shopping

The perils of holiday driving.

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Finishing your holiday buying in person? Get ready for warfare on wheels – and not just as regards scoping for prime parking spots.

Combat shopping can be murder on your ride. Whether you leave it in a garage, on the street or in a mall parking lot, you’re at risk of being tagged by a clueless driver and/or having your purchases stolen before you can even get them home to be wrapped.

While some consumers prefer to shop entirely online nearly six in 10 will do at least some brick-and-mortar visits, according to the National Retail Federation. Excited, distracted or stressed-out shoppers may dent your fender or scrape some paint on the way into or out of a parking space.

The honest ones will leave contact information on your windshield. The others just keep driving, which is not only bad manners but could also be a hit and run, legally speaking. Most states don’t define this as taking place on roads or highways, and many include parking-lot incidents in the hit-and-run definition.

One of my recent NerdWallet articles can help.

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Giveaway: $10 Amazon gift card.

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thWhy am I giving away $10 in Amazon scrip? Because it’s easy, that’s why.

I’ve got too many irons in the fire right now to focus on coming up with a clever giveaway and an even more clever explanation of said giveaway.

Summer + deadlines = not quite enough time to do everything I need/want to do. Thus I’m cutting corners wherever I can.

Heck, last week I skipped the giveaway altogether. Sorry about that.

 

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Up for grabs: $20 Visa gift cards.

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Grocery GiveawaySavings.com recently gave away $1,000 worth of Amazon gift cards. Now they’re at it again, and upping the stakes.

The online coupon site will give away $2,000 worth of Visa gift cards, $20 at a time. They’re calling it a “Grocery Giveaway,” but obviously you can use the scrip any way you like.

Beat the heat with cold drinks or a double feature in a blessedly air-conditioned theater. Take advantage of summer clearance sales.

Buy that paperback thriller you’ve been eyeing. Put the money toward a facial or a pedicure. Purchase $20 worth of Snickers bars and freeze ’em all.

Your prize, your choice.

 

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Giveaway: $25 clothing gift card.

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thWe’re spending less on back-to-school shopping this year, according to the National Retail Federation: an average of $630.36 per family with kids in K-12. That’s about $39 less than last year.

Almost one in five families are already shopping, both to avoid crowds and to spread out the cost among multiple paychecks.

I’ve got another way for you to stretch your BTS budget: Win the $25 gift card I’m giving away this week.

The card is good at five different stores: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta and Piperlime. Spend it all in one place, or go from store to store.

 

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Win a $50 Amazon card from Savings.com.

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PrimeS_300X250 To increase the already considerable buzz around Amazon Prime Day, the Savings.com deal site is giving away $1,000 worth of Amazon scrip.

The bad news: Prime Day is Wednesday, July 15, and gift-card winners won’t be drawn until Tuesday, July 21.

The good news: Amazon promises it will offer more deals this Wednesday than it will on Black Friday. (More on that below.)

Starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 14 you have the chance to win a $50 gift card. Twenty will be given away and I’d love it if one (or more!) of my readers were in the winners’ circle.

Here’s how to enter: 

 

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A newsletter, double Swagbucks and BTS shopping.

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StartbloggingRecently I added a sixth way to enter the giveaways on this site: subscribing to my Write A Blog People Will Read newsletter. The weekly(ish) newsletter is writing-focused, but that doesn’t mean that non-writers shouldn’t read it.

Sure, it includes info like how much freelancers should charge and why blogging matters. But general-interest topics show up as well, such as why walking can change a bad day, how “Moose: The Movie” can inspire us all and the ways that fear can actually be good for people.

So even if you aren’t itching to start your own website, give the newsletter a try. Here’s how to do it:

  • Go to WriteABlogPeopleWillRead.com/blog.
  • Look for the “Free Writing Tips” box on the right-hand side.
  • Enter your name and e-mail address and you’ll be subscribed.

Every time you enter a Surviving and Thriving giveaway, be sure to leave a separate comment stating that you’re a newsletter subscriber. It’s just one more chance to win.

 

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In which I buy a dongle.

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thAnimation artist Chuck Jones, the guy who invented Pepe Le Pew and the Road Runner/Coyote binary, once noted the existence of a vast conspiracy to keep people from getting where they need to go. It’s called the Anti-Destination League, and it was out in force for me yesterday.

My to-do list contained eight errands when I set out at 1 p.m. When DF called me at 6 p.m. only four of the to-dos were to-done and I was nearly spitting with frustration.

Our conversation included something I could never have imagined I’d say: “It’s not as easy to buy a dongle as you might think.”

 

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Win a $50 Sears card from Savings.com.

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thSavings.com recently gave away a batch of $50 Kohl’s gift cards. Last night the online coupon code website announced another prize opp.

This time it’s the Sears Spring Fashion Giveaway, and a grand’s worth of gift cards will be up for grabs.

You can’t win if you don’t enter. Why not give it a try?

Twenty people will be chosen at random to win $50 Sears cards. You can enter one time only between now and 11:59 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 11. Winners will be notified on April 14.

In addition, Savings.com is highlighting a one-day-only coupon code, good for 15 percent off already reduced spring fashions. The code is BUNNY, and it’s good April 8 only – in other words, you need to shop today.

I’ve already taken a peek over there and found something I could use.

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