books

Giveaway: “Do More, Spend Less.”

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9781118518557_p0_v2_s260x420Brad Wilson wasn’t content just to found BradsDeals.com, TravelHacks.com and annually renewing sites for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  To spread his “everything you know about being a consumer is wrong” message, he also wrote a book.

“Do More, Spend Less: The New Secrets of Living the Good Life for Less” describes the behaviors and hacks that let Wilson earn more than 5 million frequent flyer miles, get half-off his iPhone and plan, arrange a 25% discount on new cars, spend three weeks at the Park Hyatt Paris for $20 and get a 0%, six-figure line of credit to build a business.

Until recently marketing has had a tight grip on our wallets, he notes, but thanks to the Internet “the playing field is tilting in our favor.”

Internet deal-hunting has made it possible for consumers to look beyond the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Sometimes far beyond.

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Giveaway: A book for those going out on their own.

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thIs there a young ‘un in your family who’s about to fly the coop? Or do you know of a recent grad who’s jonesing to live solo? This week’s giveaway could be a nice pre-housewarming gift. That is, it can help them learn some of the things they need to know about leaving the nest.

“I’m Free, I’m Free, I’m Free! Now What?” was written by a woman I know who wants to give “easygoing, mildly cynical guidance” to those about to set up housekeeping.

But couldn’t you give a new young lessee much or all of the knowledge s/he needs? Probably. Will they listen? Not necessarily.

Hence the subtitle of Janet McCart’s book: “A Semi-Serious Guide to Early Housekeeping or Things You Wouldn’t Let Your Family Tell You.” Some young people are skilled at tuning out what their parents say but would believe it if they read it in a book.

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Giveaway: “The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style.”

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new-bookI like Liliana Vasquez’ style. Not just her sartorial sense, but her common sense. Here are a couple of examples of the blogger and author’s advice:

“Labels don’t define us – they’re just little pieces of cloth that tell you how to take care of your garment.”

“Remember: Style can’t be bought. It comes from confidence and creativity.”

“Age is nothing but a number, but our style has to evolve as we get older whether we like it or not.”

“You don’t have to adhere completely to the fashion world’s rules to curate your own style.”

Vazquez, who blogs at The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style, from her smart, practical and, yes, thrifty advice. “The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style: Secrets to Shopping Cheap and Looking Chic” is this week’s giveaway.

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Prepping: It’s not just for grownups anymore.

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thumbDallas resident Bernie Carr sees no reason that city dwellers can’t be ready for trying times. Having written The Apartment Prepper blog for several years and having written “The Prepper’s Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster,” Carr has made preparedness more accessible to a lot of folks who don’t own bunkers.*

Now she’s taking on a new audience: kids.

Not to scare them into stockpiling skateboard wheels and Fruit Roll-Ups, but rather to make the idea of getting ready for any challenge – be it power failure or hurricane, earthquake or zombie apocalypse – less frightening.

Her new picture book, “Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure: A Prepper’s Book for Kids” (Ulysses Press) is designed to show young readers that it’s smarter to be prepared than scared. While imagining an amazing trip (deserts, mountains, jungle, a cave) they pack the supplies they need to stay warm, fed and safe.

Carr has donated a copy of the book for this week’s giveaway. Whether you’re a parent or a teacher, whether you live in Tornado Alley or on the Ring of Fire, Jake and Miller’s story can show kids that getting ready isn’t scary – it’s smart.

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Giveaway: “Budget Bytes,” a wonderful cookbook.

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351095I’ve often said that food is the budget category with the most wiggle room. After all, you usually can’t bargain down your car payment or your rent. Groceries, on the other hand, can be finagled.

That’s how Beth Moncel came to start a blog and later write a book. Her student loans were “eating her alive,” she said, so she had to cut spending. When a car repair knocked her budget sprawling, Moncel decided to spend no more than $6 per day for food in order to pay the freight.

Having earned a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science, she already knew how to make food healthy. Now she just had to make it affordable.

To keep herself on track she created a blog, BudgetBytes.com. Soon she developed quite the fan base, because plenty of us would love to eat well but also cheaply.

Now she’s also got a book, “Budget Bytes: Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half.” Reading it makes me hungry, filled as it is with ideas like Huevos Rancheros Bowls (served over grits instead of wrapped in corn tortillas), Spinach & Artichoke Pasta, Curried Potato & Pea Soup, Chicken Tamale Pie, Teriyaki Salmon With Sriracha Mayo, Cumin-Lime Sweet Potato Sticks, Firecracker Cauliflower, White Beans With Spinach & Bacon, Savory Coconut Rice, and Southwest Veggie & Rice Casserole.

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Help with starting your blog.

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https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=132158&c=ib&aff=219310Some people write for love. Others write for money. I say it’s possible to do both, by starting a blog and monetizing it.

Although I dislike that neologism, I do embrace its underpinnings, i.e., that the laborer is worthy of his hire.

This week’s giveaway, an e-book called “How I Make Money Blogging: The Beginner’s Guide to Building a Money-Making Blog,” can kick-start your own efforts to be rewarded for your thoughts.

Some people make a little money blogging. Some make a lot. The book’s author, Crystal Stemberger, is in the latter camp. She really works it, running a handful of sites and also acting as ad-sales goddess, mentor, consultant and freelancer. Apparently she is allergic to sleep, because she recently added yet another specialty: pet-sitting.

Not everybody wants to work 24-7. But if you want to start a blog or if you’ve got a site and want it to start paying its way, this e-book can help. A lot.

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Giveaway: “Couponing For The Rest of Us”

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bookAnd now for something completely different: a coupon expert who doesn’t like coupons.

Kasey Knight Trennum, who blogs at Time 2 $ave/Time 2 Give, says that she’s never sung the praises of coupons. Ask her about “the joys of saving a ton of money,” however, and she’ll get pretty vocal.

More than vocal: Trennum wrote a book, “Couponing For The Rest of Us: The Not-So-Extreme Guide to Saving More,” that’s designed to help readers save money “without it becoming an obsession.”

The author offers information on topics like deciphering “sales cycles,” how to locate coupons for items your family actually eats, smart stockpiling, making the Internet do most of the legwork, and turning saving into sharing.

And again, a sane approach: “I can’t stress enough (that) balance is the key to making couponing work for you. You have to figure out how to make it fit into your world; it cannot become your world.”

In addition to the book, this week’s winner will also get a cute little green accordion-style folder. After all, some coupons are still made of paper rather than pixels.

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Help with living ‘a life of passion.’

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1491708069_bHaving trouble getting started with your goals? Can’t seem to get it in gear to build the business, create the service, learn the skill or write the book you know will make a difference? Motivational speaker and accountant Onyx Jones can help.

She knows a little something about change and growth. Once a homeless single mother, Jones now has a master’s degree in accounting and is a motivational speaker.

She’s turned the latter into a book called “The Unofficial Guide to Achieving Your Goals,” which is this week’s giveaway.

“(After) committing to following all seven steps, you will see improvement in your quality of life in just 30 to 90 days,” says Jones.

This slim paperback (66 pages) is designed to “motivate, inspire and provide you with tools for achieving your goals and living a life of passion.” And those seven steps mentioned above? If you’re not the kind of person who likes to follow directions, maybe this book isn’t for you.

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Giveaway: “The Economy of You.”

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qThe personal finance publishing industry has recently seen a run on books about entrepreneurism. That’s probably because the side hustle has become a reality to so many people — up to 25 percent of U.S. residents currently freelance or work second jobs.

And those are just the ones surveyed. My guess is that the numbers are higher.

Among the best of the books I’ve seen “The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life.” The author, Kimberly Palmer, is a full-time writer and mom of two who started her own side gig, an Etsy store called Palmer’s Planners.

It wasn’t about getting rich, but rather to earn enough “to be in control of my life,” says Palmer, senior money editor for U.S. News & World Report.

Want a piece of that yourself? Enter to win the book.

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Want a $100 Amazon card? Join this Tweetchat

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thA watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot full of raspberries and rhubarb can make a real mess of your stovetop.

Yep, I’m back from Florida and I’m making yogurt. And messes.

I didn’t get home until 1 a.m. Tuesday and was so glad to be on the ground I didn’t care that it was covered with snow. Total time between waking up in Tarpon Springs, Florida and getting into my own bed in Anchorage: 23 hours. Alaska is really far away from a lot of places.

Since then I’ve been scrambling to play catch-up with several different projects (including multiple interviews for one of them), so I have neither time nor inclination to write something deeply meaningful. However, I wanted to do a quick roundup.

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