We’re getting down to the wire, Christmas-wise. Would a $25 Amazon card help?
Even if you couldn’t get the gift shipped by Dec. 25, you could wrap up a “watch this space” card and promise to hand over the present as soon as it arrives.
Or maybe it’ll be a Christmas miracle and the gift will arrive on time. You won’t know unless you try.
Maybe you’ve already finished your shopping, or perhaps you don’t do holiday gifts. That $25 card could still come in handy for:
Some high-school biology classes require you to dissect a frog. In Alaska, the stakes — and the steaks — are a lot bigger.
The following video, shot at Chugiak High School, shows freshman science students field-dressing a bull moose. Well, mostly field-dressing it: The animal had already been gutted before being transported to the school.
Warning: If you can’t stand the sight of a dissected frog, you might want to skip the video. It’s not gruesome — no guts, remember? — but it’s graphic.
Chugiak is an unincorporated community about 20 miles north of Anchorage. Technically it’s part of the municipality of Anchorage, but both it and nearby Eagle River have their own identities (and zip codes). One of the Chugiak High School’s science teachers decided to go beyond preserved (or plastic) frogs to teach, uh, gross anatomy.
Recently I read an article about feral hogs from Canada that might spread into the United States. Given my partner’s punny tendencies, you’d think a “Canadian bacon” joke would be forthcoming.
Nothing that simple issued forth, however. Instead, DF claimed there’s a group that wants to save those poor, downtrodden swine: “It’s called ‘Hamnesty International’.”
As regular readers know, my partner and I adore wordplay. They also know that every so often, I publish a collection of his best (worst?) efforts.
The habit was inspired by the “Sh*t My Dad Says” books/Twitter feed/television show. [As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small fee for items bought through my links.]
Obviously I don’t share all his puns. Some are too local, and some are too naughty. But some of them are too good (bad?) to keep to myself.
If you aren’t a fan of the lowest form of humor, you might want to stop here. The rest of you know what you’re in for, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Here we go:
Wait…Didn’t I just have a movie gift card giveaway? Yes, I did. Now I’m having another one. This time around, it’s for the Regal theaters chain.
You might need to get away from it all after a little too much holiday family togetherness. And if times are tight right now, you could either sell the gift card (it’s a physical one) or give it as a holiday present.
When visiting my daughter in Phoenix, I walk as often as possible. In part, that’s because I’m nowhere near a gym* but it’s also because (a) it gets me out of my daughter’s hair for a while** and (b) in the winter it’s such a delight to see sidewalks without ice.
By foot, it’s about one mile to a Walgreens. I always go in, even if I don’t need anything (or need to use the bathroom). That’s because my rule is always to check clearance. Most of the time I don’t find anything, but sometimes I score.
Last month, I scored big-time: three two-packs of replacement brush heads for our Sonicare toothbrush. They were Walgreens brand, but they fit. (I called DF to make sure before I bought them.) Each two-brush pack cost me 70 cents, or 35 cents apiece.
Typically, these brush heads cost anywhere from $1.99 to $13.74 (!) apiece. In other words, 468% to 3,825% more. Wow.
My dentist is happy. My budget is happier.
It sounds like such a no-brainer. Such a simple thing to do. But it’s not true for everyone.
If you didn’t grow up watching someone sort patiently through piles of dross in hopes of finding a diamond, then “clearance” might be foreign territory to you.
The winter holidays always represent a big Hollywood push. Whether the films are about any actual holidays doesn’t matter. Studios know that plenty of people are looking for a bit of escapism at this time of year. Some want to get away from the relatives who have descended. Others want to sneak away from the … Read more
We found chicken for less than 12 cents per pound yesterday, a discovery too good to keep to ourselves. Instead, I did what I always do: Texted my niece and my neighbor to see how many packages they might want. While I never wanted to be a personal grocery shopper, I can’t keep deals like that to myself.
Those poultry deals were five-pound-plus packages of chicken drumsticks for 64 cents, and boneless, skinless, organic chicken breasts (2½ to 2¾ pounds) for $1.28 apiece.
We left the store with a lot of chicken. It helped them, and it helped us reach our goal of getting a free turkey* through a store offer.
Sharing deals is a sort of frugal ministry for me. Maybe it could be for you, too.
I’m not saying you must do this every time you hit the store. Or maybe at all, if it doesn’t fit your current life. But given how expensive food is getting, think what a gift this could be to others.
Black Friday is upon us, and retailers are ready not just to sell, but to lend.
That is, they’re ready to talk you into getting their proprietary credit cards. When you shop in-store, you’ll almost certainly get asked when you pay for your purchases. If you’re shopping online, a pop-up ad will probably follow you all the way to the “pay now” button.
The introductory offers may sound tempting. (Zero interest! Deferred interest! 30% off your first purchase!) But is a store credit card the best choice for you right now, or ever?
That depends. Store credit cards may have their place, especially for those trying to build or re-build credit, but they aren’t always a good idea.
It’s been almost two months since I posted, a fact that shocked me. The last few weeks of summer, such as it was, kept us fairly busy with gardening and preserving the harvest. Work also played a hand in the long gap in writing. So did physical therapy, followed by my joining a gym* to continue to build strength and relieve pain.
Time seemed to blur and days/weeks began to blend. Before I knew it, another week had gone by. And then another. Who let that happen?
Not writing begets more not-writing. I freeze up and don’t know what to write, and then work starts tapping on my shoulder, and it’s time to pick more berries or dehydrate more greens. I’m tired in the evenings and want only to sit in the rocker next to DF’s armchair and read. The fact that people are sending me notes asking if I’m okay made me feel guilty, which caused me to freeze up some more.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying: I apologize for disappearing without even a placeholder “Still here!” kind of blog post.
Fact is, I’m slowly backing away from work. I’m no longer grabbing every available assignment, or constantly looking for ideas to pitch. Not quite ready to retire yet, but I’m realizing more and more that I want time more than I need money.
How’s your household budget doing? Yeah, mine too. Inflation is allegedly easing, but I haven’t noticed this much. In fact, gasoline is going back up and milk is now $4.29 a gallon.
The reason I started the “support the reader economy” giveaway series is to bring a (small!) boost to someone’s budget. Sad to say that $25 isn’t much these days – unless, of course, you’re $25 short on groceries or you need to get to work for two more days until payday.
Thus I am offering a $25 e-gift card of the winner’s choice, whether that’s a supermarket, gas station, big-box retailer or, yes, Starbucks. It’s hot out there, and if you’ve cut back on cold drinks (or drinks away from home, period) then a caramel macchiato whatchamacallit might be exactly the small boost you need to keep on keeping on.
Or maybe you’re thinking bigger-picture thoughts. For example, Hannukah is just 125 days from now, Christmas is 143 days away and Kwanzaa starts in 144 days. If you’re planning to give gifts, it’s a good idea to at least make a list. Bonus frugal points for starting (or having started) to look for affordable presents via clearance sections (virtual or IRL), yard sales and your Buy Nothing Facebook group. A $25 card to Target or Amazon or wherever might not make much difference, but it’s a start.