free

Another TSA-friendly toiletries bag up for grabs.

by

thHad enough of winter? Maybe it’s time to go somewhere — and this week’s giveaway is a great travel companion.

The prize is another bag of travel-sized toiletries because (a) spring break is almost here and (b) it’s always a popular giveaway. Maybe that’s because you, like me, resent the hell out of paying $1.44 an ounce for toothpaste.

“Sized right for flight,” my left hind foot: It’s another way to gouge the consumer because manufacturers know how many of us want to go carry-on only.

What’s in the bag? So glad you asked.

Read more

Giveaway: Hand-made chocolates. (Now with more fish!)

by

slide5The giveaway schedule is all bollixed up lately, due to circumstances (mostly) beyond my control. Hope to get back on track soon.

Not this week, though. I’m choosing to put it up on a Monday and to draw on a Friday afternoon in honor of Valentine’s Day, in support of the local economy and with a tip of the hat to flavors of the Last Frontier.

Specifically: This batch of handmade sweets from Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge:

  • Would be a delightful treat for your loved one (or yourself!) on Feb. 14;
  • Are made by folks who live in Anchorage; and
  • Uses fish as an ingredient in two of the truffles.

Yes, fish. Get out of your comfort zone, already. Or offer the fishy ones to people you want to shock.

Read more

A shooter’s view of Alaska.

by

That’s “shooter” as in photographer, not as in hunter.

This week’s giveaway “Snap Decisions: My 30 Years as an Alaska News Photographer,” is more than just the moose-and-goose-in-the-spruce school of photography.

I do have to say, however, that the moose photo to the left is one of my favorite images ever published in the Anchorage Daily News.

Read more

Not a Swagbucks member? Get a bonus if you join by the end of the day.

by
swagbucks screenshot © by Ruby Galanida

Yesterday I took part in an online chat at CompareRewards.com, a site specializing in news and reviews of rewards programs. One of the guests was from Swagbucks.com, my favorite rewards site.

She gave us a promo code, good only through this weekend, that will provide new members with 70 Swagbucks upon joining, instead of 30.

I intended to put up a post last night — but I lost my Internet connection. (Moral of the story: Don’t intend. Just do.)

So if you aren’t a Swagbucks member yet, I hope you’ll do the following:

Read more

Help for would-be bloggers.

by

Interested in not just starting but also “monetizing” (ugh — hideous neologism!) your own site? You need this week’s giveaway.

It’s a copy of “How I Make Money Blogging: The Beginner’s Guide to Building a Money-Making Blog,”  an e-book by Crystal Stemberger. The author, who owns or co-owns eight sites, offers how-to advice on everything from choosing the right title to how much you should charge for ads.

Read more

Think your money questions are dumb?

by

Well, they’re not. Or so says my MSN Money colleague Liz Weston, aka the most widely read financial columnist on the Internet. Her latest book, “There Are No Dumb Questions About Money,” is this week’s giveaway.

Liz bases her text on real questions people have asked. In other words, this is information that people like you and I can use.

As a writer she is direct but also compassionate. While she understands how people can get into money trouble, she also is clear that the best person to help you usually is you.

Read more

FinCon12, with a cold — and a giveaway to match. Plus: An erudite vampire novel.

by

I go for months and months without getting a cold. When it’s time to go to a conference, I get sick. But what makes that particularly amusing is the subject of this week’s giveaway: another cold and flu package.

If the items I’m giving away were here, I’d have been into them all by now.

Read more