How To Find At Least One Deal A Day In NYC

I almost hesitate to give away my secrets. But after more than a decade of not really getting any richer in If You Can Make Here Land, and because I truly adore finding deals, I've got some good ones. In this down economy, I figure maybe it's time to share.

I'm going to give you 5, and that way you can score at least one deal a day every day of the working week. Weekends, you're on your own. (Or however it works out. You manage your schedule, I'll manage mine.)

1. Thriftin'.

Go to a vintage store on Orchard St., and sure, you'll see gorgeously chosen shoes, but they'll ask a cool $175 for the pair. I covet the selection, but besides being broke, I'm proud. I know I can find the same thing for a fraction of that cost if I look a little harder off the beaten path. Frankly, it's a little painful to reveal this location, but here goes:

Canal Jean Co still lives, in Deep Brooklyn. Not even that deep. 2236 Nostrand Ave. between H & I,  718-421-7590. I can't even talk about how good this place is. It's huge, weird, cheap, and impeccably organized. Take the 2 or 5 to Brooklyn College/Flatbush Ave. Come with ideas on how to use vintage European curtains, of which, mysteriously, there are many yards.

2. Slummin'.

I imagine that's how rich people see it anyway. There are bargains for billionaires, and then there's Loehman's. I've had great luck in the 7th Ave. location 101 7th Ave, between 16th and 17th, (212) 352-0856. For when I need the boost of spirits that comes with something that smells brand new and has a fancy label in it.

3. Sellin'.

Taking books to The Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway (at 12th St.), 212-473-1452 and selling them is a way to reduce clutter and make a little cash. I tend to leave feeling a little bereft, having let go of books, but remind myself that books can always be found again in libraries and bookstores. Literature does not have to be owned to be loved. Usually, I spend what I make on a new book, anyway, and it's 1/2 price (or less) of what it would be new in a chain store.

4. Tradin'.

Beacon's Closet has two locations, 88 North 11th Street in Williamsburg (718) 486-0816 and 92 5th Avenue (at 2nd Ave) in Park Slope (718) 230-1630. More on the theme of out with the old, in with the new. Take a bag or two of clothes and get store credit or cash for what they think they can resell. You get more store credit than cash, and there's always something fun on the racks.

5. Surfin'.

When I don't feel like leaving my studio apartment, a lot of websites online have these random "giveaway of the day" specials. Every day, each site has something different. Maybe I want it, maybe I don't, but they items tend to be crazy cheap, and the sales last only that day, which appeals to my love for one deal a day and stumbling on treasures I didn't set out to find.