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Broke is Beautiful

A Cash-Strapped Life is a Creative Life

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Fast Fashion: The Free Market of Ideas in the Fashion World

Posted by Laura Lee at 7:54 AM
Labels: copyright, fashion, the commons
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Buy The Book Here

Buy The Book Here

Are You on Goodreads?

Laura Lee's books on Goodreads
Blame It on the Rain: How the Weather Has Changed HistoryBlame It on the Rain: How the Weather Has Changed History
reviews: 9
ratings: 40 (avg rating 3.28)

Broke Is Beautiful: Living and Loving the Cash-Strapped LifeBroke Is Beautiful: Living and Loving the Cash-Strapped Life
reviews: 6
ratings: 33 (avg rating 3.71)

A Child's Introduction to Ballet: The Stories, Music, and Magic of Classical DanceA Child's Introduction to Ballet: The Stories, Music, and Magic of Classical Dance (Book & CD)
reviews: 1
ratings: 16 (avg rating 4.09)

100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life and What you Can Do About Them100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life and What you Can Do About Them
reviews: 4
ratings: 26 (avg rating 3.15)

The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation: 101 Things that Annoy, Bother, Chafe, Disturb, Enervate, Frustrate, Grate, Harass, Irk, Jar, Mife, Nettle, Outrage, Peeve, Quassh, Rile, Stress Out, Trouble, Upset, Vex, Worry and X,Y Z You!The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation: 101 Things that Annoy, Bother, Chafe, Disturb, Enervate, Frustrate, Grate, Harass, Irk, Jar, Mife, Nettle, Outrage, Peeve, Quassh, Rile, Stress Out, Trouble, Upset, Vex, Worry and X,Y Z You!
reviews: 1
ratings: 21 (avg rating 3.22)

Selected Reviewer's Quotes

"Author Laura Lee may have well written the Brokelyn manifesto, the recession-victims’ King James Bible and the brokester I Ching all wrapped into one. Her new book, Broke is Beautiful, is a vast, thoughtful and intensely researched tome on the value of living the cash-strapped life."-Tim Donnelly, Brokelyn

"Laura Lee gives readers a good array of thoughts and wisdom and makes for a very entertaining and fun read. 'Broke is Beautiful' is a choice and highly recommended read which shouldn't be missed for those who want to live well when they have got nothing in the wallet."-Midwest Book Review

"If you're feeling down about the state of your exchequer, pick up this cheery little book...guaranteed to make you feel better about life in 'times like these.'"-Salem MacNee, Charlotte Observer

"It's not a how-to book, but more of a philosophical study, pointing out that most creative people aren't incredibly wealthy, and that happiness isn't tied to material goods."-The Detroit News

"Lee wants people who read her book to re-envision the economic culture, look past the mentality of buying and selling and find ways to enjoy life even if you don't win the lottery tomorrow."-Bill Lynch, Charleston Gazette

"Read 'Broke is Beautiful.' It's funny!"-Diana Page Jordan

What does "Broke is Beautiful" mean?

Broke is Beautiful is not only book, but also a philosophy of life. Being broke is not abnormal. Being rich on the other hand is freakish. While there is lots of propaganda out there in favor of wealth, little is written about the advantages of being bust out beggard and bankrupt. And broke, my friends, is beautiful! True security comes from the knowledge that you can survive in an insecure world. That is the knowledge that is gained through hard times and hard knocks. It helps if you can look on your brokeness as a way to lighten your load and a chance to test your creativity and resourcefulness. Where once the broke person felt isolated in an affluent society, today everyone is counting his pennies. Being broke is the new black! I invite you to join me in discovering new ways to think about money.

Broke Folk Unite!

Join the Broke is Beautiful Facebook group

Interviews with the Author

Interested in having Laura Lee as a guest on your show? Find out more about arranging interviews via this link.

Here is a list of selected past interviews and reviews that are still archived on the world wide internet thing.

Do You Love Your Librarian?

Click here to nominate your librarian for the 2011 I Love My Librarian Award

Factoid of the Day

If the $5.15 an hour minimum wage had risen at the same rate as CEO compensation since 1990, it would now stand at $23.03.

Source: Mother Jones

Quote of the Day

"The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments."-Mad Magazine

Are You One of the Richest People on Earth?

I'm loaded.
It's official.
I'm the 853,228,893 richest person on earth!



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Blog Archive

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      • Heresy! Stephen Fry Says: Don't Set Goals. Cool!
      • Thought For Memorial Day
      • What You Can Unleash
      • Have You Read Broke is Beautiful?
      • "A Target Audience of Broke People"
      • Nervous Breakdowns at the Bank and their Benefits
      • Fast Fashion: The Free Market of Ideas in the Fash...
      • Handy Money-Saving Tip: Stop Bargain Hunting
      • Video of the Day: Collaborative Consumption
      • Video of the Day: Growth Busters
      • The Lost Finale and Social Capital
      • The Good Life
      • Laura Lee on Afterthoughts with S. Denise Newton
      • Idea of the Day: The Fixers Collective
      • A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Allegory
      • Video of the Day: RSA Animate: Drive
      • Broke is Beautiful Folk of the Day: An Interview w...
      • Best Opening to A Review/Interview Ever!
      • Charlotte Observer Review
      • Hands Up: Who Has Great Self-Esteem?
      • The Joy and Pain of Glossy Magazines
      • Get off the Hedonic Treadmill
      • Elizabeth Warren on the Colbert Report
      • Broke is the New Black: Fashionable Gals Dish on Debt
      • Mixed Messages on the "New Frugality"
      • Broke Does Not Mean "Stupid" or "Lazy"
      • The Quote Book Version
      • Reasons to Be Glad You Can't Afford Luxury Food
      • Laura Lee on David Magee
      • How PBS Can Help You Stay Out of Debt
      • You Are Not Your Credit Score
      • Leap and the Net Shall Appear
      • Four Simple Things I'm Sick of Seeing On Twitter
      • Creative Pause of the Day
    • ►  April (47)
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    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2008 (67)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (25)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (12)
    • ►  April (11)

Books by Laura Lee

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

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Broke and Beautiful Resources

  • About.Com: Money, Emotions and Stress
  • Active Local Currencies
  • Acts of Sharing
  • Advocacy for the Long Term Unemployed
  • Affluenza (PBS program on consumerism)
  • Air BNB (rent private apartments for travel)
  • All Things Frugal
  • American 99ers Union
  • American Community Garden Association
  • American Public Radio's Sustainability Page
  • Angel Food Ministries (discount food, no income requirements)
  • Anxiety Culture
  • Art 4 the Homeless
  • Bank Tracker Investigative Reporting Workshop
  • Barterquest (barter site)
  • Bee Culture (bee keeping)
  • Berkshares (local currency)
  • Best Selling Real Estate Authors: Where Are They Now?
  • Better Together (social capital)
  • Beyond Money (Yes Magazine)
  • Billshrink.com
  • Bizhemia
  • Bonfire of the Brands
  • Book Mooch (book barter)
  • Borrow Tools
  • Broke Ass Gourmet
  • Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
  • Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood
  • Cardratings.com (independent credit card comparison)
  • Carpart.com (Used Auto Parts Market)
  • Center for Commercial Free Public Education
  • Center for Responsible Lending
  • Center for the Study of the Public Domain
  • Cheap Cooking
  • Chegg.com (textbook rental)
  • Choose to Save
  • Cities on the Cheap (entertainment discounts)
  • CLAWS (Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery)
  • Click Homeless (Supports Homeless Bloggers)
  • Co-Op America Green Pages (eco-friendly products)
  • Collaborative Consumption
  • Community Bike Programs
  • Community Exchange Program
  • Conscious Consuming
  • Couch Surfing (travel lodging with individuals)
  • Credit Karma (truly free credit tools)
  • Debtors Anonymous
  • Dive The Film
  • Drive Less Save More
  • Dwelling Portably
  • E.F. Schumacher Society (local currencies and economies)
  • Economists and the Powerful
  • Economists and the Powerful
  • Ecosquid (sell or recycle old technology)
  • Enough (UK anti-consumerism campaign)
  • Estate Sales Network
  • Ethical Consumer
  • Ethical Markets TV
  • Etsy (crafters marketplace)
  • Everyday Simplicity
  • Executive Paywatch
  • Expendable Edibles (ideas for using food that would go to waste)
  • Fair Companies (sustainability videos)
  • Family Inequality
  • Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
  • Fatwallet.com (consumer savings)
  • Feeding America (has a food bank locator)
  • Fight for Independents
  • Find a Co-Op
  • Flat Broke and Green
  • Flux Factory (collaborative art projects)
  • Foraging with the Wildman
  • Force For Good
  • Free Sample Site
  • Freebin
  • Frugal Hacks
  • Frugal Living in the UK
  • Funding Circle
  • Gas Buddy (find lowest gas prices)
  • Gift Flow
  • Giveaway of the Day (daily free software)
  • Global Ecovillage Network
  • Global Freeloaders
  • Global Rich List (calculator to put your wealth in international perspective)
  • Green Economy Initiative
  • Groupon (Group buying)
  • Growth Busters
  • Help Exchange
  • Homeless Forums
  • Homeless Link (UK)
  • Homeless Voice
  • Hospitality Club
  • I Need a Freakin' Job
  • ILostMyJob.Com
  • Independent Arts and Media
  • Instructables
  • Job Hunter's Bible
  • Jobs with Justice
  • Karma Kitchen
  • Karma Tube
  • Kick Starter (crowd funding of creative projects)
  • Know Your Options (UK)
  • Landshare
  • Layoff Move On
  • Layoff Support Network
  • Less is More Balanced
  • Living Without Money
  • Living Without Money (television program)
  • Locate a Library
  • Low Impact Living (eco products)
  • Maplight (Money and Politics)
  • Measure of America
  • Measuring Real Wealth (Yes Magazine)
  • Modest Needs
  • Moneyless Man Manifesto
  • Moral Economy Project
  • Move Your Money
  • My Year Without Clothes Shopping
  • National Association of Free Clinics
  • Needy Meds
  • Neighbor Goods (share with neighbors)
  • Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America
  • New American Dream
  • New Economics Foundation
  • New Economy Daily
  • New Economy Network
  • New Rules Project
  • No Job Survivor
  • Non Consumer Girl
  • Non-Corporate Radio Association
  • Not Eating Out in NY
  • Odd Job Nation
  • On the Commons
  • Plastic Jungle (discount gift cards)
  • Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
  • Prosper (peer to peer lending)
  • Prosperity (Scottish monetary reform site)
  • Rainwater Club
  • Ready for Zero
  • Recession Resources
  • Recession Wire
  • Redefining Progress- Genuine Progress Indicator
  • Reel Changes (crowd funded documentaries)
  • Reinventing Money
  • Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
  • RSF Social Finance
  • Share Some Sugar
  • Share the World's Resources
  • Shoestring Magazine
  • Shopaholics Anonymous
  • Simple Living Network
  • Simplicity Resource Guide
  • Slow Movement
  • Smart Unemployment
  • SNAP (food stamp) Eligibility Tool
  • Snap Goods
  • Social Capital Gateway
  • Soul Shelter Balancing Meaning and Money
  • Spirit of Money Collaborative
  • Sponsume (UK Crowdfunding Site)
  • Starving Artists
  • State of Working America
  • Stop Usury in America
  • Stopping Overshopping
  • Stuff Unemployed People Like
  • Survival Insight
  • Sustainable Economies Law Center
  • Swap At Home (barter)
  • Swap Savers
  • Swap Simple (barter)
  • Swap Style (fashion barter)
  • Swap Treasures (barter)
  • Swap.com
  • Take Back Your Time
  • The Budget Babe
  • The Diaper Bank
  • The Duct Tape Guys
  • The Dumpster Project
  • The Economic Populist
  • The Freeconomy Community (UK based)
  • The Freecycle Network
  • The Gift Economy
  • The Joy of Not Working
  • The Mesh: Sharing/Barter Directoy
  • The Pavement (magazine for homeless readers)
  • The Recessionista
  • The Simple Dollar
  • The Starving Artists Way
  • The Thrift Shopper
  • The Ultimate Cheapskate
  • The Whole Earth Catalog
  • Thred Up (clothing exchange)
  • Title Trader (book and music barter)
  • Trashbank (barter)
  • Trust Art
  • UnClutterer
  • Unemployed Friends (forum for networking with other unjobbed)
  • Unemployed Meetup Groups
  • Unemployment Haiku Weekly
  • Unemployment Party
  • United for a Fair Economy
  • University of the People
  • Value for People (community currencies)
  • Veggie Trader (trade your garden surplus)
  • Warm Showers (hospitality for traveling bicyclists)
  • We Are Visible
  • Wealth for the Common Good
  • Work Away
  • World Leisure Organization
  • Yard Sale Queen
  • Yes! Magazne's List of Common Security Clubs
  • Zipcar (car sharing)

Further Reading/Our Broke Friends

  • $5 Dinners
    Instant Pot Christmas Roast
    7 years ago
  • Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online
    How to Pick Yourself (Instead of Waiting for Others to Pick You)
    5 years ago
  • Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters
  • All Things Thrifty Home Accessories and Decor
    Pegboard Corner Desk Tutorial
    4 years ago
  • AMFI - Free Fashion Challenge
  • Bargain Babe
    Andlane Star Pimple Patches, 280 Ct Only $3.99
    11 hours ago
  • Bargain Becky
    Santa Shop Creations: Homemade Hair Clips
    11 years ago
  • Becoming Minimalist
    Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.
    1 day ago
  • Beyond Money
    The usefulness of AI as a tool for learning
    2 days ago
  • Bible Money Matters
    Why Do We Celebrate Our Independence On The Fourth Of July?
    11 months ago
  • BitterWallet
    Kia sat-nav maps still out of date
    9 years ago
  • Blog | ReadyForZero
    Before You Set Another Financial Goal, Figure Out What YOU Want
    8 years ago
  • Boot Sale Sounds
    THE END
    10 years ago
  • Brokelyn
    The 10 best cheap things to do this week, hearts edition
    5 years ago
  • Cage Free Family
    No Such Thing As Reality
    9 years ago
  • Centsational Girl
    Hello world!
    2 months ago
  • Cheap Like Me
    Successfully Complete Construction Projects: Tips to Hire Excavators
    6 years ago
  • Child of the Nature Isle
  • Common Security Clubs
    The Affair for Shaving Your Nether Regions
    9 years ago
  • Consciously Frugal
    Holy Crapoly! "A Field Guide to Happiness" at a Steal!
    10 years ago
  • Consumerist
    An important message from Consumer Reports
    7 years ago
  • CoolWorks.com - What's New - Jobs in Great Places
    Cook, Prep Cook, Expedition Coordinator, Head Counselor, Assistant Counselor
    8 hours ago
  • Creative Breathing
    Creative Breathing Painting Tutorial
    12 years ago
  • Credit Slips
    Creative Destruction in Small Business Bankruptcy
    1 year ago
  • Crowd Surfing
  • Design Delights
    Koleksi pakaian muslim casual 2018 paling kece
    6 years ago
  • Do The Green Thing: Stories, videos, and more
  • Ecobunga!
  • Enlightened Economics
    • 2015 Sustainable Competitiveness Index
    9 years ago
  • Escape From Cubicle Nation
    7 Rookie Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make (And How to Avoid Them)
    10 years ago
  • everydaytrash
    On Hiatus
    10 years ago
  • Exile Lifestyle
    The Slowdown
    5 weeks ago
  • FearLess Blog
  • Festival of Frugality
    Festival of Frugality #414
    11 years ago
  • Fine Diving in Chicago
    Made a Chocolate Cake Last Night
    12 years ago
  • Free Music Archive Blog
    We Crushed Some Bugs!
    5 years ago
  • Free Range Humans
    10 Top “Free Range” Thinking Podcast Episodes Of 2019 (with Marianne Cantwell)
    5 years ago
  • Frugal Ideas from the Parsonage
    Bullet Journals, Homeschool-Style
    6 years ago
  • Frugal Recipes
    A Use-It-Up Weekend
    4 days ago
  • Frugal Upstate
    Our Community (1952) — Vintage Video Thursday
    7 years ago
  • Grist - the Latest from Grist
    Are pesticides racist?
    4 years ago
  • Guillaume's blog
    Building Gift Cards 2.0 on the block chain
    10 years ago
  • HelpOthers.org: Anonymous Acts of Kindness
    Curry-puff Kindness To Hungry Neighbour 🙂 My Father ðŸ™
    11 months ago
  • Hillbilly Housewife
    Summer Peach Salsa Recipe
    3 years ago
  • InvisiblePeople.tv
    Karla
    6 years ago
  • Jean-François Noubel's blog
    Conversation avec ChatGPT sur l’amour libre
    4 weeks ago
  • Jim Hightower's News and Commentaries
    Washington, DC – Ralph Nader Presents Breaking Through Power
    9 years ago
  • Lesley Voth
    ZacK Bush MD – Never Heard of him – Compelling Video – Powerful
    4 years ago
  • librarian.net
    2024 in work and money
    5 months ago
  • Libraries Matter
    What Public Librarians Need to Know about CCSS
    11 years ago
  • Little Homestead in the City
    SMALL STEPS, BIG IMPACT
    10 years ago
  • Look What I Found!
    Shoe Recycling
    3 days ago
  • Married with Luggage
    The Final Episode: Knowing When to Quit
    8 years ago
  • Miss Thrifty
    Is the Lidl Hot Air Fryer Worth £59.99?
    8 years ago
  • New Escapologist
    Once You Do That, You’ve Got Them in the Grinder
    1 week ago
  • New Urban Habitat
    What to Do With Leggy Sunflower Seedlings?
    2 years ago
  • No Impact Man
    Blasting this conversation into a massive orbit!!!!!
    10 years ago
  • Not Eating Out in New York
    Ukrainian Cabbage Dumplings (Varenyky), and a Confession
    5 years ago
  • Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey
    It’s Been Far Too Long
    1 month ago
  • OECD Better Life Initiative
  • Open Culture
    Hear the World’s Oldest Instrument, the “Neanderthal Flute,” Dating Back Over 43,000 Years
    1 day ago
  • Personal Finance Buzz - Published news - Frugality
  • Plastic Manners
    PerNOgie
    11 years ago
  • pligg - published
  • Positive Money
    ELECTION 2024: WHAT ARE PARTIES’ PLANS FOR HOUSING?
    1 year ago
  • Post Growth
    Raising children in egalitarian communities: An inspiration
    7 years ago
  • Real-World Economics Review Blog
    The world is facing a looming crisis of inequality
    1 day ago
  • Reduce Footprints
    Time to say Goodbye
    10 years ago
  • Simple Mom
    Tabletki na Powiększanie Penisa - Nowy Ranking 2023
    2 years ago
  • Simple. Organized. Life.
    Improve your IQ and Reasoning
    2 years ago
  • Social Capital Blog
    Creating local civic indicators with big data
    11 years ago
  • stonesoup
    223. The Best + Easiest Way to Meet Your Dietary Restrictions (without feeling deprived)
    2 months ago
  • Studenomics
    The Ultimate List of Date Night Ideas So That You Never Get Bored
    7 months ago
  • substance over stuff
    2 years ago
  • The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
    4-Hour Workweek Success Stories — Charlie Houpert on Building “Charisma on Command” to 10M+ Subscribers, From Charging $10 for Seminars to Making Millions, Living in Brazil, Critical Early Decisions, and The Secret to Freedom (#817)
    3 days ago
  • The Everyday Minimalist
    7 Reasons to Do a Credit Check Regularly
    3 years ago
  • The Friendly Anarchist
    What I Might Want to Remember
    5 years ago
  • The Grocery Cart Challenge
    Why So Quiet?
    12 years ago
  • The Homeless Guy
    What Do You Really Want?
    9 years ago
  • The Idler
    Irvine Welsh is Coming to Idler Festival 2023
    2 years ago
  • The Ingenesist Project
    Technology Risk
    9 months ago
  • The Intern
    Self-Help Stumbling Blocks and How to Overcome Them
    1 year ago
  • the middle finger project
    Imposter Syndrome is Robbing the F*ck Out of Us All
    1 year ago
  • The Monetary Future
    Featured Articles and Writings of J. Orlin Grabbe
    5 years ago
  • the nef triple crunch blog
    Danger of ghettoisation of the poor as government axes housing benefit
    14 years ago
  • The Non-Consumer Advocate
    Coscto, Without The Impulse Purchases
    20 hours ago
  • The Official Ramen Homepage
    Roy Choi Does Instant Ramen
    10 years ago
  • The Path Less Pedaled
    A Short and Incomplete History of “Suicide” Shifters
    2 years ago
  • The Politics of Well-Being
  • The REXpedition
    Tips for Better Videoconferencing
    7 years ago
  • The Rubbish Diet
    Farewell old blog.
    10 years ago
  • The Shamanic Economist
    The Secret Sears Store Closings
    5 years ago
  • The Simple Dollar
    Money Moves Smart People Make to Keep More of Their Hard-Earned Cash
    2 months ago
  • There, I Fixed It.
    Epic DIY Chainsaw Fails Video Compilation
    4 years ago
  • thesimplerlife.net
    3 simple reasons to start living with less
    4 months ago
  • Things to do in Denver when You're Dead Broke
    World Spay/Neuter Day Feb. 25 -- FREE Pet Neuter/Spay Available
    11 years ago
  • Trends in the Living Networks
  • Trust is the Only Currency
    Shareable's Future Hangs in the Balance
    12 years ago
  • Unconsumption
    Unconsumption Says Goodbye!
    9 years ago
  • Wasted Food -- Jonathan Bloom on food waste and how it can be avoided
    Food Matters!
    6 years ago
  • WEB OF DEBT BLOG » HOW WISCONSIN CAN TURN AUSTERITY INTO PROSPERITY – OWN A BANK
    President Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes: Can It Be Done?
    1 month ago
  • What's Mine is Yours
    Amplify Festival 2013
    12 years ago
  • Wise Bread
    How to Dispute Mistakes On Your Credit Report
    3 years ago
  • YES! Magazine New Economy
    The World Is Burning—Does the YES! Approach Still Matter?
    2 weeks ago