317 Madison Ave., Ste. 2300
New York, NY 10017
212/687-6060
212/687-5222 (fax)
http://www.budgetlivingmedia.com
Want to reach women with deep pockets? Turn to the typical women's mags. Want to reach an increasingly powerful audience of women with deep pockets who are looking to spend
wisely? Your best bet is Budget Living, a consumer mag that launches Oct. 8, running every other month at first, with a plan to go monthly within about two years. "It is about
getting more for less, living with great style without spending a ton of money," says Associate Editor Alison Alfandre.
The book targets the 24- to 45-year-old set. Initial circ is 300,000. Readers are expected to be more than 80 percent women. They'll be comfortably middle-class, with an
average income of about $70,000 per household. Some 90 percent will be college-educated folks.
Content/Contacts
The first issue will feature a fall fashion spread, as well as a travel story on Tulum, Mexico - an undiscovered bargain destination about an hour south of Cancun. Ongoing
feature sections will include entertaining, financial advice, investing, and seasonal special sections.
The content will focus not just on discount items but on creative solutions. The editors will tell their readers how to shop the thrift stores successfully, and how to make use
of low-cost items in order to get a high-cost look. Each section also will include one "splurge" item. In a story on designer chairs, for instance, the chairs all cost less than
$100 - except for one $350 number. The editors will tell you why it's worth it.
There are no set beats right now, so contact editors at the general mailing address.
Pitch Tips
How to pitch the mag? "Definitely mail," says Alfandre. "It is just easier to keep track of hard copy. I get 100 emails a day and it is hard to print out and file."
"The subject and the range is so huge, but in general we are always looking for the unexpected and the new, something that we have not seen before," she said. "We will toss
anything that is too expensive, and also anything that we have already seen a million times. The price is important, but it also is about the thing itself and how great it
is."
Thus, sending product samples or at least catalogs is important. Your pitch should accommodate the mag's low-budget philosophy, but it should also encompass its stylish
sensibilities.
Editors close the pub at the end of every other month, and pitches are needed about four months in advance of an issue.
Comments
The editors want the magazine to speak with a young, hip, fresh and accessible voice. They don't want to broadcast an image of "cheap." Instead, they want "smart."
"Our motto is 'Spend smart, live rich,'" Alfandre explains. The editors are looking for stories about young, hip people who have money, but who are tired of consumerism and
overspending to live well.
In addition to consumer goods, the magazine also will cover the service sector, with items such as a Do-it-Yourself section on simple home repairs.
Overall, "the sensibility and tone and style are very young and fresh and hip and in-the-know. So those are the kinds of things that we look for," she says.
In The Pipeline
"For December and January we are doing 101 gift ideas at all different price points, and that will be a huge section. Then in the spring we are planning on doing a wedding
story," says Alfandre.
In addition to regular features on entertaining, design, travel, fashion, and finance, each issue will include "Loose Change" - six to eight pages of short, newsy takes on
every subject the magazine covers. Other regular items will include do-it-yourself projects, and a "shopping with the expert" feature, in which experts from various fields will
take readers on a shopping excursion and show them the ropes. "So we will need experts - anyone who has a service to provide," says Alfandre.