of a job interview or any kind of contact with an actual human being.  Instead a link is included in the email that sends you to a web site to sign up for some sort of money making opportunity like sending out promotional emails.

The money making opportunity does not resemble the job you thought you were applying for.

You only applied for one job but your email inbox is flooded with all kinds of so called money making opportunities.  A legitimate company who wants you as an employee doesn't benefit from providing your email address to other companies with job opportunities.

The ad is posted on craigslist.com.  I am sure there are many legitimate job opportunities on craiglist, but they to attract their fair share of scammers.  Job hunting web sites like Careerbuilder.com deter scammers by charging companies to post an ad.  Also on a web site like Careerbuilder.com contact information like the name and address of the company is typically included on the page where you apply for a job so an ad with just an email address would come across as extremely suspicious to the average job hunter.

If you feel you the job you applied for on craigslist is a scam you can flag it as spam by clicking on a link in the upper right hand corner of the page where the add appears on craigslist.