Book excerpt: We snap to attention when we hear about urban miracles: the designer jacket picked up for a pittance, the killer apartment snagged for next to nothing, swank furnishings found at garage-sale prices. Treasures like these in New York City--where it often seems the best things are reserved for the wealthy--can now be yours, thanks to New York Times House and Home reporter Tracie Rozhon, a bona fide expert on how to live the good life in Gotham. In The Cheapskate Millionaire's Guide to Bargain Hunting in the Big Apple, Rozhon shares her most closely held shopping secrets with the reader. She knows New York bargains inside and out, from the Lower East Side to suburban outlet stores, from estate sales to flea markets. Each chapter of her informative book concludes with an extensive listing of sources and services--complete with names, addresses, and phone numbers--and is loaded with great ideas on how you can find deals in clothes and jewelry (dream coats, designer labels, furs, diamonds, pearls) home furnishings (couches, chairs, rugs, draperies, fabrics, antiques, lamps, wallpaper) apartments, co-ops, and condos (buying and renting) home renovation (paint, lumber, hardware, bathroom fixtures, cabinets, appliances) food (gourmet groceries, caviar, coffee, wine, restaurant meals) nightlife (entertainment, clubs, bars) More than just a bargain hunter's guide, this book is a bargain hunter's dream. Tracie Rozhon shows you how to think like a cheapskate millionaire, so you can apply her shopping know-how to anything you hope to buy. You don't need to be a Rockefeller to grab what the Big Apple has to offer...but you do need this book's inspired advice.