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Tracey Stewart

Tracey Stewart is an Austin-based freelance writer, mother of two grown sons and a cat named Jake. She has a passion for seeking out affordable products that don’t sacrifice quality. When she’s not re-arranging, re-organizing and labeling everything in sight, she’s attempting to learn a new skill. Last year it was drywall repair. This year it’s knot tying.

Tracey Stewart
The 6 Best Low-Heeled Boots Under $50 for Fall The 6 Best Low-Heeled Boots Under $50 for Fall
Tracey Stewart
I find myself captivated by a pointed-toe, four-inch, stiletto boot. But to be honest, lusting over Olivia Culpo’s Instagram account is about as close as I’m going to get to wearing a high heel. Over the years, I’ve found I’m more comfortable (and therefore more “me”) in a great bootie, Chelsea or thigh-high boot that keeps me low to the ground. And now, with the weather cooling down a bit — and pumpkin spice everything turning up in my feed — I cannot stop thinking about boots! I was discussing this obsession with my son’s girlfriend, Taelor. Specifically, I was...
9 Outdoor Games Under $50 the Kids Will Enjoy The Rest of Summer 9 Outdoor Games Under $50 the Kids Will Enjoy The Rest of Summer
Tracey Stewart
Make unforgettable summer memories for less with these affordable outdoor games.
24 of The Best Holiday Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List 24 of The Best Holiday Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List
Tracey Stewart
Finding the perfect gift for everyone on your list is never easy. Add on the fact that you might not have seen someone for two years, you might be tight on budget and the items you want might be in short supply or delayed due to supply chain issues, and it’s enough to make you want to throw in the towel. Luckily, we’re here to help. Here we curated a list of gifts suited for every person and personality on your list – from the home chef to the hostess. Most of these options fall under the $35 mark, so...
25 Giant Halloween Decorations Your Neighbors Can See From Afar 25 Giant Halloween Decorations Your Neighbors Can See From Afar
Tracey Stewart
Let your Halloween affiliation be known far and wide by placing a giant Halloween yard decoration (or two) right out front where everyone in your neighborhood can stop and stare in awe and wonder. Whether your tastes lean to the scare-the-bejeezus-out-of-the-neighbors or you prefer more of a Pixar or Disney motif when it comes to your Halloween theme, we fully support you. To that end, we’ve gathered up some truly fantastic giant yard inflatables, hangables and free-standing models of witches, jack-o’-lanterns, black cats, skeleton men, reapers and even some very friendly ghosts. A word of caution: One must commit to...
25 National Pie Day Freebies and Deals 2022 25 National Pie Day Freebies and Deals 2022
Tracey Stewart
Updated by Jamontae Hickman. Few things are as comforting as pie — or as diverse. Pies can be sweet – filled with fruit or loaded with cream. They also can be savory – stuffed with meat or bathed in gravy. And there are many other variations of pie like ice cream pie, whoopie pie and moon pie, pies with lattice crusts, pies with double crusts… the list goes on. Pie is simply the all-around MVP of food. Although National Pie Day is a holiday made up back in 1986, by a true devotee of all things pie, we can all...
The 7 Best Budget Fitness Trackers for 2022 The 7 Best Budget Fitness Trackers for 2022
Tracey Stewart
Even if you’ve read “The Power of Habit” a dozen times, you may still find that you don’t get enough walking, water, exercise or sleep on a daily basis. But you want to. You really, really want to. You’ve read the books, signed up for the gym membership and bought the shoes, now what you need is some accountability. You could hire a fitness coach to bark out reminders — Gordon Ramsey style — for you to get up from your desk, pound down a glass of water or run out to the mailbox and back. Fortunately, you don’t have...
10 Best Places to Buy Plants Online — and Save 10 Best Places to Buy Plants Online — and Save
Tracey Stewart
Last Sunday, after a small neighborhood get-together, my friend Kari invited me over to her new house for one last glass of wine. She’s been moved in for little more than a month and already it feels like a home (I’d still be buried under a mountain of boxes if it were me). As we strolled through the strikingly beautiful kitchen and living room, I felt an almost physical pull, luring me toward the ultra-inviting back patio. Along with Snooki—the Maltese who is sure to become Jake-the-cat’s new best friend — we spent the rest of the evening drinking wine...
10 Affordable Christmas Ornament Storage Hacks That Beat Throwing Them in a Cardboard Box 10 Affordable Christmas Ornament Storage Hacks That Beat Throwing Them in a Cardboard Box
Tracey Stewart
If you opened the cardboard boxes containing last year’s Christmas décor, only to find your favorite salt dough ornament missing a leg or grandma’s angel tree-topper squished beyond recognition, you may be ready to do things differently this year. As you may have discovered, leftover cardboard moving boxes don’t always make the most protective guardians for your treasured holiday décor. On top of that, untangling and repairing garland, ornaments, trees and wreaths before putting them up can add frustration and hours to your holiday decorating festivities. Just a little extra care and preparation this year will make next year’s decorating...
We Waited for It...And It Was Worth It: The Amazon Black Friday Event Is Now Live! We Waited for It...And It Was Worth It: The Amazon Black Friday Event Is Now Live!
Tracey Stewart
Updated by Brenda Raftlova Marking down tens of thousands of products for its Black Friday sale, Amazon is throwing a two-day Black Friday event that lasts from Nov. 25 through Nov. 26. There is a lot to get excited about here, but, with so many great deals, a variety of ways to shop and so much information to process, it can be a little overwhelming. To that end, we’ve created the following guide to getting the most from Amazon’s abundant selection of Black Friday bargains. For additional general savings information, check out our 28 Amazon Savings Tips: The Definitive Guide....
The 7 Best Dash Cams — With One Standout Priced Under $50 The 7 Best Dash Cams — With One Standout Priced Under $50
Tracey Stewart
Dash cams have been around for a while. And if you’ve been a passenger in a rideshare vehicle, you probably have a general idea of how they work. But you may not realize that having one in your own vehicle offers significant benefits — and not all are safety related. Dash cams can record super cool events as well as the not-so-cool ones. What is a dash cam? As the name implies, a dash cam is a digital video camera that affixes to your car’s dashboard (or via a suction cup to your windshield) that records what is happening in...
5 Affordable Leaf Blowers to Spiff Up Your Yard, Garage, Worksite and More 5 Affordable Leaf Blowers to Spiff Up Your Yard, Garage, Worksite and More
Tracey Stewart
As soon as autumn arrives and leaves turn from lush green to vibrant shades of yellow, orange and red, they quickly make their way to the ground, bringing to mind those efficient outdoor devices: leaf blowers. Even if you don’t have a large yard with trees, these magical tools are extremely handy for a wide variety of cleanup jobs. Leaf blowers are brilliant at cleaning gutters, blowing light snow off a car or truck, quickly cleaning up a worksite and even scooting creepy crawlies off your porch. Instead of sweeping the dirt off the patio or out of the garage,...
5 Affordable Fall Wreath Ideas to Match Your Autumn Mood 5 Affordable Fall Wreath Ideas to Match Your Autumn Mood
Tracey Stewart
Maybe because I live in a part of the country where the temperature varies less than 10 degrees all year long — and my wait for autumn seems to last into December — the minute I feel even the slightest coolness in the air, I’m cooking up a pot of chili, drinking pumpkin-spice lattes and dragging the sweater box out from under the bed. There is only one way to adequately telegraph my love for fall — with the definitive fall wreath on my front door. There are as many different fall wreath styles as there are front doors, but...
5 Inflatable — and Affordable — Hot Tubs to Create Your Own Backyard Spa 5 Inflatable — and Affordable — Hot Tubs to Create Your Own Backyard Spa
Tracey Stewart
If you’ve been shopping for the best inflatable hot tub — without the inflated price — we’re here to help. You can easily find inflatable hot tubs priced at $2,000 and up. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles and you just want something basic you can dip into after a long day’s work or relax with friends, we’ve got exciting news. Not everyone is looking for an ultra-capacity pump, beefed-up heaters, a lighting package that would take you back to Studio 54, a water feature rivaling anything at Disney World or a sound system worthy of a...
5 Affordable Organic Mattress Alternatives for a Dreamy Night\'s Sleep 5 Affordable Organic Mattress Alternatives for a Dreamy Night's Sleep
Tracey Stewart
If you’re in the market for an organic mattress, you may already know the many benefits this alternative to a traditional mattress or mattress-in-a-box provides. We are fortunate to live in a time when alternate means have been developed for accomplishing important tasks such as impeding the spread of fire. No longer dependent on chemicals to act as flame retardants, mattress manufacturers have embraced the development of Kevlar, as well as understanding the properties of wool and thistle to provide non-chemical solutions. Even better, organic mattresses are manufactured with comfort in mind. Organic cotton is often combined with plant-based memory...
8 Cheaper Alternatives to the Lovesac Bean Bag 8 Cheaper Alternatives to the Lovesac Bean Bag
Tracey Stewart
If you’ve never been to a Lovesac store, or someone’s house, and sat in a Lovesac bean bag chair, you are probably wondering what the big deal is. On the other hand, if you’ve sat in the Lovesac’s giant BigOne bean bag or plopped down onto one of the smaller Citysacs or Moviesacs, then you know exactly what the big deal is. For us, the experience went something like this: We were on the hunt for a fun chair that we could easily move around the house, from room to room, as needed. Sometimes we would need extra seating in...
6 Stylish and Affordable Live-Edge Tables for Your Home 6 Stylish and Affordable Live-Edge Tables for Your Home
Tracey Stewart
Although they’ve been around since the mid-1960s, lately you are seeing them everywhere, from homes to offices, to restaurants and in magazines. Live-edge tables, made from lumber that has been sliced into a single slab (or several slices joined together), are the hottest trend in furniture right now. Intentionally flawed, raw and asymmetrical, live-edge tables make positively striking showpieces. If you’ve done any research into sculptural, natural, live-edge tables, you know they can cost more than regular tables — in fact, upwards of thousands of dollars, depending on size, thickness and style. However, that doesn’t mean a live-edge table is...
The 7 Most Stylish, and Affordable, Velvet Curtains The 7 Most Stylish, and Affordable, Velvet Curtains
Tracey Stewart
Are your Instagram and Pinterest feeds loaded with pictures of velvet curtains? Noticing interior designers on your favorite home decorating and remodeling channels suggesting cozy, luxurious velvet curtains to add texture and depth to even the most modern interior? Well, we sure are. And for good reason. Velvet curtains are the hot decorating trend happening right now. They’re classy, practical, incredibly versatile and much cheaper than you could have ever imagined. Below, we’ll look at a couple of questions we get about velvet curtains and then give you a peek at the most popular velvet curtain colors, show you where...
These 7 Gorgeous Antique Mirrors Are Stunning — And Under $250 These 7 Gorgeous Antique Mirrors Are Stunning — And Under $250
Tracey Stewart
Even if you are an industrial-chic purist or your décor style is more rustic farmhouse, you’ll flip over the totally on-trend antique mirrors we found. In fact, we’d bet one of them provides just the touch of character or drama you’ve been seeking. On-trend? How can a décor style that has been around for over one hundred years — and some even several hundreds of years — be current? Well, here’s the thing. Modern mirror and furniture manufacturers continue to remake mirrors in antique styles such as Gothic, Baroque, Georgian, Rococo, Neoclassical and more because they are always a hot...
These 9 Portable Grills Cook Up Delicious Food — and for Cheap These 9 Portable Grills Cook Up Delicious Food — and for Cheap
Tracey Stewart
There’s just something about cooking outside that makes food taste better. Whether it’s at a tailgate, on the beach, in the backyard or camping in the woods, grilling meats, seafood, vegetables and more in the open air turns cooking from a chore into entertainment. So, what’s the perfect solution for when you want to take your culinary skills on the road? Portable grills. They are typically smaller and lighter than stationary grills, making them the absolute perfect travel companion. We found some that fold into easy-to-carry compact bundles, one that is disposable, another that is more skillet than grill and...
6 Cheap Portable Air Conditioners that Will Keep You Cool This Summer 6 Cheap Portable Air Conditioners that Will Keep You Cool This Summer
Tracey Stewart
Summer is in full swing, and for many of us, it’s a hot one. If you are living — working, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, etc. — where the temperatures simply won’t cool down, it can be downright agonizing. Homes in many parts of the country don’t have built-in air conditioning because it gets uncomfortably hot only a few weeks a year. You might live in a small, un-air-conditioned space or have one part of your home or office that needs an extra boost of cool air. In these cases, an excellent alternative to installing a fixed air conditioner in your window...