gift cards

FinCon19 wrap-up, and a related giveaway.

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I’m back, sort of. Before attending FinCon19, I spent five days in Washington, D.C. with my daughter, who had five nights’ worth of free lodging. (Love those travel rewards credit cards.)

We mostly* hit the free museums, gawked at the architecture like a couple of tourists, and ate nearly every meal at the hotel (yay free breakfast!) and from our fridge (it was a full-kitchen Marriott Residence Inn, and there was a Safeway about five blocks away). This frugality allowed us to indulge in Thai and Ethiopian restaurants the rest of the time.

Then it was off to FinCon19 (aka the 2019 Financial Blogger Conference), where I ran nonstop for four days: attending programs, meeting with a bunch of writers and potential employers, and moderating a panel on why freelancers should quit undervaluing their worth.

The conference was a bit overwhelming, especially compared to the first-ever FinCon, which had fewer than 200 participants. This time around it was 2,500 attendees, and the noise and the swirl left me feeling pretty worn-out. At times I would dip out of the crush and head back up to the hotel room for 10 minutes’ worth of peace.

Overall, though, it was an absolute blast. I hung out with old friends and met some new ones, shared tips with newbies and was given great advice by veterans, attended some receptions (especially the AARP one, which was crammed with amazing women writers), and most of all, felt like a professional again.

I’ve been making a living as a writer for 35 years. Living way up in Anchorage makes me an outlier, though, far from easy access to writer meet-ups. Too, I tend to isolate myself: Sometimes I need help, or advice, or simple fellowship but don’t reach out to others.

(About that last: Had a very rewarding chat with Jackie Lam of Hey Freelancer and Sarah-Li Cain of Beyond The Dollar, who both told me to Facebook-message them any time I’m having One Of Those Days. Bless their hearts.)

Bonus: The conference yielded a moderate** amount of swag for a future giveaway, plus a very nice stand-alone item that I’ll be giving away at the end of this article.

 

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Giveaway: $10 Starbucks card.

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Baby, it’s hot outside. The summer has been/is still quite brutal in many parts of the Lower 48. While I can’t change the weather, I can offer a palliative.

Could anyone use a $10 Starbucks card?

Even a non-coffee-drinking weirdo like me has to admit that Starbucks has some mighty tasty and refreshing cold beverages. I can go years without setting foot in a Starbucks shop, but when I’m on the road in the summer and positively wilting from the heat, the familiar mermaid logo is rather like a siren’s call. Come on in! We have ice! And iced drinks!

 

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Win a $50 Home Depot card. Also: Autism awareness.

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Want a $50 head start on home improvement or summer fun? Of course you do.

The folks at the Savings.com deal site are giving away $500 worth of Home Depot gift cards this week.

Ten winners will each receive $50 worth of purchasing power at the home improvement center, just in time for summer building projects, garden add-ons, or fun stuff like a wine-bottle cooler or charcoal grill (see deal list, below).

My dad gives me a Home Depot card every year for Christmas. He knows that DF and I will use it for compost, peat pots and other items for our vegetable and flower gardening projects. The Home Depot has everything we want for summer. The retailer was also a big help to my daughter and me as we cleaned up her rental unit after her in-laws moved out. (You’ll love the before-and-after photos, although a couple of them might make you queasy.)

 

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Super-short story contest, plus giveaways.

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Got a story to tell? If it’s a short one, you could parlay that tale into a free writing class.

How short? Really short. The Gotham Writers Workshop is challenging writers to tell a story in 10 words or fewer – and if you include a title, that counts against the word-limit.

Pretty hardcore, huh? But it can be done. Witness this perhaps-apocryphal example from Ernest Hemingway:

 

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. 

 

Sure, it’s more of a skit than a full-length play. But with just a few words, you can evoke a mood, a backstory, a launch pad for a longer piece to be written later.

For now, keep it under 10 words. Here’s how.

 

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Win a $500 Amazon gift card.

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Want a $500 Amazon gift card? You probably do.

Last week I posted several ways to win gift cards to boost your holiday shopping. A few more giveaways have popped up since then – and if I can’t win them, then I hope one of my readers will.

The big enchilada is that $500 Amazon card, which is being given away by a new site called Considerable.com. Its goal is to provide money and lifestyle information for people aged 45 and over. Give it a look – there’s some great reading here.

 

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Three chances to win gift cards.

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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.

 

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Wise Bread Tweetchat = $100 in Amazon cards.

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The smart-money website is also giving away two Kindle copies of “Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs And Wants Edition.” That’s because I’m the guest of honor, so to speak, at this week’s Tweetchat.

The theme: “Building The Life You Want With The Money You Have.” From the Wise Bread website:

Learn about what a frugalist is, having a winning attitude during financial turns, ways to cut costs on food, and more. Tell us if you have a “freedom fund” and let us know one thing you could do today to start living a more frugalist lifestyle.

Sound like anyone you know?

Come share your own wisdom, whether it’s instinctive or hard-won, and you may be rewarded: Wise Bread is giving away four prizes.

 

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Here’s my Swagbucks story.

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(I’m taking part in the “Tell Your Swagbucks Story” promotion at the Swagbucks rewards program site.)

When my daughter first told me about Swagbucks, I figured it was just another frugal hack, i.e., a way to earn a few rewards cards and boost my budget.

It was. But it’s become so much more.

Over the years, the Swagbucks rewards program has become a way for me to eat better, slash my gift-giving costs, travel more affordably, send items to people in need and enjoy fresh tomatoes in Alaska – frugally.

Here’s how.

 

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A hot (and short-lived) incentive to try Hulu.

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If you’ve been on the fence about Hulu, this might be the time to do it: This weekend, Swagbucks is offering a $28 incentive to try the $7.99-per-month television service.

Specifically: When you sign up for Hulu you’ll get 2,800 SB points, which translates to $28 worth of gift cards (or PayPal, if you prefer the cash). You could think of this as making $20, or that Swagbucks is paying for your first three-plus months of the cable TV alternative.

But wait, there’s more: If you sign up this weekend you’ll get another 300 SB in your account in May. The total, then, is $31 worth of gift card (or PayPal) power.

So how do you get a piece of the action? Two easy steps (with occasional gusts to three):

 

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