giveaway

Starbucks coffee or tea — it’s on me.

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th-1El 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.)

 

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Giveaway: The cold and flu relief package.

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thI 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:

 

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How to lose weight.

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51V5skn-eJL._SX368_BO1,204,203,200_ “Lose weight” and/or “eat better” will appear on many a New Year’s resolution list — just as they did last year, and will again next year. Such plans often gang agley for a number of reasons.

We aren’t really invested in them. We miss our old comfort foods. We don’t know how to adjust the rest of our lives to support a new way of being in the world.

That’s why I’m giving away a Kindle copy of Victoria Hay’s “30 Pounds, 4 Months: How to Eat Well and Lose Weight – Painlessly.”

Her approach is fairly simple: Dieting isn’t something you do. It’s something you are.

“You change your way of looking at food, work light exercise – nothing extreme! – into your daily habits, and learn to eat better food, not necessarily less food,” says Hay, a former journalist and professor and current owner of The Copyeditor’s Desk writing and publishing service.

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Up for grabs: Alaska art jewelry.

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IMG_20151210_113500This 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.

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Two million and counting.

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th-1When I started Surviving and Thriving back in 2010 my life was very, very different. I’d recently gotten a university degree (at age 52 – better late than really late) and was making a living as a full-time writer for MSN Money plus an every-other-week staff writer at Get Rich Slowly. I freelanced for other publications as well, and traveled a lot.

Now I live in Anchorage, Alaska with the love of my life and am back to freelancing full-time because MSN Money fired all its writers on the same day back in autumn 2013.

Earlier this year I started an online course called Write A Blog People Will Read* and also hung out my shingle as a writing coach.

Tired? You bet.

Grateful? Indescribably so.

 

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Giveaway: SCOTTeVEST clothing.

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sev_logo_tileBack in 2000, Scott Jordan got frustrated when trying to mix two of his favorite things: travel and tech. So he created what he called the “pocket revolution,” i.e., a line of clothing that would organize and protect his gadgets while leaving them easily accessible on the road.

Since then he’s sold more than 10 million pockets, in the form of “tech-enabled” clothing for men and women – everything from underpants to hoodies. Multiple pockets, some of them completely hidden, protect your gadgets, cash and other valuables.

Just for giggles and grins, here’s a video of best-selling author Amy Tan showing what she keeps in her SCOTTeVEST clothing:

The garment is a veritable clown car, isn’t it?

When a representative from SCOTTeVEST contacted me to offer a couple of samples, I jumped at the chance – and one reader will win two great-looking, comfortable and practical garments.

 

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Giveaway: A big box of FinCon15.

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th-2Conferences 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.

 

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Giveaway: ‘Moose, the Movie.’

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POSTERRegular 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.

 

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Up for grabs: $25 Body Shop gift cards.

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The last time that Savings.com had a gift card giveaway, two of my readers won. Each got a $20 Visa gift card.

This time around, the scrip is even more generous: Forty winners will each get $25 worth of buying power at The Body Shop.

Savings.com has also brokered an exclusive discount for Body Shop fans. But first let’s talk about how to win the gift card.

It’s pretty simple: Go to The Body Shop giveaway page and enter your e-mail address in the form. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 20. Winners will be notified on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

Summer can be rough on your skin. Getting a $25 head start on emollients would be a nice way to end the season. Or stock up on your favorite body products in advance of winter’s chilling effects.

Note: From now until Aug. 20, you can get $10 off Body Shop orders of $60 or more plus free shipping. Use this link and enter the code SAVINGSDOTCOM10.

 

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Who wants a $50 gift card?

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The Swagbucks rewards program has offered to sponsor a prize of 5,000 SB, enough for a $50 gift card of the winner’s choice.

This week’s giveaway is going to be a bit different:

  • It will last longer (11 days instead of five).
  • As indicated by the headline, the prize is bigger than usual.
  • You can enter only once and in a very specific way.

I’m calling this the “Dog Days of Summer” giveaway as a reminder of the ways that gift cards can help the heat-weary battle through the waning (but still steamy) season.

For example, you could opt for a $50 movie gift card and sit a cool, dark theater. Or get $50 worth of Starbucks scrip and sit there with a cool drink on the hottest afternoon.

Maybe you could get $50 worth of restaurant credit and avoid cooking on a particularly uncomfortable day, or choose Amazon gift cards and buy something to take your mind off that heat rash.

 

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