The Bargain Queen’s also in this week’s Carnival of the Vanities, which rounds up the best posts from all over the web each week. If you’re interested, go take a look!

Beauty products have got to be one of the most confusing purchases around.

Which products do you actually need to look good?

And does anything ever work as well as the ads promise?

Here’s how I get my beauty budget to balance: the products I spend more on, the cheap products I love, and most importantly, the mistakes I will never make again!

Weddings these days are expensive affairs. The average bill is now $28,700 in Australia, £17,740 in Britain and $22,360 in the USA. That seems completely crazy to me.

As a cheapskate bride who’s now happily married, I want to let you in on a secret: your wedding’s only the first day of your marriage. It’s what comes afterwards that’s really important… and if that’s a big pile of debt, you’re getting off on the wrong foot.

For some…

The Bargain Queen has an article in this week’s Festival of Frugality. If you’re interested in some great money-saving tips, be sure to check it out!

Mr Bargain Queen’s recent post on saving money on your coffee has made it into the latest Coffee and Tea Festival. Congratulations Mr Bargain Queen!

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The Bargain Queen’s cat, Queen Kitty, is featured in Carnival of the Cats this week. If you like cats it’s fantastic entertainment, with more cute cat piccies than you could possibly bear. Enjoy!

For The Bargain Queen’s Australian readers, Spotlight are having a one-day, 20% off everything sale TODAY. So if you need any craft supplies, fabric, homewares or linen, it might be a good day to take a look.

They’re also having extended trading hours so more people can make it. Most stores are open ’til 9pm; you can check when your local store is open here.

The other day, I got extremely lucky and found two pairs of Marc Jacobs shoes for under AU$200 (about US$150) in the winter sales!

I fall in love with fabulous designer shoes at least once a year, but I don’t buy unless I can afford them AND I’ll get years of wear from them. Like most people, I’ve heard that environmental damage, psychological ill-health and financial ruin are all caused by excess consumption and I want…

If you spend time online, you’ve probably seen ads that say something like “you can earn hundreds of dollars doing surveys at home”. If you’ve got a skeptical bone in your body, you’ve probably concluded it’s a scam, and rightly so. It’s not possible to earn much money taking surveys - but you might get some free movie tickets like I did!

A few months ago, I heard about an Australian site called pureprofile that promises modest…