Missed calls © by carlos.a.martinez

My biweekly gig at Get Rich Slowly took on the pulpy plague of phone-book bundles. What to do with directories you didn’t ask for and won’t use?

Last week I promised to give away a copy of “Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Standard of Living…and Giving” along with a matching shopping bag. I’m also giving away a second copy of the book, sans bag.

I’d like to get some prizes, too. More on that in a minute.

The random number generator has spoken:

I got back from BlogHer 2011 late in the evening on July 9. Since then I’ve been hitting MSN Money and Get Rich Slowly deadlines pretty hard, and spending time (including a day in Vancouver, B.C.) with an old friend who’s here in town.

Just before midnight tonight I get on a plane for the East Coast, where I’ll be spending just over a month:

The random number generator selected Kit to receive the $20 Amazon gift card. In her comment she noted that she has “been a good (mostly) girl all year (so far).” Congratulations on that, Kit — and now you can let ‘er rip.

To all who voted for me in the BlogHer 2011 contest….You are wonderful! I won one of the tickets!  This will make my first-ever trip to the conference much more affordable. You guys are the best.

The urban homesteading movement is a growth enterprise (sorry) in the United States. My current column at MSN Money shows why.

“A chicken in every condo?” details some of the ways that let people with small urban properties — or those who don’t own property — produce food.