Blogs we love: Stuff I Put On Myself by Natalie Dee

Welcome to another regular feature of Cheap and Cheerful: Blogs we love. Once a month, we will profile and link to blogs we love that deliver content to help you live better on a budget.

Natalie Dee, the professional web comic artist behind the daily Natalie Dee and also one half of the team responsible for Married to the Sea launched a new project earlier this month called STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF: a makeup blog. In addition to reviews that run the span of cosmetics from higher-end lines carried in department stores and sephora to drugstore brands, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF also provides makeup tutorials, skincare tips, and fashion articles.

Our favorite feature so far is the The Pig. Offering brutually honest reviews of heavily hyped cosmetic products, The Pig assesses whether or not a product has delivered what it promises on the packaging. When a "special forumla" turns out to be not-so-special after all, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF feeds the money to "The Pig", and then suggests cheaper alternatives. Feeding money to The Pig helps to visualize how much you could be saving by not spending money on products that don't live up to the hype, and makes it easier to make room in your personal care budget for your favorite small luxuries by helping you to shop smarter! Casual and conversational in tone, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF brings the smart, unapologetic, and unaffected humour of Dee's webcomic work to the world of cosmetic and style blogging --and we think that world is all the richer for it.

Ten Sources for Really Free Music That's Really Working For Me

Streaming Services
(1) Pandora
Pandora probably has the least cluttered layout and nicest radio interface of the three streaming services listed here. The sound and connection quality has always been excellent whenever I've used it, but there are ads if you're using the free version, and sometimes they're every three or four songs. This can be annoying, but every ad I've seen so far has been less than 30 seconds. They also only allow free users to skip a certain number of tracks per hour. This aspect, and the lack of a discovery feature, makes Pandora the service I use least frequently to stream, despite its cleanly designed interface. If you aren't looking for new music however, Pandora is a great service for the casual listener. The ads played are brief, and there no annoying radio personalities interrupting your tunaege.

(2) Last.fm
We wrote up Last.fm in detail here last year, but for those who can't be bothered to read the article, last.fm is a free streaming music service (le duh). While it isn't necessary that you sign up and create a profile to use their services, if you want to use their "recommendations" feature to discover new songs, new artists, and new events in your area that are catered to your music tastes, I recommend that you do. In fact, last.fm's "recommendations" feature is the reason I usually recommend last.fm to friends over Pandora. Pandora has a nicer interface, but last.fm has the better discovery algorithm and consistently recommends new artists and songs that I actually want to hear.

(3) Grooveshark
While the streaming radio service on Grooveshark is a little more unwieldy than Pandora or Last.fm, this is service I use daily. Grooveshark is unique to the other two services mentioned in that it allows you to stream any single track in the library, an unlimited number of times at will, whether you've registered for an account or not. Users are able to stream entire albums so long as they've been uploaded to Grooveshark's massive music library. There hasn't been a single track or artist I've searched for so far that doesn't exist in some version in their library. The radio service as it is leaves a little to be desired. Your main options are to either select a genre-based station or to play a track and then turn the radio feature on. The second option creates a radio station of music similar to the initial track selected. This system can be tweaked a little, if users select a few songs manually, before turning on the radio feature. If you want to create a station with more genre variety, selecting a few songs from across a few different genres is the most effective way to accomplish this.


Free Mp3 Downloads

(4) Artist Direct
The online digital media company that acquired Media Defender and Media Sentry in the last decade also offers free downloads! Who knew? Surprisingly, the downloads offered are not limited to the new bands pushed desperately by their labels nor to the obscurities that never made back the cost of their advances. One of my favorite finds so far is this track from the Bloody Beetroots. Be aware though, that in order to save files from Artist Direct to your computer you must right click (Mac users hold control and click) and select "save link as".

(5) Amazon.com
Monster online-retailer Amazon.com offers free Mp3 downloads in addition to regular purchased tracks. Weeding through all the purchase tracks when searching bestsellers, or the obscure tracks when searching the list of the free tracks can be tedious, but browsing these vast collections usually proves worthwhile. Don't over look their huge selection of free Mp3 sampler albums! The catch here is you have to either make an Amazon account or already have one and then go to the trouble of logging in. You then have to install the Amazon Mp3 down-loader. Still, it's all free and the total processes combined take only a few minutes.

(6) Paste Magazine Free Mp3s
Oh Paste Magazine, you never let me down. Updated frequently, across a wide variety of genres, Paste Magazine's free Mp3 blog has a huge collection of free downloads. This has been totally hassle free so far. Visitors to the blog simply click the hyperlinked text that says something like "click here to download Vampire Weekend's cover of Cheryl Cole's Fight for this Love" and the download begins. There have been a few songs (like those on the Saddle Creek label) that require users to submit their email address to receive a link that allows them to complete the download. This being a blog run by Paste Magazine, most offerings come from independent labels. However, with selections ranging from Bright Eyes, Cut/Copy, The Pixies, Elvis Costello and the Tings Tings, there should be at least one track to please everyone.

Mp3 Blogs

(7) Dopplebanger
Dopplebanger features remixes and mash-ups from the Parsian electronic artist Dopplebanger. Tracks featured are mostly Club, Electronic, Hip-Hop and R&B mash-ups, but there are some original compositions posted as well. Currently content is a little sparse, but if mash-ups are your thing, this blog offers some fun, free downloads of remixed hits like Rude Boy and Got It Twisted Sister. Many of the downloads offered are available directly, but a few come through mediafire (but they're still free).

(8) Aquarium Drunkard
Aquarium Drunkard is "an eclectic independent audio blog, featuring daily music, reviews, features, Mp3s, sessions, interviews, and more". One of the great things about Aquarium Drunkard is that they've been around since 2005, and post new content nearly every day, so there's loads of material to sift through. On the other hand, mining the blog for Mp3 downloads can be a little daunting at first, because there's loads of material to sift through. HINT: most of the Mp3s on offer are at the end of each Aquarium Drunkard article. So scroll down. Most of the articles and interviews posted, however, are very readable, comfortably concise, and thankfully for-go the meaningless ratings systems and taste-maker posturing that plagues a lot of writing about independent music.

Recommended Podcasts
(9) Coverville
Coverville is a podcast featuring noteworthy... you guessed it, cover versions of songs performed by both new and well-established artists. Having debuted in 2004, with new episodes released roughly three times per week, there is a huge back catalog of material, with iTunes podcast archive going as far back as late 2009. If you dig deep, like more than fifty pages deep, you can go back even further than that in the archives on their website. This is easier than it sounds though. Enter the archives by clicking the "older entries" button at the bottom of the main page. The URL at the top of the page should now read "coverville.com/page/2/". Simply change that low number to a much higher one, say "60", and you're all the way back in September of 2009, listening to covers of every track from Abbey Road Remember to right click and "save link as" when cruising that deep in the back pages.


(10) Mad Decent Worldwide Radio
Hosted by both the label's team and the label's founder, Diplo, the Mad Decent Worldwide Radio podcast, features artists on the Mad Decent record label, as well as ones that they haven't signed but have taken note. A self-described "NPR for the streets", Mad Decent Worldwide Radio features DJ mixes, videos, interviews, radio-casts and mixtapes highlighting emerging and obscure sub-genres of club and electronic music. These guys also put on a free block party every summer in select cities. Watch the space at maddecentblockparty.com for details.

Moar Music! From Black Tambourine!

Courtesy of bread n' butter and bandcamp.com...

A FREE DOWNLOAD of earlier mixes transferred from the original Black Tambourine cassette. While the mixes are from the same performances and recordings as the remixed versions, there are some differences between the vocals, reverb and guitar effects. As fans of both free downloads and dreamy, noise-pop from the early 1990's, we suggest you check it out.

Original post at bread n' butter
Black Tambourine cassette download at bandcamp.com

FREE CULT TV

Has your cable been cut? Do you crave classic, obscure, quirky or pulpy programming? The still free web-service Hulu is here to help! The website is already well-known and well-loved for providing the public with access to new episodes of series such as Glee, Lost, Modern Family, and Saturday Night Live shortly after their initial broadcast, but Hulu also offers a back catalog of classics and cult-hits like:

-The live-action series The Tick, featuring Patrick Warburton
-The original The Outer Limits
-Seasons 4-7 of Married...With Children
-Several episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, including Horrors of Spider Island

Also worth perusing is their Film Department! Check out:

-Horror classic and Zombie genre-piece Night of the Living Dead.
-Akira Kurosawa's highly-acclaimed retelling of King Lear, Ran
-Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
-British '60s sex-comedy The Knack...and How to Get It


Unfortunately due to different licensing terms and agreements, not all series and films are available all the time. Some titles are accessible for weeks or even months, others may expire once a series's season ends or once the new season begins. New titles are added frequently though, and while many of them are about as acclaimed as current offering Cheerleader Ninjas, some searching usually unearths something entertaining if not always edifying (though there are sections devoted to Documentary, Health and Wellness, News, and Food). Enjoy!

Are your favorite brands cutting you a break?

Or are they just trying to (sometimes-not-so) subtly suggest that you remain loyal or try their "new and improved" products? Either way, popular brands of cosmetics, skin-care, snack foods, cleaning products and other household items, often offer free printable coupons on their website! So, if you're partial to a particular moisturizer, candied nut, or paper towel, and you can get it together to remember to visit their website, you may be rewarded for your loyalty with some small savings.

One of the best ways to start finding and using these click and print coupons is the most obvious: think about the types of products you use frequently, then think of and search for the brands of those products you prefer to buy. Companies that offer special promotions and coupons do so on the "special offers" or "promotions" sections of their websites. Sometimes you may have to click the "sitemap" in order to find this section, other times you may have to make a profile in order to view the offers. Unfortunately, due to the increased occurrences of coupon fraud, many websites will ask you to fill out a web-form or make a profile or install a special coupon-printing program before they'll allow you to print their vouchers. While these profiles and programs are always free, they can be inconvenient. Still, as inconvenient as it can be to make YET ANOTHER online profile or fill out YET ANOTHER form, being able to search for and directly print coupons from your home computer remains rather convenient over-all.

Always bear in mind that companies often offer discounts and coupons as a way to advertise their brands or to promote new products. The trick to something like this, is to remember that these printable coupons are only really going to save you some money if you had planned on buying that product in the first place. If you've never used that product before, or had no interest in trying it before you found that coupon, then it's just yet another trick employed by those artful ad-people. Before you print, ask yourself: "do I use this product? Would I be interested in trying this brand if the company wasn't offering a coupon? Am I feeling compelled to buy this item merely because I want the thrill of using this coupon I found?"


*Here are three offers I found on products that my household uses regularly:

$3 off the new President Brie
$1 off any one (1) Seventh Generation laundry product
Save $2 on any new Neutrogena suncare product

Good luck and chipper clipping!

*Unfortunately, some of these offers require that you fill out one of the aforementioned forms and install one of the aforementioned coupon printing program, before allowing you to collect the discount vouchers.

HIPSTERIFFIC MUSIC MIX FROM iTUNES THROUGH STARBUCKS

Brought to you courtesy of Red Plum.

Through this week until the end of August iTunes has for download, a free, hipsteriffic music mix of ten tracks featuring the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Band, the Shout Out Louds, Goldfrapp, and Hot Chip. While it's maybe not as "edgy" as Starbucks would have you believe, it's not bad. --Well, not once you get over the feeling that you just downloaded a playlist put together through a partnership between Starbucks and iTunes.

Though a highlighting a mix put out through such an unholy alliance gives me a sort of nasty, filmy feeling on my teeth, I can't pretend I don't use both these... what are they anyway? Services? Brands? After all, whenever traveling, whether it's to the big city or some hole out in the sticks, I'm always a bit relieved to see a Starbucks down the corner. This guarantees that even if the coffee is hideously bad every where in town, I will be able to find a palatable, if kinda burnt, cup of coffee somewhere should I get desperate. And while I find the fact that iTunes only works with the iPod a little insidious, I still use iTunes in addition to owning and using an iPod. Eh.

Anyway! Get the playlist here! They're giving it away for free!

STILL TO COME: SAVING SUX (AMEN)

Market Research: Don't quit your day job

Yes, (some of) the ads are true , you can make some additional money taking market research surveys online --but it's probably going to take you some time to get there, and it's not likely you'll earn a lot of extra cash doing it.

I've been filling out surveys for Global Test Market for about a year now. --The good news is that I've never been charged or had my email sold by them to third parties. The bad news is I still haven't managed to clear 1000 market points, which is the minimum to claim any pay-outs.

Currently, I'm sitting at 895 points, just a few surveys shy of that first check. In all frankness though, it's most likely my own laziness that's standing between me and that first check. Lately I've gotten rather frustrated at the number of surveys I do not qualify for, and in the past couple of months, have allowed them to pile up in my e-mail.

Two of my immediate family members work in health care so I'm screened out of a number of surveys about health care systems and pharmaceuticals due to conflicts of interest. I'm sure it doesn't help that my socioeconomic background is common one, and I'd imagine that Global Test Market has their quota of people-doing-this-for-the-beer-money filled pretty quickly. So while my own apathy towards staying on top of my market research participation is likely my biggest obstacle between me and that first $50.00, I don't know that I'd have that check all that much sooner if I was regularly participating.

Still, I intend to retain my membership and keep at it. It's not costing me anything and $ 50.00 buys a lot of cake mix. Or some decent bourbon. You can read a much better article about Global Test Market here.