Planning to do your own paperwork this year? Tune in on Thursday for some free advice from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the National Association of Person Financial Advisors.
Experts from both will answer your questions via a live webchat between 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern. You can access the chat via live.kiplinger.com or follow along with the Twitter hashtag #MaximizeMoney.
They’ll be offering expert opinion on some pretty essential stuff, including but not limited to:
Back in December I gave away some of my friend Linda B’s handcrafted jewelry. The response was so enthusiastic I’ve decided to do it again, in time for Valentine’s Day. Also in time for her “First Friday” event tomorrow evening at the 2 Friends Gallery here in Anchorage. (If you’re in the area, you should go.)
Once again I wish I were a better photographer. But I’m not, so you’re just going to have to trust me with the details about these pendants.
This time around Linda started with a copper disk and a copper rectangle, knocking both of them silly with a texturing hammer. You can catch a glimpse of this detail despite my sub-par photography.
Next she added colorful metal accents and some copper ones, attaching them with rivets she makes out of heavy-gauge copper wire. Each of these comes with an 18-inch cord.
These would be fine Valentine’s Day gifts if that’s the sort of thing you do. They’d also do well as birthday or Christmas presents — or maybe for a little self-gifting. As one of the characters in “Steel Magnolias” put it, what separates us from the lower animals is our ability to accessorize.
El Niño is messing with us. Whether your weather is running weirdly hot or punishingly cold, chances are you can use a little treat. That’s why I’m giving away $10 worth of Starbucks gift cards.
If the winner lives in subzero territory it’s time for a steaming coffee, chai or hot chocolate. Maybe a second one, too, to pour over his or her frozen toes.
And if you’re walking around in shorts and a T-shirt in Philly or New York? Further the “hey, it’s spring already!” illusion with a fancy iced drink. (Or hang on to it for the inevitable return of cold-and-damp days, when you’ll really need a little consolation.)
A little news you can use before the weekend, beginning with free health screenings at Sam’s Club on Saturday, Jan. 9.
All the Sam’s Club stores with pharmacies will offer the following tests to anyone who walks in (i.e., you don’t need to be a club member):
The estimated value is $150. If you’ve been wondering about glucose or cholesterol, get yourself in there and find out where you stand.
I sure hope that this week’s winner never actually needs the prize. But we’re in the thick of the cold and flu season so it’s best to be prepared — and it’s even better when someone else buys your supplies.
The winner will receive a box full of things essential to someone who’s down with the sniffles or a full-blown influenza. Here’s what’s in the package:
This week’s giveaway achieves two of my favorite goals: supporting the local economy and helping readers finish up their holiday shopping.
I only wish that my meh-photography did justice to the two pendants up for grabs this week. They’re quite striking and hand cut- and hammered by my friend Linda B.
She started by cutting two disks of aluminum: one a deep maroon and the other a vibrant violet. Onto each she riveted a five-armed, gear-like circle that makes the pendants look, at first glance, like sheriffs’ badges or combat medals.
The colors below seem richer, possibly because you’re seeing them in concentrated glimpses. The overlays give a suggestion of motion that I like to think of as, “Hey — get your life in gear and start moving!”
Know anyone who needs an accessory with a built-in kick in the pants? Or maybe you need it yourself.
Conferences are always good for odd bits of swag: mouse pads, Post-It notes, bathtub toys.
I was a little more selective at this year’s Financial Blogger Conference, because my suitcase wasn’t very big.
Too, I kept a couple of items for myself:
RepayDebt.org’s “Slash Debt” T-shirt, which bore a piggy-bank head with long black curls and a top hat. (Get it? I didn’t, either, until my daughter reminded me of the existence of the Guns ’n’ Roses musician Slash.)
A squeezable foam “stress bull” – not because I’m stressed, but because I thought it might amuse DF’s granddaughter. He looks a bit incongruous in the cloth Noah’s Ark, since he’s twice as big as the other critters, but I’m sure they’ll work something out.
Purple socks printed with stylized pennies, from Pennyhoarder.com. They’re reversible to plain purple if you care what people think about your accessories. (Hint: I think they’re cool.)
But I still came away with a few things someone will want.
Regular readers know how I feel about the “Tundra” comic strip, created by Alaska cartoonist Chad Carpenter. Not content with being syndicated all over the world, Carpenter recently branched out into filmmaking with “Moose: The Movie.”
At one of the screenings Carpenter handed out autographed calendars. I promptly re-gifted mine for the May 3 giveaway (whose write-up included my impressions of the film).
Now that “Moose: The Movie” is available for home viewing, I’m reinstating the weekly giveaways with a copy of the DVD.
Is it great cinema? Of course not. But it’s good, goofy fun and very Carpenterian; witness the wildlife protection poster glimpsed in the Gangrene Gulch ranger station. Anyone who’s visited (or wants to visit) the Last Frontier will fall in love with the cinematography.
Don’t just take my word for it, though. A review from The Alaska Dispatch News calls it “bright, fast-paced, well-produced, utterly entertaining and very amusing,” among other things.
As regular readers already know, Swagbucks is my favorite rewards program. That’s why I post special offers every so often – and today’s offer, the $100 Million Day, is a good one.
Since I’m currently on the road I was unable to get the post up first thing this morning. Thus by the time you read this the first couple of Swag Codes have already come and gone. But you’ve got a shot at four more before 5 p.m. PDT, and you’ve got until 11:59 p.m. PDT to earn up to 400 extra points (called “SB”) in several other ways.
What ways? So glad you asked.
Got questions about the post-work world? Get answers for free during an eight-hour online chat this Thursday.
It’s sponsored by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, 20 money professionals will tackle your questions on topics such as: