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Some linky bling for your Valentine.

January 27, 2014January 25, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Now that things are more or less back to normal, it’s time to resume the weekly giveaways. This week’s prize would make a good Valentine’s Day gift, provided the winner answers on time – and provided that the winner’s sweetie likes jewelry.

It’s a bracelet from Victoria’s Secret, made of “rose gold” links with a sparkly angel-wing catch. Well, most people think it’s an angel-wing catch. My 7-year-old nephew spent the day with me yesterday and opined that the catch “looks like a mustache.”

A rhinestone mustache, mind you. (Admit it: The song “Rhinestone Cowboy” will now be stuck in your head all day.)

The giveaway is sponsored by my daughter’s website, I Pick Up Pennies. Hope you’ll give her a visit and browse around a bit.

For a shot at linky bling, enter by:

Interested in a free gift card?

December 10, 2013December 5, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Looking to save money during your holiday shopping? Gift Card Granny can help. The aggregator site finds the best deals among the many discounted gift card resellers.

Shopping with a discounted gift card is like having a coupon without an expiration date. You can save anywhere from 2% to 20%, and sometimes more, depending on the retailer.

Gift cards are available for special purchases but also for everyday wants and needs such as groceries, gasoline, toiletries, vitamins, fast food, pet supplies and movie tickets. (My midnight movie jaunts — and their attendant buckets of kettle corn — are a bit more affordable this way.)

I shop with discounted gift cards all year round. Just about any time you check my wallet you’ll find at least one card; right now I have three (Walgreens, McDonald’s and Cinemark). However, these cards are particularly useful during the holidays — and Gift Card Granny is sponsoring a giveaway of a $25 gift card, to help defray your shopping costs.

Giveaway: The TSA-friendly travel kit.

November 30, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Interest in these things never wanes. I expect that’s because it’s just galling to pay more for a teeny-tiny toothpaste than you would for a 6-ouncer on sale with a coupon.

But if you’re planning a trip back to family of origin or to someplace warm and sunny and exotic for the holidays, you’ll need the items contained therein.

Among them:

Hair stuff: Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy volumizing shampoo and conditioner. The aroma in question is “orange ginger,” and it does smell lovely.

Mouth stuff: Crest Pro-Health shampoo and multi-protection rinse (once known as “mouthwash”). Also a wee little container of Glide floss — if you meet the guy/gal of your dreams on that Caribbean cruise, having spinach in your teeth won’t make a good first impression.

Skin stuff: Bath & Body Works lotion (also orange-ginger), Banana Boat sunscreen (SPF 30), Blistex Nurture & Nourish lip balm.

Shop for the best ink/toner prices — and enter to win a $25 gift card.

November 21, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Time to brace yourself for the annual holiday letters – those recaps of hot promotions at work, straight-A report cards, paid internships at Fortune 500 companies, swank housing or automobile upgrades, fabulous vacations and general lack of any downturn.

Throw in a photo of a staggeringly photogenic nuclear family posing with the family pooch and the recipients feel like jumping off bridges.

Their own jobs aren’t going nearly so well, their kids are struggling with algebra and their dogs are butt-ugly (though loyal).

The good news: Paper letters are going the way of the dodo.

The bad news: Now that they’re done electronically the sender can attach video of Junior’s trumpet recital.

How’d you like a $25 gift card to take your mind off the issue?

When is a toy not a toy?

June 23, 2014November 20, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Last week DF and I had the chance to watch his granddaughter for a couple of hours. The baby, whom I’ll call “Rose,” recently had her first birthday.

Her dad brought along a couple of stuffed animals but no other playthings. That was fine, since I’d prepared for her visit by pulling together a few things.

Technically, none of them were “toys.” Here’s what awaited her:

A clear plastic jug that once held eight pounds of popcorn
A small dough scraper
Some metal measuring spoons
Two canning-jar rings
A large kitchen spatula

For the first 15 minutes or so Rose sat on the couch like a very small queen with a very large diaper butt. She stared all around her, checking out the scene and fingering the textures of the afghans beneath and behind her.

When I gave her the plastic jug with the kitchen items, the fun really began.

The winner weighs in, and other news.

November 19, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Today I got a pleasant e-mail from a reader named Britt, who was chosen to win last month’s Swagbucks-sponsored contest. Here’s her communiqué:

“Hi, I wanted to say that I was the winner of the $50 gift card from this drawing, and I wanted to say, THANK YOU so much. I really enjoy your blog, and your past posts on MSN Money and have learned so much. I’m also really grateful that I learned about Swagbucks through your blog.

“Honestly, winning that $50 gift card came at the perfect time, and you have no idea how much it cheered me up. I am one of those people who NEVER win anything. The day before, I was having such a horrible workday, just one of those nasty days where everything seems to go wrong, and stress was incredibly high. The next morning (which happened to be 11/12/13, a “lucky” day, LOL), Swagbucks contacted me via and told me the good news.

“So again, thank you for your part in spreading some good cheer. It’s very much appreciated!

“Also, just want to say to any other readers out there- if you haven’t yet joined Swagbucks, it is so worth it. Not just for the possibility of winning drawings or prizes, either. There are just SO many ways on Swagbucks to earn points and save money. Have a great day!”

I love it when things happen at just the right time.

A survival kit for Black Friday 2013.

November 15, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Some people are wondering whether Black Friday is dead. I wouldn’t order funereal flowers just yet.

Sure, some retailers have been testing the waters with early-November sales and are planning to jump the gun with “Gray Thursday” doorbusters. In addition, shoppers are getting savvier; knowing that not every “sale” price is in fact the best price, we’re less likely to blow the entire holiday budget immediately after Thanksgiving.

Yet some of those Gray Thursday/Black Friday/Cyber Monday loss leaders really are pretty splendid. For example, you’re not likely to find decent-quality bath towels for $2 at any other time of the year.

That’s why we have deal-finding apps: They help us sort the wheat from the chaff. This week’s giveaway is sponsored by FatWallet.com, a site that combines online coupons, cash-back shopping, and a community of fierce deal hounds who delight in posting the best possible combinations of low prices, cash-back and rebates.

The FatWallet Black Friday app lets you search by category (towels, Barbies, camouflage) or by retailer. You can filter by price, search all doorbusters, inquire about rebates, collect e-coupons (no clipping), look for free shipping and even purchase the items immediately from your phone.

(Those of us who don’t own smartphones can access the app on our treadle-powered laptops. Woo hoo!)

What’s this got to do with surviving Black Friday? Good question.

Giveaway: One more from FinCon13.

November 8, 2013 by Donna Freedman

A couple of weeks ago I had the Plutus Awards giveaway: a backpack full of goodies given to winners of the awards, along with fun stuff picked up in the expo hall at the Financial Blogger Conference. This week I’ve got a prize that’s almost as good as that one.

Crystal, who blogs at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, donated her backpack o’treats to the giveaway cause. Thanks to her and also to my daughter, who donated some of her expo hall swag, we’ve got what I guess could be described as the Miss Congeniality Awards giveaway: It’s super-nice and super-fun, but not quite as tip-top as the first-place winner.

A nice little backpack with a “State Farm” logo on it has been filled with, among other things:

10 uses for those ubiquitous canvas bags.

November 5, 2013 by Donna Freedman

If you’ve ever run a race, donated to a charity, attended a convention or been a supporter of public television, you’ve probably got at least one tote bag in your life. Maybe multiple bags. Obviously they’re good as reusable grocery sacks, but that’s not their only use.

My friend Linda B. uses them to sort recyclables. Bags hanging from a railing hold newspaper, mixed paper, tin cans, aluminum, plastic bottles and glass. (And yes, I know they’re not “tin” cans. I also call it “tinfoil,” because I’m old.)

Linda keeps hats, gloves and scarves in a tote bag. In the winter the bag lives in the back of her car and in the summer it goes into the entry closet. Sounds neat and tidy to me – and here’s hoping she never gets stranded somewhere and needs to suit up.

How else to use these bags?

How to trim your living expenses. (Realistically.)

November 1, 2013 by Donna Freedman

While at the Financial Blogger Conference in St. Louis, I ran into Brian J. O’Connor, personal finance editor and columnist for The Detroit News. He was in the Expo Hall, handing out copies of his book, “The $1,000 Challenge: How One Family Slashed its Budget Without Moving Under a Bridge or Living on Government Cheese.”

I happened to have read the book (got an advance uncorrected proof) and was thus able to provide him with potentially the strangest endorsement for the cover of the second edition: “Your book helped me get through my colonoscopy prep.”

He did blink a bit at that, but apparently being a PF writer in Detroit exposes you to all sorts of odd people.

I’d kept the galleys in the bathroom during the, uh, cleansing part of the prep, so as to get a little work done despite my frequent trips to the john. Turns out it was the right move, so to speak: The book is funny as well as well-researched and it took my mind off the current circumstances.

O’Connor’s premise is simple: As middle-class budgets get squeezed ever more tightly, how can we actually save in the face of price increases of the most basic needs?

But he did it, trimming his own family’s budget fairly ruthlessly — yet also fairly painlessly. That’s why I’m giving the book away: to inspire others to find ways to rearrange their own expenses.