giveaway

Monday miscellany: Holiday hiring edition.

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“Get a side hustle” is a common personal finance suggestion, whether it’s for paying off debt or building wealth. A whole bunch of those side-gig options went away when COVID-19 struck, according to veteran PF writer Kathy Kristof.

But “several industries are now picking up steam,” Kristof writes on her SideHusl website.

“Some are back from the dead, while others are simply ramping up to new highs for the holidays.”

Among them: warehouse work, delivery, pet-sitting, mystery shopping and, of course, holiday retail. In her article, “Jobs that are revving up and reviving,” Kristof doesn’t just make the observations – she also gives links to the sites where you can apply for these gigs.

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Monday miscellany: Murder houses.

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Want to pay less for real estate? Look for a place where someone died.

Myles Ma of Policy Genius has written an engaging piece called “How death can haunt (or help) your house hunt.” According to one of his sources, you can expect a 10 to 25 percent discount a house where someone died.

Morbid? Yeah, a little. That is, if you can actually find out what happened there. In 32 states you don’t have to disclose such information; in 15, you have to disclose if the buyer asks. The toughest laws are in California (death within past three years) and South Dakota and Alaska (one year prior).

It doesn’t have to be murder, incidentally. Some people just want to know if a person breathed his last in a place they’re thinking of buying.

One of the most geekily fascinating parts of the article has to do with the so-called “Murder House” – a Los Angeles manse where a season of the television program “American Horror Story” was filmed. The folks who bought the place are suing the realtors for allegedly not telling them that some creepy fans of that very creepy TV show known to, um, haunt the place. Some of them sleep just outside the property line and others have frequently trespassed to the point of actually trying to get into the house. Yikes.

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Giveaway: Yet another gift card.

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First it was the technical difficulties. Then I was mostly buried under deadlines. Then some other stuff* happened.

As a result, it’s been more than three weeks since I last posted a giveaway, despite my pledge to do that every week.

So maybe I’ll up the frequency of these things, to get back on track for holiday shopping. I already have two more  giveaways of Alaska items planned, but posting them would have meant a lot of moving and re-sizing of photographs.

Due to the aforementioned issues, I haven’t had the brainwidth to do it. This way, I can re-use an illustration I already had on hand.

Besides, you guys love gift cards. So a gift card it will be! This time, anyway.

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Monday miscellany: Money mediocrity edition.

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Note: Surviving and Thriving is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

This is the sixth year for Amazon Prime Day, but the first time that it happened so close to Christmas. Usually it takes place in mid-July; this year it starts at 3 a.m. Eastern Oct. 13 and winds up in 48 hours.

During that time you’ll see a lot of deals, some of which might be exactly what you want. Although I am an Amazon Prime member I have yet to take part in Prime Day. A single-mom relative of mine has used it to stretch her holiday budget, however.

It’s being said that Amazon is basically encouraging everyone to do their holiday shopping now. Apparently other retailers have the same idea, both in-store and online. Black Friday “previews” and “sneak peeks” are already showing up and may come out in force during the month of November.

According to Consumer Reports, the idea is to keep crowds down and thus reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Until I read that, I figured it was just another prime (as it were) example of “Christmas creep.” But the coronavirus angle makes sense, too.

To take advantage of Prime Day deals you must be a Prime member. You can do an end run around this by signing up for a 30-day free trial and canceling once Prime Day is over.

Consumer Reports has these tips for getting the most out of Prime Day:

 

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Giveaway: Another $25 gift card.

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The results are in: You guys really like gift cards. The previous gift card giveaway had 185 entries.

No surprises here. Gift cards can be used either for something you need or for something you want but couldn’t quite justify buying for yourself.

Here’s a good example: One commenter who’d previously won a gift card on my site said she used it to buy a signed copy of a book, thereby supporting a writer while indulging in something she would not otherwise have gotten. #winwin

Frankly, I wish the amount on the card were more generous. But I decided that I would rather give away a bunch of relatively small prizes than one or two big ones.

Besides, during the difficult days of the pandemic even $25 can make a difference in your life. That could mean getting a signed book, or it could mean being able to buy a few groceries or put gas in your car until the next cash – be it paycheck or unemployment benefit – comes in.

As a broke single mom, at times I had to take coins from the baby’s piggy bank to buy milk before payday. Always paid it back, but it caused me tremendous anxiety to have to open up that bank (even though the milk was for her).

 

That $25 gift card might also let you do a little holiday shopping, which was definitely something I thought about when planning this series of giveaways. While I’d never advise buying gifts that you can’t pay for in cash (or pay for in full when the credit card bill comes due), I also think it’s important to give.

 

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Giveaway: A box of (mostly) Alaskan stocking stuffers.

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Very glad I started this giveaway series in time for the holidays. Judging from the response I got to the previous one, so are a whole lot of readers.

While gift cards are easier to send (especially if they’re e-gift cards), my original intent was also to give away some Alaska items in order to support the local economy this holiday season. Hence the current giveaway: the small flat-rate box of (mostly) Alaskan stocking stuffers.

Don’t celebrate Christmas? Give them as “just thinking about you” presents. Donate them to a shelter. Or keep them all to yourself. Who’s gonna know?

A bunch of these items are courtesy of my BFF, Linda B., who is conducting a fairly ruthless purge of Stuff. Like many of us, she has come by sooooo much Stuff. Even if you have a biggish house (which she does), there’s only so much Stuff you can display/use.

Linda has been finding good homes for a lot of the Stuff through our local Buy Nothing Facebook page. Art, outerwear, jewelry, tchotchkes…It’s been fun to watch. And, occasionally, to participate in, as I was able to snare some things for the mostly Alaska stocking stuffers.

That box includes but is not limited to:

 

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Monday miscellany: Decision fatigue edition.

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Note: Surviving and Thriving is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

“Decision fatigue” is hitting women hard during the pandemic, according to the HerMoney newsletter from money expert Jean Chatzky. A leadership coach and resiliency expert named Beth Benatti Kennedy reports a widespread issue among her clients: “I’ve never had to think about so many personal and work decisions.”

These women were already busy before COVID-19. Here’s what their lives look like now, Chatzky says:

“In an average day, women are making decisions for their families regarding school, play, meal planning, cleaning, pets, who goes to the grocery store, and whether or not risk for catching the virus should be taken in order to go to an event or have an experience, and all this is being done alongside a paying job for which you’re hoping to have a nice quiet office space in which you can comfortably earn a living.

“If it sounds like a pipe dream, that’s because it is. Because working from home has removed the boundaries that helped separate work and life, women are now working longer hours and are unable to turn work (off).”

That’s some serious fatigue.

 

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Giveaway: $25 gift card of choice.

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Given the comments on my recent post about giveaways, gift cards are apparently what people want. I still plan to give away some Alaska-made stuff between now and the holidays, but it seems that gift cards will also be treasured.

And why not? They’re convenient for the winners to use, either to buy necessities/frivolities for the household or to give as presents to those they love. If cash is needed more urgently, a card might be sold: in-person to a friend or coworker, advertised on Craigslist or sent to a secondary gift card reseller.

Bonus: A gift card is also easy for me to mail. However, some might be e-gift cards, if that’s what people want.

So this week, the winner will get to ask for $25 worth of scrip to…wherever. I will try very hard to get the card the winner wants. Think, “Something that Donna can find at the supermarket’s Gift Card Mall, or easily order online.”

If it’s for a very specialized retailer that doesn’t sell e-gift cards, I might have to ask the person to adjust his or her expectations. Overall, I’m confident I can make this work.

Want to get in on this action?

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What kind of giveaway do you want?

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Steph was the best beloved this week by the random number generator, and wins the giveaway of a bag of Three-Peckered Billy Goat Coffee and Alaska Moka Bar.

Now I need some input from you, readers: What kind of giveaway prizes do you want?

Because this has been such a rough year financially for so many, I plan to do more giveaways in time for holiday giving. In keeping with my recent post about shopping where you live, I would like for some of those giveaways to be local: Alaska jewelry, art, books, calendars and, probably, coffee and chocolate because they’re so popular.

However, this stuff gets expensive and cumbersome to mail if I can’t order it sent directly from the folks who produce it. That, in turn, puts the burden on the entrepreneurs.

So I propose to mix it up: some Alaska stuff and I’ll bite the bullet, postage-wise (seriously: have you checked those flat-rate shipping costs lately?) and also some gift cards.

The question is: What kind(s)?

 

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Giveaway: Alaska coffee and chocolate.

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We had the itch to get out of town recently, so we spent part of the day in Seward. In part, the trip was to enjoy a nice, relatively warm day and the gorgeous scenery of this small (2,729) city. The drive there was also beautiful, beginning along Turnagain Arm, continuing through Johnson Pass and terminating with knockout views of Resurrection Bay.

The day trip was also specifically designed to spend money. That may sound odd coming from a couple of frugalists, but we have decided to do our part to support the local economy. Did the same thing last month with a trip to Talkeetna, home of the Bachelors Auction and Wilderness Woman Competition.

Not that we broke the bank, mind you. DF had coffee from a little shop called Seward’s Cup (we tipped the barista 100%), and bought a much-needed wallet from the town’s only clothing store. He could have purchased it here in Anchorage, but had decided he would drop a few dollars (29 of them, as it turned out) somewhere else.

We looked in at the shops, soaked in the scenery and watched jellyfish bobbing along the shoreline. Before we left town, we had the World Famous Bucket of Butt for dinner.

 

That’s “butt” as in “halibut.” True, the spelling isn’t accurate. However, it’s funnier this way. Butts are just funny, no matter how old you get.

And I made it my business to buy something to give away on the website. It wound up being three things, one of which be part of a different giveaway.

This time around, though, it’s Alaska-themed (and produced) coffee and chocolate.

Any takers?

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