Giveaways

In case you didn’t know, 12 of your favorite bloggers are giving away things they love this month. I am the second person in line, and am having a  hard time figuring out what I want to give away.

There are 2 things I absolutely love- music and books. But since I don’t know what you like more, I decided to you to the choice to take what ever you like more.

Enter below to win either a $50 Itunes or $50 Amazon Gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ps. Don’t forget to enter  The Ipad Mini Giveaway on Everything Finance and check out Athena’s Giveaway tomorrow!

With the holidays right around the corner, its almost time to start shopping for Christmas. That‘s why we have teamed  up with  Chic Darling have teamed up to bring to give your $50 Amazon Gift card to help with shopping. 

All you have to do is enter below. Continue Reading

Lets face it, I love shopping. This whole paying off debt thing has put a bit of kink in that, but I like my key pieces, but I try very hard not to go overboard with anything. Obviously, I’m always searching for ways to save money online.  In fact, I do most of my shopping online because it has saved me so much money.  However, one trick I’ve recently picked up on is making sure that I try to use coupons or promotional codes whenever I check out online.  I was surprised to see that most the retailers where I shop always have promotions and discounts on their websites, and I wanted to get a piece of the action.

How It Works

Instead of clipping coupons, online, you must utilize a coupon code or promotional code at checkout.  Most retailers provide these to certain customers, or advertise them on certain places.  What CouponChief tries to do is put all the coupons and promotional codes in one place so that anyone can use them.

Once you know where you want to shop, you need to head over to CouponChief and search for the store where you are making a purchase.  Then, look at the available coupons and codes.  There may be ones for discounts on your purchase, or free shipping, or offers if you spend a certain amount.

Once you’ve decided on the deal you want, simply copy the code and paste it in the “Promotional or Coupon Code” place at the regular online store’s checkout.  If it works, you’ve just saved yourself some money.

Why I Like It

I am a big fan of this site for several reasons.  First, the ease of use – it is so easy to find the coupons that you’re looking for, and they have pretty much every retailer that I’ve ever needed listed on there.  They have many national retailers, which is great.

Second, I’ve found the success rate of CouponChief’s codes to be among the highest that I’ve found online.  This is great, since I don’t have to try multiple codes to get a discount when I check out.

And finally, I love the fact that they have a pays-2-share program where you earn money for sharing coupon codes. I mean, I do this regularly anyway, but to have someone give me money makes it all worth while.

Anyway…. on to the giveaway. This giveaway is divided into 2 parts. The first part is on this blog, and the second part on the newly launched CHIC DARLING. So make you enter both as you can either or.

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT ON CHIC DARLING FOR AN EXTRA ENTRY .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As most of you already now, I have on an organization tip recently. This is a result of having too much stuff. I hate clutter, whether its my closet, my books, or finance, I hate the idea of a mess. It makes me displace everyday items as a result.

I must of sent the call for help somewhere in the universe because a few weeks ago I recieved an email with the opportunity to review Organize Now! A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life (2010,  Betterway Home) by Jennifer Ford Berry.

It is “a week by week guide to simplify your space and life” and that it does.  It opens up with a breakdown on the hidden costs of clutter.
Its a year long planner with different tasks and goals each week starting with organizing yourself. It is then followed by organizing your papers, things, high-traffic areas (hallway closet in my case) personal spaces, storage areas, special events and routines.  Yes, it goes over EVERYTHING. The format allows the tasks to completed efficiently  and without becoming overwhelmed.

My sister and I started 2 weeks ago and love it. The book/planner breaks everything down into baby steps and a result allows you to conquer tasks that seems unrealistic before. Looking ahead we noticed a few things that might not be applicable to both of us (pregnancy), but I appreciated the genuine thoroughness of the book.

So if you need a a little help and a kick in the pants, go check out this book.  I am looking to forward to reading Organize Now! Your Money, Business & Career (2011 Betterway Home) as soon as I am done with this one.

I am giving away 1 copy to a lucky winner. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This year my taxes will be extremely complicated, and knowing that I paid $100 to my fantastic accountant and will have to again, I decided that I will give both Turbo Tax and H&R Block a chance this year. I will be doing a thorough write up when I get my T4 in the mail- which should be at the end of Feb. Seriously, my employer waits until the last possible day. I am excited to see what the outcome of my side business, blogging and regular income will be.

I want to start off by saying that being a Mac owner is a bit of a pain when it comes to doing your taxes online. Most companies don’t have software you can download so you miss out on some of the bells and whistles.

H&R Block’s software is easy to use, and because I wanted to get started and test the software out, I went ahead and did my brother and his best friend’s taxes.

The good news for students is that there is a FREE version to use online, and I would students to go ahead and try it out. I made my sister do her own taxes online and she was done in a few mins. I can’t promise that this is the case for everyone as my baby sister is a genius.

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but I am huge sucker for clever marketing, and the H&R Block is hilarious.

I was going to wait until I did my taxes to give a breakdown of what the software was like for small businesses, but I played around with it and really found the software easy to use. I have an update soon, anyhow.

So on to the contest. I am giving away three codes for the online software. This will be fantastic for PC users, although there is another option if a Mac user won.

There are THREE ways to enter (for a total of 3 possible entries):