Saving a buck or $163

With the economy and job market as unstable as they have been for a little while now, it’s not surprising that discount sites are the latest fad. Sites like Gilt Groupe, RueLaLa, HauteLook, billion dollar babes, and ideeli have short sales that offer large percentages off designer clothes, home furnishings, and occasionally other items. Suddenly, brands like Vera Wang and Valentino are priced in a range that normal people like me can stretch to reach. And a few of the designers that are found at Anthro have had sales pop up on these sites, including Leifsdottir and Tracy Reese.

Funny enough, even discount sites have sales! If you don’t manage to snag the item you want the first time around, you can cross your fingers that it comes back in a second round sale (usually for a cheaper price). I hit a Gilt weekend sale and managed to snag one of their cheapest items, a pair of Loomstate organic cotton jeans (normal price: $168) for a mere $5!

Grace Hats pork pie hat, Threadless tee, Loomstate ‘Flux’ twill jean, Simple Shoes sneakers

But we three at Myriad of Muses are all about experiences (and as studies show, experiences make us happier than possessions). Fortunately, there are plenty of discount sites for those, too!

Daily local deals – cheap spa treatments, yoga classes at incredibly low rates, 50% off at restaurants, even trapeze classes – are available at lots of sites: Groupon, LivingSocial, LocalTwist, Plum District, etc. Or how about 50% off tickets to local plays, concerts, and shows at Goldstar?

I’m excited about deal sites like these because they make it cheap and easy to try something new. A few deals I’ve purchased and am looking forward to using:

• Unlimited month of yoga at a new studio near me
• Class for making lotions and salves
• Sea kayaking in the San Juans
• High tea at the Fairmont in Vancouver

~N