Gardening: The definition of hope.

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! This post originally ran on May 6, 2021. Since it was snowing this morning, I decided to re-read this post for its reminder of hope. And there IS reason to hope: We have celery seedlings popping up, and DF put tomato and marigold seeds into little peat pots this morning. Sooner or later, the snow will melt and the ground will warm up enough to accept plant starts. Hope it’s sooner.)

(Note: This was a gardening post I started to write and then dropped. It was begun in the second week of April and picked up again on May 3. Sorry for any confusion.)

It was nine degrees when I got up today. And we’re at sea level! And it’s April!

Then again, it was minus 18 in Fairbanks this morning. So I guess I’m still ahead on points, but come on.

Fortunately, DF bought flowers for his mom on Easter and thought they looked so nice he’d get some for us, too. They stuck around for a long time, and having them on the table to look at was a good antidote to weather-related grumblies.

Nearby is a miracle plant: a pot of snapdragons that we nursed through the winter. The foliage is a bit pale, but it survived despite low-to-no light levels. The plant had widely spaced buds instead of the usual tightly packed stems. As a result, each bloom was wide-open and on its own, looking as though it’s ready to take flight.

Sun and semi-warmth returned on April 21, so we put the snaps outdoors to take advantage. (Brought them in at night because cold.) On April 22, I got a photo of the first honeybee* of the year.

I think it was pretty confused: “Flowers? At this time of year?!? HELL YEAH!!!” 

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Meet a reader: RoInRocketCity.

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This is the third in my “Meet a reader” series and as with the first two, I’ve had the chance to meet with Ro in real life.

That happened at the 2016 Financial Blogger Conference in San Diego, where Ro was living at the time. We had a too-brief meetup, and I’m afraid I was a bit distracted because my daughter, who was also attending, was sick. (Those waxing-and-waning symptoms turned out to be sepsis. Yikes.)

Even so, it’s always fun to meet someone who’s been commenting on your stuff – especially since Ro has been a commenter since my MSN Money days. She always had (and has) thoughtful things to say.

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Easter giveaway: Alaskan artisanal chocolate.

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Why should kids have all the fun at Easter? For the grownup palates in my audience, I’m giving away a delicious treat from Chugach Chocolates, a bean-to-bar chocolatier right here in Anchorage, Alaska.

(In fact, it’s located down the street from me, which may or may not be too close for comfort.)

I’ve given away Chugach Chocolate items in the past, as part of my desire to support the local economy. Given that Easter is on April 9, I figured it’s time for another chance at delight.

“Bean-to-bar” is exactly what it sounds like: The company roasts raw cacao beans and turns them into fascinating flavors. Some of them, such as the Alaskan Kelp and Cayenne, sound a bit scary. But that bar – like the others Chugach creates – is in fact great fun. 

Chugach has single-origin bars made with beans from Fiji, Guatemala, Madagascar, Vietnam and other countries. As for its Alaskan flavors, you could sample flavors such as Dark Chocolate with Alaskan Birch Syrup Toffee, Dark Chocolate with Mat-Su Valley Potato Chips (that’s a local chip company) and Dark Chocolate with Prince William Sound Sea Salt. 

The winner gets to choose one of the following items:

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Today’s frugal win: Deal-stacking.

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DF wanted to see the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcast of “Lohengrin,” but also second-guessed that wish. The $25 ticket wasn’t so bad when you consider the opera lasted a little over five* hours, but still…And then there was the popcorn and cold drink that he’d surely need to handle five-plus hours of Wagner. He was on the fence until I suggested a few frugal hacks.

Here are the (many) elements of today’s frugal win:

Senior discount. He got $2 off for being old.

Movie Club. This subscription deal at Cinemark gives me one free movie a month plus a concessions discount. I asked the cashier to apply one of my free movie credits to the Met Opera ticket, which lowered the price from $23 to $10.75.

Ibotta gift card. I redeemed a $20 Cinemark card from my Ibotta account. (For more on Ibotta and other frugal hackery, see “Rewards programs FTW!”)  

Cinemark coupon. I got a $1-off concessions coupon by cashing in 25 of my Cinemark rewards points (which you get each time you buy tickets and food).

Movie Club discount. I get 20 percent off concessions purchases with membership.

Once all the discounts and the gift card had been applied, the tab had shrunk to just $1.45.  Now you can see why he decided to go.

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A free “Credit Score Boot Camp.”

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Concerned about your credit score? You should be. Like it or not, that three-digit number can make a big difference in your life. Credit expert Beverly Harzog can help, with a free e-mail course called “Credit Score Boot Camp.”

Every week for six weeks, you’ll get true, actionable advice from Harzog on how to increase your score. Already have a decent FICO? Her tips can help you keep it that way.

The course author is a consumer finance analyst for U.S. News & World Report. But she’s no talking head who looks down on those who have credit issues. In fact, she freely admits she’s had issues of her own: The title of one of her books is “Confessions of a Credit Junkie: Everything You Need to Know to Avoid the Mistakes I Made.” (As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small fee for items bought through my links.)

 

Beverly may have a highfalutin title, but she’s one of the most down-to-earth people I know. And yep, I know her in real life, as the kids say. I’ve even stayed in her home and petted her impossibly cute pup, Marshall.

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Low- or no-spend February 2023: If you give a mouse some icing…

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During the final week of the low- or no-spend February, I did what I did the first week: spent money. It started out very small and got a lot bigger – but not much more expensive. I coped by:

  • Using a gift card from shopping apps/rewards programs, and
  • Reminding myself, again, that it was low– or no-spend February, not “don’t you dare” February

Here’s how it all began: While doing a little Shopkicking (see shopping apps/rewards programs link above), my eye was drawn to a clearance-colored shelf tag. Turned out the store had cake icing (which some of you know as “frosting,” but I’m from South Jersey) for 25 cents a tub. I double-checked to see if a digit had fallen off the sign but nope, it was 25 cents.

I couldn’t not buy it at that price. And as soon as it was in my hands, I remembered a reader named Wendy, one of the recipients of this blog’s Giving Cards partnership. She used her $20 gift card to buy cake mix and icing, packaged them with disposable cake pans and birthday candles she already had, and dropped them at a food bank.

If you give a mouse some 25-cent icing, she’s going to want cake mix. Then she’ll want candles to make the celebration a little brighter. And what about a birthday card? Every mouse wants one of those.

Referring, of course, to the “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” books. (As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small fee for items purchased through my links.) 

 

I decided to make a pair of birthday party kits to give away on the Buy Nothing Facebook page. To do that, I’d need to buy the aforementioned cake mixes and candles. The mixes were on sale, two for $3, so not too bad. The candles were zero dollars out of pocket because I cashed in some Shopkick scrip. Finally, I added birthday cards from my card stash and put the two kits up for grabs.

But that wasn’t quite the end of the story.

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Aurora sightings.

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As you may have read, an intense solar storm has caused the aurora borealis (aka “northern lights”) to be glimpsed as far south as London, England. Apparently the aurora put on quite a show at Stonehenge, too. The image that came to mind was a bunch of neo-Druids pointing and yelling: “It’s the elder gods sending a message! Does anyone speak Aurora???”

The photo in the illustration was taken by my niece, Alison Willis, and is under copyright so don’t use it to make a T-shirt or something. The colors would likely have been brighter outside of town, due to Anchorage’s light pollution, but it was past 10 p.m. and she didn’t feel like driving an hour or two out and back on a school night.

Instead, she took these photos at Earthquake Park here in town. Throngs of other shooters were there, and the roads to Pt. Woronzof and Flattop (also here in town) were apparently parked on both sides for up to half a mile out.

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Support the reader economy: Giveaway #8.

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It’s been a minute since the last giveaway. As inflation shows no signs of disappearing, I will continue this series.

I know that $25 isn’t much. But it beats not having $25.

As always, the rules are simple: Winner gets to choose his or her scrip source. If it’s possible for me to get an e-gift card from your retailer of choice, then I will do so.

This includes cards from outside the United States, so international readers (and I know you’re out there because Google Analytics told me so) should feel free to enter.

I do need to qualify something: Mastercard or Visa prepaid cards are not an option for this giveaway. They add noticeably to the $25 price tag, and I prefer to stretch my prize budget as far as I can.

Okay, two ways: I will do only e-gift cards from now on.

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Low- or no-spend February 2023, Weeks 2 and 3. (I’m back.)

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Running a little late, obviously. I was already a bit tardy with the low- or no-spend February challenge update when a stomach bug made me almost completely work-avoidant. Many quarts of hydration and loads of hours of sleep later, I am much healthier. But catching up on belated assignments meant missing a week.

While mildly ill, I was reminded yet again that sickness means either spending way too much (medical co-pays, prescriptions, special foods) or feeling too crummy to spend much at all.

This time around it was the latter, fortunately. I was also reminded that I live in a low-maintenance prepper paradise where just about anything I needed was already in hand (and likely bought on sale or at Costco). Powerade? We got it. Canned chicken soup? Ditto. Generic ibuprofen PM, so I could sleep for 12 hours at a stretch? You bet.

That sleep was some of the coziest ever, thanks to the brand-new-to-us down comforter  whose frugal purchase was detailed in the first roundup. Reading some of the comments on that piece, I was impressed by a couple of readers’ stirring tales of thrift.

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