Venus Cow says "Have a root at the car boot."

Venus Cow can confirm the number one top tip and secret to being rich is;

Buy new and the joke's on you.

Many A listers can be found rumaging through vintage stores looking for a bargain piece to lift life, keep their style unique, decorate their home or compliment and add to the designer wardrobe often given freely in return for an appearance on the red carpet.

Visiting the car boot, (the largest and most well known in LA is at The Rose Bowl in Pasedena) is a great free (or minimal cost) activity and very good exercise too. The people and atmosphere I have always found to be welcoming and sociable. Become a regular and you'll find over time you'll see the same faces and make new friends. At a yard sale or a garage sale you'll find things for next to nothing you can mix with what you already have and will transform drab into fab enviable treasures making your friends green with envy.

Don't buy into expensive shopping mall marketing campaigns that lead to status anxiety. That is for mugs. In LA you'll find them scheduled every Saturday morning in the beach cities, jumble sales in mansion scale driveways. Every beach city from Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes all have their own small local weekly newspapers, The Beach Reporter covers Manhattan, The Easy Reader Hermosa and Redondo and the yard sale section is as awaited as the latest catelogue from Christies or Sotherbys in some circles. Celebrities are used to not paying for anything so don't be surprised if you find yourself haggling with a famous face, shopping recyled is super cool in Hollywood.

Photo by: Chrissie Kremer