Starbucks

Up for grabs: $10 worth of Starbucks.

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thI’m not a coffee drinker, but friends of mine are. That’s why I keep an open mind about the bean, and why I give away Starbucks cards fairly regularly.

Two more reasons I give them away:

  • They’re so darned easy to mail — envelope vs. box, and no need to have a non-flat-rate box weighed and postaged.
  • They’re enthusiastically welcomed. Next to movie gift cards and those TSA-friendly toiletries kits, the Starbucks GCs are my most popular giveaway.

“Easy” is particularly important to me right now. I’m keeping busy promoting my new business, including having to work out the bugs in the ordering platform and the accompanying blog, setting up a newsletter and writing a free download (“10 Proven Ways to Generate Blog Topics”) to give to those who sign up for that newsletter.

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The Black Friday 2014 giveaway.

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thSome people think Black Friday is fading away. Me, I think it’s simply spreading out.

Gray Thursday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are on the way whether you like it or not — and you can bet that Saturday and Sunday will have their own forms of deal-mongering, too.

Don’t want to shop on Thanksgiving or Black Friday? Prefer to buy locally? Do what works for you. But this week’s giveaway is designed to provide a little help for shoppers of all stripes, plus a little entertainment afterwards.

Up for grabs are:

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Return of the Coffeehouse Cliche giveaway.

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thI had every intention of making my next two giveaways about conference swag. Having been to three cons in the past three months, I have enough tchotchkes — some useful, some goofy — to create two medium flat-rate boxes of oddness.

But I’m getting ready to go out of town yet again, and the idea of sorting and listing all those things made me want to lie down and scream. Thus I came up with a compromise: yet another “Coffeehouse Cliche” giveaway with a couple of items from the Financial Blogger Conference. That is to say, the two easiest ones to grab.

This time around the notebook is a real conversation-starter: Its cover says “NerdWallet” in blue and lime-green.

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Let me buy you a coffee.

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th-1It’s that odd time of the year: Sometimes chilly and sometimes balmy. Even here in Anchorage we’re feeling mood-swingy with regard to the weather: in the 40s and raining sideways one day, sunny and in the low 60s another day.

So what do we want: hot chocolate or fancy iced tea?

Whatever it is, I’m buying the next round. This week’s giveaway is $10 worth of Starbucks gift cards.

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Get yourself a cold drink. I’m buying.

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th-1Writing this from Austin, Texas, where I’m down for a spot of bidness. (Thanks, Savings.com, for inviting me to SaveUp2014 once more.) It’s pretty warm — not unbearable, just noticeably warmer than Anchorage. Then again, so are a lot of places.

(Quick aside: If you’re in the area, hope you’ll join me for brunch on Sunday, Aug. 3, at The Shady Grove.)

The heat helped me decide to put up another $10 Starbucks gift card for the weekly giveaway. Even if you don’t like coffee (I sure don’t), you can always find something interesting to drink there. You can also find air conditioning, which becomes increasingly important at this time of year.

Or you can save the scrip until the weather turns, then get one of those frou-frou coffee drinks or a fancy hot chocolate. Whatever works for you.

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Giveaway: A $10 Starbucks gift card.

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thIt’s summer and it’s hot. Beat the heat, if only temporarily, with a frou-frou cold beverage at Starbucks.

Some people say that hot tea and hot coffee are actually more cooling. They may be right.

To me, though, an iced tea or cold soft drink or even plain old water is what I want when I’m feeling hot and sticky.

Full disclosure: I don’t generally go to Starbucks because, well, frugal. But this week I’m making it easier on some reader’s budget by giving away $10 worth of SB gift cards.

Lemonade, iced coffee, Frappuccino, iced tea, something called a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher — take your pick, as long as it’s under ten bucks.

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