Want Not

… for a moment of shameless somewhat-self promotion.

Today is the official release of the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism book, meant to be “the resource we wish we’d had when autism first became part of our lives: a one-stop source for carefully curated, evidence-based information from autism parents, autistics, and autism professionals.”

I am a contributor to this collection, but I can tell you that even if I wasn’t, I would have mad love for the awesome men and women who collaborated and shared to make this book possible. If you’re an autism parent, if someone you love has autism, and most particularly if someone you love just found out their child has autism, please pick up a copy or two of this book to read and share. It’s really a wonderful look at the trials and triumphs of autism from all possible angles.

[Full disclosure: As always, if you buy the book through my affiliate link, I make a commission. However, I was not compensated for my contribution to this book; all proceeds from sales are actually being donated to the Autism Science Foundation, which is just another level of awesomeness on the part of the editors.]

Good morning, darlings! I am still in NYC, and still slacking in terms of bringing you anything useful, deal-wise. To make it up to you, I can offer this: Last night we saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette.

I can confirm both that 1) the show was incredible and 2) Harry Potter would, indeed, fit in your pocket.

(Your regular programming will resume tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!)

Many thanks going out to the Athens-CWC for having me out to their brunch this morning to talk about savvy online shopping. I had a blast and I hope everyone had a great time.

If you’re visiting Want Not for the first time, after hearing me speak, I would love to tell you that my hollering at random people, “Come back! You can buy tampons from Amazon!” was an anomaly, but sadly I cannot. (Um, if you weren’t there, then that totally did not happen. Never mind. Stop looking at me like that.) I do suffer from chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, but if you’ll forgive me, I promise to help with your shopping.

I feel like I should get new business cards made up. Mir Kamin: Awkward and inappropriate, but really good at shopping. That’d actually be kind of awesome, no?

Many thanks going out to WSAZ’s Brad Myers for speaking with me this afternoon and using our conversation in tonight’s featured story about Black Friday shopping. I’m not sure I know anyone in Huntington, West Virginia, but now that everyone there has been directed to come shop over here, I’m feeling very kindly towards West Virginians.

Sadly, the part where I told him that the best way to get Black Friday deals was to stay at home in your pajamas, eating leftovers and reading Want Not, was cut. I forgive you, Brad.

Whoops, so sorry I got it wrong, earlier—you have to understand that I usually spend the bulk of my days chatting with only my dog, and the flurry of people and events here in Chicago has fried my brain, a little. It was the lovely Leah Hope from WLS-TV with whom I chatted earlier today, and so if you’re not a Chicago native (or you missed it), here’s some of that good deal-lovin’ in action:

(You can also read the associated online piece here.)

As always, it’s a blast to get to talk about having more with less with anyone who will listen, and—also as always—I’m pleased that when I’m asked to do it in front of a camera, I don’t do anything too embarrassing or have something stuck in my teeth.

Thanks, WLS!

… when which of the following happens?

A) A box arrives, and you cannot for the life of you figure out what might be in it, because you’re actually waiting for several orders.
B) You open it in front of one of your children, totally forgetting that one of the things you ordered was Guitar Hero 5. For Christmas.
C) You quickly pull out the other items and begin soliloquizing about how funny it is to get pillowcases and an exercise ball in the same box! Haha!
D) Later you scurry to the computer to track your other orders, because you’re pretty sure you have a guitar coming, and you may need to create a diversion.
E) All of the above.

And how was your evening?

Pssst! Have you read about Save Up ’10 and voted for Want Not so that I can learn even more ways to save you money? Every click helps!

Friends, Romans, fellow penny-pinchers: Want Not was started as a labor of love, and I’m really lucky that it has evolved into something more than that. But at its core, this is something I do because I love it. Because I love you. Because I love pretty shoes, and everyone should be able to afford them.

Savings.com is hosting a small conference for what they’re calling “DealPros” in November. The catch is that you have to be invited, and that happens if enough people vote for you. I am currently in second place amongst other community vote leaders, and this morning I did a little experiment by putting this link on the Want Not Facebook fan page to see how many votes I could get just through that. The tally is pretty good so far (thanks to everyone who’s already voted!), but I’d love to really crank up the votes.

What do you get? If I end up going to Save Up, I’m going to get to hang out with other DealPros for two days, learning even more ways to save you money and help you have more with less. I think it’d be pretty cool.

Will you help me get there? Just click through to vote for me (no registration required), share the link with others, and cross your fingers. I’d love to represent our little community here in Chicago in November. You’re looking incredibly pretty today, by the way.