A Stich Fix Alternative

It doesn't take much web surfing or blog reading to learn that Stich Fix is a hot property. They recently went public and though they did not raise as much money as hoped, their stock price is up.

What is Stitch Fix?

For the uninformed, Stich Fix is a clothing subscription service.  Customers fill out an online survey and then, periodically (frequency depends on the plan chosen) they are sent a box of five clothing items and/or accessories which they try on in the privacy of their own home where they can see if the pieces go with other things in their wardrobe and where they are not being pressured by sales people.  The box includes a mailer for returning unwanted items and a $20 "styling fee" is applied to any purchase made.  

Stitch Fix has combined data analysis and a flair for fashion to make it easy for people who hate to shop to update their wardrobes and to give even those who do love to shop a chance to try something they might not have picked.  

I've never tried Stich Fix though I've read reviews online.  I have tried a competitor, Dia & Co., which does pretty much the same thing, except that Dia &Co is for plus-sized women, a market Stich Fix has just begun to serve.  I wrote about one box on my book blog, and another box here.

What Are the Plusses and Minuses?

I recently ran across yet another blog post about Stich Fix and reflected on my experience with Dia & Co. and came to a few conclusions:

• It is fun to get stuff in the mail.  Even in this day of one-click ordering from Amazon, there is still something fun about coming home to a package with your name on it, especially if you aren't quite sure what is in it.
  


• Trying things on at home, with your other clothes is more helpful than trying them on in a dressing room, in isolation from the rest of your wardrobe.  If it looks awful on you, you aren't going to want it in any case, but if it looks good, it would be helpful to know if it matches your gray pants or the blue sweater.  Yes, you can always return things, but will you?


• The box can encourage you to try things you might not otherwise have given a second look.  One of my favorite Dia &Co. purchases is a dress I would never have tried on because it was too expensive and that style doesn't look good on me. 


• Those boxes are expensive.  If you regularly walk into mid-priced department stores (Dillards, Macys) and buy non-sales price merchandise, then these boxes will be in your spending niche.  For those of us who shop the sale racks or lower priced stores, the prices of $50 or more per item seem high. 

Is There a Lower-Priced Alternative to Stitch Fix or Dia & Co.?

If you are looking for a subscripton box that costs substantially less than those two, well, I haven't found it.  While I'm sure computers do most of the work, reality is that someone is picking the clothes, putting them in a box and sending them to you, along with a cute little note.  While I doubt stylists spend a tremendous amount of time on any one box, the cost for them, plus packaging and two way mailing means, I suspect, that this business model wouldn't work with lower-priced clothing. 

However, I do have a couple of almost alternatives, for those of us who don't have quite as much money to spend:

• Decide ahead of time on an amount of money or number of items and then go to your favorite store's website and order them.  Hopefully your favorite store has a website and accepts returns either in the mail or in-store.  Dress Barn is my favorite store and my last Dia Box came in at $300, so I went to Dress Barn's site and picked out $300 worth of clothes in my sizes--and was able to get closer to ten items than the five Dia &Co. sent me.  They showed up a few days later and I tried them on.  I kept two and stopped by my favorite store a couple of days later and returned the rejects (and picked up something else while I was there).
  
  The main advantage to this method is that you don't get things you absolutely wouldn't wear--no tulle skirts or distressed jeans for me, I'm in my 50s, I'm not 5 or 15.  The disadvantage is that there is no one pushing you to trying something you wouldn't ordinary try.  You could remedy that by some version of digitally throwing darts and ordering what you land on, even if it is a tulle skirt (shudder). 


• Give someone you know your account information for the store website.  Unless it is somone you really trust with your money, don't give them the credit card information but let them log onto the site as you, and fill your cart with a specified number of items or amount of money.  Give that person your sizes too.  Once the cart is full, you log on and pay (and decide whether or not to peek).  A friend who really "gets" you and has great sense of fashion could both avoid the tulle skirt and find the vest you'd never look at twice--but which looks great on you and goes with half your wardrobe. 

Clothing subscription boxes can be fun, but they are an expensive way to build a wardrobe. Consider alternatives for at least part of the fun for a lot less money.  However, if you want to give Dia &Co. a try, use this link and I get a referral fee.  

5 Ways to Make Money Blogging

Blogging is one of those things  you can do as a hobby or as a job.  Those for whom it is a hobby blog to connect with those of similar interests or as an outlet for creative expression.  Those who do it as a job want to make money.  There are even some of us who blog mostly as a hobby but who wouldn't mind making money.  That leads to the question:  How can bloggers make money?

Advertising 

Like the owners of any other medium, bloggers can make money by selling advertising on their site.  Some are able to cut deals directly with advertisers for space; others belong to networks like Adsense which place the ads and pay the blog owners.

 Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts are posts an advertiser pays you to write, like this one was intended to be. (I sent a copy of the article to the client for review and payment prior to publishing and never heard back from them) Usually bloggers are asked to write a post that fits with the theme of the blog, and to mention the client a certain number of times, and to use the provided links.  Mel wrote a great post that mentioned programs that match bloggers with companies that want sponsored posts. 

Affiliate Marketing

A lot of businesses will pay a sales commission or provide things of value to bloggers who refer new business to them.  One such business is Amazon.   Associates are given codes which are integrated into the URLs of products on Amazon's website.  Bloggers write posts that suggest the purchase of the products or advertise the products on their sidebars.  If a reader clicks the link and buys from Amazon, the blogger gets a commission.  As with many other commission-based sales programs, the more you sell, the higher the commission rate.  

At one time becoming an Amazon Affiliate was as easy as filling out an application.  Recently Amazon has cracked down on what they consider to be spammy websites.  Also, they require that affiliates sell something within the first six months.  If you are approved, Amazon offers a variety of products and its links are easy to include in posts.

I had been an Amazon Affiliate until my state's tax laws disagreed with Amazon and Amazon dropped all residents of my state.  Amazon has since agreed to collect sales taxes and while Louisiana residents can now become Amazon Affiliates, my most recent application was turned down.

A lot of companies have affiliate programs of one sort or another.  Here are some that will pay me if you click the link and do as noted:

Motif:  This stockbroker sell baskets of stocks, which it calls "Motifs" for $9.95 per basket.  Use this link   to get a free 3-month trial of Motif, a smart way to invest for people who care. Motif makes it easy to build an investment portfolio that aligns your financial goals with your personal values. With this free trial, you will get access to their Impact accounts as well as their powerful trading tools.

Stockpile:  Stockpile is an online stockbroker which charges a flat $0.99 fee per trade, and which sells fractional shares of stock.  If you are looking for a different type of Christmas present this year, Stockpile offers accounts for minors which allow them to buy and sell stock, subject to your approval.  If you use this link, you get $5.00 worth of stock to begin your account with them, and I get $5.00 too.  I wrote a full review of Stockpile a few months ago.

Robinhood:  Robinhood is a commission-free stockbroker which, at this time, can only be used via smartphone (they are in to process of developing a website).  If you use this link to open an account with them, you and I will both receive a free share of stock.  Here is a link to my review of Robinhood.

Ibotta:  Ibotta is a smartphone app that offers you coupons and tracks your purchases.  I just downloaded it so I can't tell you a lot about it except that if you use my link, you get $10 and I get a reward as well.

Personal Capital: Personal Capital is a robo-advisor that offers free financial tracking through its website.  You can read my full review here.   If you use my link to sign up--no purchase necessary, just link your accounts so you can use (or not) the tracking features--we both get $20.00

Selling Your Own Products

Some bloggers make money by developing and selling a product such as an e-book, or in the case of some really big names (think Pioneer Woman) actual physical products.  Other bloggers use their blogs as a way to publicize an ongoing business.  From what I can see, most of the bloggers who are making big money from their blog are doing it by selling products. 

Review Products

Some companies will offer complimentary products to bloggers who agree to review them.  This is especially prevalent in the worlds of book blogging and mommy blogging. While some products are given with the understanding that they will not be sold (like review copies of books), and some will be consumed in order to review them, still others can be sold by bloggers or given as gifts.

Blogs with large readerships generally qualify for more and better review products.  Some can be obtained through tour groups and sometimes company publicists will respond favorably to a request for a review product or even a giveaway product --and giveaways can be a great way to increase readership if you are willing to promote them. 

Have you found any ways to make money blogging that I have failed to mention?  

How Good is Good Enough?

I'm sort of in the market for two things that make me wonder "How Good is Good Enough?".  My phone is a 5+ year old "Blackberry"-style dumb phone.  It makes and receives calls and texts and my bill from Tracfone averages about $10 per month.  It really does what I need it to do, at least most of the time. However, I realize that it isn't going to last forever, and every now and then I start thinking about getting a smart phone.  The question is how much to spend?  At what point am I buying power that I will never use (or at least will never miss if I never buy it in the first place) and at what point am I buying a piece of junk that will have to be replaced sooner rather than later after frustrating me it's entire life?

What Do I Want in a Phone?

I know it sounds silly, but I want something that will make and receive calls and texts.  I also want a decent camera, since another broken device here is my digital camera.  We are taking the Girl Scouts to New York this summer and I want to be able to take pictures, post them online and have the quality be good enough that I can print them if desired.  I want to be able to read my email and surf facebook, and it would be nice if the keyboard was easy to type on so I could reply, but for any substantial typing I prefer a real computer with a real keyboard. While I don't plan on using it for extensive web surfing, I do want searching the internet for something to work reasonably well.  I want it to run a few apps like Robinhood and I'd like one that can link to a Fit Bit or similar device. 

What Do I Not Need?

Obviously I don't NEED anything a smart phone does that mine doesn't.  I've lived without one this long, and I could continue to live without one for a long time.  However, as far as things I've seen or heard of people doing with their smart phones, these are some I don't see me doing:

• Downloading a lot of music.  Music just isn't my thing.  I listen to some but I can almost guarantee you that no matter what phone I have, I won't be downloading lots of songs and arranging them into playlists.
• Listening to podcasts:  Talk radio is annoying; amatures doing talk radio is even worse IMO.
• Watching videos:  Not my thing to begin with, but if I was going to it, I'd use my Kindle Fire.
• Reading books:  Love to read; that's why I have a Kindle Fire.  I may read on my phone if I'm desperate, but hopefully I won't be.

So, How Much Should I Spend?

I can afford to buy the latest I-Phone, if I wanted to.  However, I suspect that I wouldn't get my money's worth.  I have found that the easiest way to save money is to buy products that meet my needs/wants, rather than other people's.  So, how much should my new phone cost?  Are there any brands I should avoid?

Right now, Tracfone is selling smart phones for as low as $20.00 and as much as $530.00.  All are Android phones.  Will I be happy with a $20.00 phone?  How about the $80?  Anybody have any advice?

On to the Sewing Machine

The other thing I'm looking at is a sewing machine.  My current machine is an early-'80's White.  It sews straight stitches, zig-zag and a dozen decorative stitches I've never used.  Someone gave the machine to my father-in-law, who gave it to me.

I used that machine to make maternity clothes when I was pregnant with my now-25 year old, and to make the comforter, bumper pads and curtains for my nursery.  I've hemmed school uniforms, sewn on scout patches and done a little mending over the years.  A couple of weeks ago I was hemming a shower curtain to turn it into a window curtain and something went wrong.  I think the timing is off, but I don't know enough about sewing machines to know for sure. 

This machine is not used often nor do I do complicated things with it.  However, it is nice to have so I made a couple of calls about getting it fixed.  I'm basically looking at about $100.  With that in mind, I started looking at new machines and found they ranged in price from about $75 to several thousand dollars.  I'm not going to spend several thousand dollars, but how much should I spend?  How much is enough?

I posted on a couple of sub-Reddits, and the advice I got was to fix the old machine--that a $100 machine was junk.  Ok, that's what I'll probably do, but if I was in the market for a new one, how much is enough?  

Do You Get What You Pay For?

"You get what you pay for" is a favorite adage of those in sales.  The granite counter top will last much longer than the formica (but I've seen enough harvest gold formica to know that formica lasts longer than I am going to want the same counter tops).  The new car will be better than the old (but you can buy a lot of car repairs for the price of a car payment).  The clothes from Saks will last longer than the ones from Wal-Mart (but who wants to wear clothes more than a couple of years anyway?). 

My son needed a new mattress about a year ago.  We had paid good money for the one he was using but it did not hold up.  About that time I read this review on Frugalwoods and decided to give this mattress a try.  A year later when my daughter complained about her mattress, I ordered one for her.  Next time someone in my house needs a mattress, it will be delivered by Amazon as well.  I have no reason NOT to buy the cheap one from them.  At least at this point, I see no value added by a more expensive mattress.  

What Do You Think?

Any suggestions as to price range for phones?  Anybody want to chime in on fix the sewing machine vs buying a new one, or does anyone want to tell me the price range I should be considering for a sewing machine that is an occasionally used toy as opposed to a workhorse?  

Do you have any stories about picking an inexpensive model and finding out that you made the right choice, like I did with the mattresses?  What about a purchase you made where you could have afforded to pay more than you did--and after getting the product you wished you had?

Addendum

After I wrote this post and before I published it Cyber Monday appeared and I bought a $92 phone that came with 1,000 minutes of talk, 1,000 texts, 1000 MB of data and six months of service.  It is the same phone my daughter bought a year ago for $200.00 and she says she likes it.  

Also last weekend I was wrapping gifts at Barnes & Noble with the Girl Scouts and one of our customers was a seamstress (I don't remember how we started talking about that) and so I asked her what she thought about sewing machines.  She said to fix the old one.  

*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on brokeGIRLrich.*