giveaway

Giveaway: The cold and flu package.

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th-1I’ve heard a bunch of hacking and coughing lately, and I bet Alaska isn’t the only state thus afflicted. With so much time spent indoors, you’re likely to run into some kind of rhinovirus or other virulent cootie just lookin’ for a home.

Once it hits, having to pay $7 for a bottle of cough syrup adds fiscal insult to physical injury. I think that’s why these cold-and-flu giveaways are so popular: Nobody wants to shell out $20 or more for analgesics and expectorants.

This time around the package features:

Advil Congestion Relief. It’s a non-drowsy version, in case you really can’t take time off from work, and it’s a one-pill dose so you don’t have to remember to take it throughout the day.

Tissues. With all the suffering in the world it’s a little embarrassing to complain  about a chapped honker. But after a couple of days of nonstop blowing our noses really do get sore. That’s why I’m including a box of Kleenex Lotion Aloe & E Tissues.

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Some linky bling for your Valentine.

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Victoria's Secret braceletNow 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:

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Giveaway: Wearable art from Alaska.

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photo 1(1)My friend Linda B. has a sideline making beaded items, mostly jewelry. She doesn’t just string beads in straight rows, however.

Linda has been known to bead-weave around seashells, interesting rocks, copper plumbing parts and  aluminum flashing she picked up for a song at the Habitat ReStore.

She also likes to pound metal. Boy, does she. I was her roommate when I returned to Alaska, and sometimes I’d go to sleep hearing the tink-tink-tink of one of her hammers pressing shapes out of flat metal and then, sometimes, texturizing their surfaces.

It was like “The Shoemaker and the Elves,” if the shoemaker had made boots out of aluminum or copper.

Recently I helped her set up for a crafts show and decided to be the “lucky money,” i.e., the first sale of the day. Rather than get one of the bigger beaded pieces I opted for two lovely pairs of earrings, which I figured would have more mass appeal — and would also make good last-minute holiday gifts.

Thus I’m giving away two prizes this week.

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Interested in a free gift card?

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thLooking 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.

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Giveaway: The TSA-friendly travel kit.

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thInterest 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.

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What’s new at MTN, plus a few ways to win.

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thI’ve had three articles appear at Money Talks News since my last roundup, two of them seasonal and one that might as well be seasonal since it involves your pocketbook:

“Tips to score a year’s worth of gifts at rock-bottom prices” suggests that you use loss leaders and doorbusters to build an evergreen gift closet. A little poking around and you’ll have presents for just about every occasion: birthdays, Valentine’s Day, baby showers, Mother’s and Father’s days, weddings, you name it. It’s particularly useful when your kids blindside you on Friday evening: “I’m invited to Tyler’s birthday party tomorrow.”

“Worried about the size of your…discount? Relax: It’s just deal envy” also bounces off Gray Thursday/Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Some people feel depressed when they find out they missed a chance to save money – and I don’t blame them, which is why the article contains ideas on how to keep costs down.

“The 3 golden rules of loaning to friends and family” is just what it sounds like: tips on whether/when to say “yes” and some ideas on how to say “no” if you must.

In other news:

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

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thTime 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?

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The winner weighs in, and other news.

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thToday 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.

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A survival kit for Black Friday 2013.

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thSome 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.

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Giveaway: One more from FinCon13.

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winnerA 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: