contest Archives - Surviving and Thriving

Go win these contests.

March 27, 2020March 22, 2020 by Donna Freedman

I enter contests all the time, in real life and on the Internet. Sometimes I even win them.

Most recently it was for a prize I didn’t really need, but figured I could sell. The guy running the contest offered me the $250 cash equivalency. Right before the holidays, too. #christmasmiracle

Once you enter, you’re on their mailing lists for future contests. Lately I’ve been seeing a steady stream of gift cards for Amazon, Target, Walmart and other retailers.

A couple have been for computer and gaming items, from monitors to chairs. Again: Don’t need, but could gift (one of my nephews is a major gamer) or sell for a little extra cash.

Lately a lot of people could use a little extra cash. Thus I’ve decided to group together the contests I currently know about so that you can enter them, too. Even if you don’t shop at those retailers, you could sell the cards on the secondary market.

Here’s what I’ve currently got:

Three chances to win gift cards.

October 16, 2018 by Donna Freedman

These things would come in handy right before the holidays.

Who am I kidding? Gift cards come in handy any time.

Only one of the three opportunities requires any real time investment – and since that time would be spent carving a jack o’lantern, it’s hardly painful.

Well, except maybe to the pumpkin, if pumpkins were sentient. But they aren’t. Unless, that is, you believe the Arrogant Worms song “Carrot Juice Is Murder.”

Philosophical derail over. Time to win some cards.

Giveaway: ‘Live Your Life For 1/2 The Price.’

July 31, 2016 by Donna Freedman

On the back cover of “Live Your Life For 1/2 The Price,” prolific personal finance author Mary hunt perfectly sums up my feelings about frugality:

“It’s the money you don’t spend that ultimately gives you the freedom to live the life you love.”

You tell ’em, girl.

Hunt, who’s written a couple of dozen books and created the Debt Proof Living program and the Mary Hunt’s Everyday Cheapskate website, gives readers the tools to do things like reduce costs, get control of spending, avoid fees, retire the mortgage off early and pay a fair sum for the right car. And she does it with her trademark humor, compassion and pragmatism.

In other words, she’s fun to read and she knows what it’s like to be in debt — boy, does she know! — but she won’t let you off the hook for any of it. Instead, she’ll throw you a lifeline.

Greetings from Contractor Land.

October 8, 2015 by Donna Freedman

I’ve taken a two-month contract job and my head, she is spinning. At 8 a.m. Monday I had my first conference with the editor and by 9 a.m. I had four assignments, all due within one week.

The articles are all based on insurance, a topic about which I know as much as any other freelance personal finance writer. Translation: I’ve spent a lot of time researching this week.

By the end of the first day I was utterly wrung out and wondering just what I’d done. The only thing that kept me going was the memories of my first day at The Chicago Tribune and the first few weeks at MSN Money. In both cases I felt completely at sea but I managed to survive, and to thrive.

Want a $50 Macy’s card?

February 12, 2015February 11, 2015 by Donna Freedman

I figured that would get your attention. The crew at Savings.com, which recently offered a chance at a Sony portable sound system, is at it once more: This time, they’re handing out 20 of those gift cards.

I’d love it if one (or more!) of my readers could win. You can try once a day from now through 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 15.

Win a Sony portable party system.

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 by Donna Freedman

Just in time for the 57th annual Grammy Awards, the folks at Savings.com are giving away a trio of Sony portable party systems with Bluetooth and NFC.

It would be great if all three went to readers of Surviving and Thriving. Failing that, even one winner would do.

You have until 11:59 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 7 to try.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and other PF topics.

September 2, 2014 by Donna Freedman

I had a blast watching “Guardians of the Galaxy,” so much so that I later took my great-nephews to see it – a second viewing for all of us. That time, though, I went with an eye toward superheroic money lessons.

Hey, if I can do it for “Parsifal,” “Godzilla” and “Gotterdammerung,” surely I can do it for comic-book heroes.

“8 personal finance tips from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’” ran recently over at my day job, Money Talks News. Among them: “Classics endure,” “Good sense trumps sentiment (or should)” and “Judge performance, not appearance.”

Show me another job that lets you charge your movie ticket as a business expense. Other than movie reviewer, that is.

Go win a $1,000 Visa gift card (before 9 p.m. July 17).

July 17, 2014July 16, 2014 by Donna Freedman

I thought that might get your attention. Expedia and Savings.com are giving away three $1,000 Visa gift cards on Thursday, July 18.

I see no reason why all three shouldn’t be won by S&T readers. Here’s how to enter:

Ally Bank might give you $100.

June 23, 2014June 23, 2014 by Donna Freedman

I figured that would get your attention. The $100 in question comes in the form of Amazon scrip, and two such gift cards will be given away during Ally’s monthly TweetChat on June 24.

That’s tomorrow, in case you aren’t keeping track. The topic is one with which all of us could use some schoolin’.

“Protecting Yourself Online” is just what it sounds like: the latest on security and how to protect your identity and your digital assets. As the Ally wonks note, you wouldn’t give your car keys to a stranger or leave your home’s windows and doors open – yet plenty of us are fairly unguarded online.

According to Consumer Reports, 62 percent of U.S. citizens have done nothing to protect themselves when using the Internet. That’s understandable, since digital security can be a very confusing topic – and since well-publicized data breaches make it look as though no one can really guard against determined hackers.

Free health screenings. Also: Gift cards and an iPotty.

June 10, 2014 by Donna Freedman

When possible, I try to post free stuff and the chance to win gift cards because these are good ways to stretch the budget. Here are four such opps, all of which could turn out to be great frugal hacks – that is, if you live near a Sam’s Club and/or are lucky enough to win.

(About that “iPotty”: I am not making that up. I couldn’t make that up. More on it below.)

On Saturday, June 14 you can get free men’s health screenings at all Sam’s Club locations that have pharmacies. You don’t have to be a member to take advantage of:

PSA (prostate-specific antigen), for men 40 and older
Total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol
Glucose
Body mass index
Blood pressure
Vision
Risk ratio

The screenings are offered between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. In honor of Father’s Day, maybe the dad(s) in your life will give you a gift: the opportunity to be in your life longer by being proactive about health.