Sorry to have maintained radio silence for so long. Not only have I been promoting “Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs And Wants Edition” and taking care of gigs for other sites, I’ve been slowed down by summer, in two ways:
Playing in the dirt, i.e., piddling around in the garden*. Although DF does the lion’s share of the work, I’ve still be spending less time at the computer and more time harassing chickweed.
Losing track of time due to the long, long summer** days.
About that last: On Thursday night I decided to try and finish “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” the second in the late Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander series (officially known as the Millennium Series, but I like the character so much it will always be the Lisbeth Salander series). It’s such a great read that I hated to quit, but my eyes grew heavy.
No wonder: It was 2:30 a.m.
And speaking of book promotion, something amusing happened on Tuesday. The cashier at Walgreens commented on the great price I got by using the Senior Tuesday discount (20 percent off non-sale items on the first Tuesday of every month). Being me, I mentioned that I was saving an additional 12 percent because I was paying with a discounted gift card.
She asked how I bought them so I explained the basics. Then she asked me a question about Amazon, and I tried to tell her about the sites that help you find inexpensive items if you’re this close to free shipping. Couldn’t remember the site name so I trotted out to my car, where I had copies of my books. Back inside, I read her the info and told her about other sites that help you track sales on Amazon.
“Where’d you get that book?” she asked.
“I wrote it,” I replied.
“Where can I get one?”
You guessed it: I left the store without the book and with money in my hand. The experience convinced me always to have copies of both books whenever I leave the house. One sale*** at a time.
A sweet challenge from Swagbucks
Once again the Swagbucks rewards site is staging a team challenge. The last one was “Swag Wars”; this time, it’s the Sweet Treat challenge.
Here’s how to play:
Click here to join up and be assigned to a team (I’m one of the Cake Bosses).
Beginning at 8 a.m. PDT Monday, June 12, your activities on Swagbucks will contribute points toward your group.
Every participant who contributes at least 400 points to the team’s total will get a bonus. This will be in the form of a “Swag Up Rebate,” which must be redeemed by Friday, June 30.
As regular readers know, Swagbucks is my favorite rewards site. I’m cashing in for and stockpiling Amazon gift cards, with an eye toward Christmas. (Yeah, I think way ahead.) Lately, it’s allowed me to send a few household items to a friend who’s fallen on hard times.
Good luck!
Read me elsewhere
While neglecting my own site, I’ve managed to produce a few posts here and there:
“Stuck zipper? Pesky squirrels? Use petroleum jelly to solve 49 everyday problems,” at Money Talks News. This one was a hoot to research, especially because I learned the origin of the word “Vaseline.”
“8 money lessons from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’,” over on Clark Howard’s site. The story, which is just what it sounds like, was also a hoot to research – and as a self-employed writer I can use my movie ticket as a business expense. #winning
“How to save a ton of money on pet care,” at the Debt Free Guys website.
“Badass book review: Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2” – this one wasn’t written by me, obviously, but rather by Lindsay Van Sommeren of the Notorious D.E.B.T. blog. I’m happy to say that she really understands the reason I wrote the book, and happier still that she gave it a positive review.
Readers: How’s your summer going so far?
*Despite the illustration I chose, we don’t grow watermelons. It’s possible, but would take more work (and more floating row cover and wave-selective plastic) than we want to put into it.
**I know that technically it isn’t summer yet. But I consider any weather that lets us grow vegetables to be summer.
**The discount codes for the e-book expires July 4. To get them, sign up for my certified-spam-free newsletter. Thanks to all who have signed up and used it, and special thanks to the two folks who have already read and reviewed it on the Amazon landing page.
How great that you sold one of your books to the Walgreen’s clerk. It’s a good idea to keep them on hand for reasons such as this. 🙂
Bless you! With your help, I’ve eaten out occasionally with a discounted card…..Usually, the waitresses ask something about it and I fill them in on the details of how to purchase them. One waitress got wide-eyed and said….my kid’s birthday is coming up and money has been tight. Lots of folks out there need to pinch those pennies.
Working my way through the new book….love it!!
So glad that the discount cards are working for you. I used one to see “Wonder Woman” for 20 percent off the first (cheapest) show of the day.
If you have any questions or comments about the book, feel free to e-mail me at SurvivingAndThriving (at) live (dot) com.
At one time I only wore clothing I designed and made. When I received compliments, I said, “Thanks, I designed and made it.” I sold many outfits that way. I measured the person and returned with a garment.
Maybe you could get one of those magnetic signs for your car and elicit comments. You could sell right from the car…lol.
I love how you sold a book while trying to pass along useful info. Cool beans!
As for my summer so far, nothing much happening yet. I’m trying to figure out if I can afford to take a summer vacay. When I don’t work, I don’t get paid, but you know what that’s like. ;o)
It was pretty unexpected. I was just reading her the information so she could write it down, but she wanted to buy it so who was I to stand in her way? 😉
And yes, I do know what it’s like not to have vacation days (or sick days).
“Roll out those lazy crazy hazy days of summer…”
So far my summer’s consisted mostly of playing whack-a-mole with a to-do list that sprouts three new items for every one I strike off. (How’s that for a mixed metaphor?) No garden this year, as we decided last year’s output wasn’t a great return on time and effort invested. Maybe next year…
I’m working my way through Playbook vol. 2, and it’s well worth the investment. One of the things I really appreciate about you is that you’re always willing to share information–and I love that that willingness to share helped make an unexpected sale!
One thing I have been doing is cooking ahead and stockpiling the freezer. Chopped chicken, pulled pork, meatballs–all I have to do on a lazy day is defrost something and we’re halfway to dinner. 🙂
On one of those lazy HOT days you’ll be glad you don’t have to cook from scratch.
We consider gardening a hobby we can eat. DF says that some people are crazy cat people and we are crazy tomato people.
Thanks for your kind words about “Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2.”
You let me know about Swagbucks years ago and I signed up under you. I now make all my money to pay my student loan with that site and others I’ve come across. Just want to let you know I bought my new car with change I’d been saving for the past five years. Yes, I bought it and paid taxes with the change. Bank wouldn’t take it and still with coin stars 11 percent payment I still had the 1500.00 for a car ! It kept me from getting into my emergancy fund. I’m so grateful for sites like yours that keep me going and thinking about what’s the next step I can take.
That. Is. Amazing. Congratulations for the great outcome of all that hard work.
And thanks for sharing your story: It will help others feel that their own hard work is leading to specific outcomes. You should also consider sharing the story with Swagbucks (which will give you a thousand SB if it’s selected).