GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Things For Sale That I Will Mail You

GeekSugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:00:03 PST

Do you ever joke around with friends and say things like "If you pay me $5,000, I'll sail to China and back?" I know I have, at least after a beer or two, and now there's actually a legit site that brings fairytale fantasies to fruition.

Things For Sale That I Will Mail You lists personal assignments for artist David Horvitz to achieve, like asking for $2,443 to go to Iceland to find you three things or offering to go to a small Okinawan island for $1,626 to send you an envelope of star sand (this one is my fave). You can donate as much as you like, and once David receives the full amount, he adds the task to his "view all purchases" page. It not only lists all of the adventurous tasks he's fulfilled, but it includes the name of the person who paid for his trip. A very cool idea indeed.

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group,

read more.
I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

You Could Save Money Just by Cleaning Up Your Email Inbox

OnSugar Blog — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:04 PST

Trying to get back on track with your budget? OnSugar blogger Beauty and the Budget shares some great suggestions.

It's 2012, and for most of us, our top New Year's resolution is to create a budget. It's a healthy resolution, of course, and if you're looking for tips on creating a budget, you can always check this site! However, you might be overlooking a few things, and it could be costing you hundreds of dollars over time.

There are more ways to adjusting your finances than just sitting down with a ledger, pay stubs, and a calculator. You should really look at every aspect of your financial lifestyle, but there are a few supereasy tips you should take into consideration first.

Unsubscribe to mailing lists. Are you a member of discount designer shopping sites? Online shops? Your favorite stores? Budget savvy beauties are always sourcing for an amazing deal, but email alerts about sales and special discounts could make you more susceptible to spending when you don't need to. (I don't know about you, but when I'm offered a special discount or a certain dollar amount off via email, I always click on the link - even if only to see if I like the items enough to buy them.) Go through your mailbox and get rid of those mailing lists! You don't necessarily have to get rid of all of them, but it's a really good idea to unsubscribe from most mailing lists. That way when you have a little extra spending money on hand, you can check your favorite sites to see what deals they have going on at that time.
Cancel all monthly memberships to "personalized" boutiques. Although sites like JewelMint and ShoeDazzle offer an amazing service, it's not financially savvy to subscribe to memberships like these. Why not? It takes away your spending power. Sure, you get a great product every month, but instead of spending when you want to, you're spending when they want you to. And those monthly memberships really add up over time. It's much wiser to buy on your own time, at your own convenience. This way you have the power, and that's what truly makes you in control of your finances. If you are truly pinching pennies right now (like me), I highly advise cancelling all online shopping memberships.

For more budgeting inspiration, follow the Beauty and the Budget blog. You can start your own OnSugar blog for a chance to be featured on the PopSugar Network.

25 Easy Organizing Changes You Can Make Today

Wise Bread — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

I have a bad tendency to let things - paperwork, tasks, laundry - pile up. That's why I'm often not as organized as I should be. By the time I go to put things away, I feel like I'm dealing with clutter so powerful it could defeat Godzilla (I've already started on the screenplay for Godzilla vs. That Pile of Stuff I Still Haven't Put Away Since Moving).

Thus, I am a huge proponent of making little steps towards organization. Below are 25 ways to organize your home, your finances, and your life that are quick and easy enough to attempt today. Seriously, start making a dent in your disorganization before it turns into a movie-worthy monster.

Organize Your Stuff

From the fridge to the filing cabinet, here are some ideas for organizing your things.

1. Identify What You Want to Organize

Yes, I am telling you to organize your organizing. Make a specific list of what you want to organize - the bookshelf? Your closet? Your drawers? If you have time, start to formulate a plan. Now, when you have a couple of hours over the weekend, you're ready to attack.

2. Buy Masking Tape and a Marker

Masking tape is a great way to create temporary labels for everything from storage containers in the basement to Tupperware in the freezer. Buy a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie, and always keep them in the same place.

3. Buy Containers and Dividers

If you're planning an organizing project, buy any containers or other organizing tools you need now. Just as with making the list, you're now totally ready to tackle the project when you have a moment.

Read on for more organizing tips.

Say No to That Free Sample! The Rule of Reciprocity

LearnVest — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:30:56 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!
There are little tricks businesses use to get us to buy.

Some are pretty obvious, like sales and coupons.

Others are more subtle and nefarious, and may prey on the very good spirit of our human nature. A tad dramatic? Maybe not.

Recall those free address labels from the Disabled American Veterans? In the 1970s, they decided to send potential donors personalized labels in the mail, while soliciting donations. Their generous approach? They told people to keep the labels even if they didn't make a donation. After they did this, the number of people who made contributions nearly doubled - jumping from 18 to 35 percent.

Why was this marketing tactic so successful? Because of a little phenomenon called the rule of reciprocity.

It's not the end of the world if you end up donating to a great cause, but chances are you've been suckered into buying some random stuff you don't need because of this really powerful psychological phenomenon.

The Rule of Reciprocity: The Law of Give and Take

Made popular by Robert Cialdini's book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the rule of reciprocity is the deeply ingrained human instinct to repay a debt.

According to Steve J. Martin, who coauthored the book Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion with Cialdini, the rule of reciprocity is fundamental to human nature. Every culture and ethnicity trains its children to abide by the rule of give and take. If someone gives something to us, we feel obligated to repay that debt. This rule operates not only with people you know, but also with strangers

Read on for more on free samples and reciprocity.

15 Web Sites For Finding Deals Online

Kiplinger — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:59:08 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

We've tested and picked 15 Web sites we think are easy to use and will help you save money all year. Even if you don't end up buying online, it never hurts to find the best deals on the Web before you hit the stores. Then you can comparison shop and make better choices. We also list three smart-phone applications that will help you get deals in stores. Take a look:

Find deals

If your number-one goal is to score deals, start by checking out sites that do the bargain hunting for you. Deal sites scour the Web for discounted items - saving you both time and money.

Our favorite deal site still is dealnews, which has a team of deal hunters keeping their eyes on a million products at more than 2,000 online retailers. Plus merchants and the site's visitors tip them off to bargains. The deal hunters hand pick the best deals among the thousands they get daily and update the site at least 200 times a day, says Dan de Grandpre, founder and chief executive of dealnews.

The site also bans stores with poor customer service. Plus, you can sign up for e-mail or RSS alerts for products or stores you're interested in and get gift ideas from the site. Dealnews also has added a local deals section to help you find discounts at brick-and-mortar stores near you.

GottaDeal.com is another great source of deals. You may find some here that you won't find at dealnews (we did recently).

A reader favorite is Slickdeals.net, a user-driven deal sharing site. It features a few deals on its homepage daily, but its forums are where you'll hundreds of deals posted daily.

Read on for more great deal websites.

The Secret to Spending Less

Kiplinger — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:32:25 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Economists view the Commerce Department's report today that consumer spending rose in July as encouraging - considering consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the nation's economic activity. You might say it's a good thing Americans aren't pinching their pennies quite so much.

Some of that spending came at the expense of saving, though. The personal savings rate as a percentage of income fell to 5% in July from 5.5% in June. Considering many Americans' savings have taken a hit from stock market gyrations or have been drained to help them get through a job loss, it's worth looking at your spending to see whether you need to cut back to boost your savings.

I've found that one of the best ways to reduce spending is to avoid temptation. The fact that I live in a small town probably makes this a little easier for me than for big-city dwellers, who can't walk down the street without passing a multitude of stores, restaurants and entertainment options. (Plus, smaller cities tend to have a lower cost of living - and in our top ten picks for best value cites, there's a lot to do at affordable prices). But even in the boonies where I am, we still can hear the siren song of daily deal sites, social media and e-mail alerts from retailers.

For more on how to spend less, read on.

How to Cash in on Spring Cleaning

Kiplinger — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:10:28 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

After about a year and a half of marriage, my husband and I have finally unpacked the boxes of his stuff and our wedding gifts that had piled up in every corner of our apartment. In doing so, we organized the whole place - finding a home within our home for all our "new" things while purging the old.

Through the whole process, we've unearthed a veritable trove of potential income sources littering our former wasteland. If you invest some time in spring cleaning, be sure to take stock of these six possible treasures disguised as trash:

1) Receipts

My level-one hoarding issues have finally paid off… big time. (Kiplinger’s does not encourage or condone hoarding in any way.) Shuffled amid our apartment’s piles and piles of papers, we located receipts we were able to use for Flexible Spending Account claims amounting to nearly $2,000.

You just missed most employers’ March 15 deadline by which you needed to spend 2010 FSA funds. But you may still have time to file your claims: My company, for example, gives participating employees until June 15, as long as the receipts show services were rendered or purchases were made before March 15. If you don’t drain the account in time, you’ll have to kiss that cash goodbye. (See ASK KIM: Make the Most of the New Flex-Account Rules for more about how FSAs work.)

Also keep an eye out for receipts you can use to claim tax deductions, such as for charitable donations or job-hunting expenses, if you itemize. For more write-offs you may have forgotten, check out our slide show: The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions.

2) Gift Cards

Be sure to sift through your clutter for unused gift cards. Even if you don’t care to use them yourself, you can still gain value from them before they expire. Exchange sites such as Gift Card Granny or Plastic Jungle will buy gift cards for a portion of their value (see KIP TIP: Get Cash Fast for more information).

Read on to find out how to deal with your electronics.

6 Tips to Ace Your Next Job Interview

Kiplinger — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:30:03 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Given the late-winter thaw showing up in what has been an ice-cold job market, many workers are pondering a topic they haven't worried much about lately - job interviews. Here are my favorite interview tips for job candidates, from new grads to ultra-experienced hires:

Collect personal contact information. As you meet each new person in your interview lineup, ask him or her for a business card. Do it the minute you're introduced, before you sit down, or you're likely to forget. Since lots of people don't carry business cards in their pockets while they're at work, be ready with pen and paper to take down each person's name and contact information if no business card is handy. You'll need to know the names, titles and e-mail addresses for each person you meet, so you can compose and send a customized thank-you note to each of them.
Tell personal stories. When you're asked the standard interview questions, use stories to make your accomplishments come to life. You don't have to wait for the interviewer to ask you a “story question,” such as "Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult customer." You can give a story-type answer to any interview question. If the question is "Have you been using FrameMaker very long?" your answer can begin, "You know, once we were under the gun to get some documentation done for a version of the product that was custom-built for one client. I hadn't used FrameMaker for that sort of thing before, so I pulled out the manual and began reading . . . " It's a great goal to tell two or three pithy, human stories in each job interview, to bring your talent to life and to get out of the zero-impact "yes, no, somewhat" rut.
Zoom in on the employer’s pain. In 2011, it's not enough to let an employer know that you've got skills X, Y and Z. You have to make it clear that you've faced down the same dragon the employer is facing now, and that means you've got to know which sort of dragon is circling the castle. Float a pain hypothesis early on in the interview - something like, "My take is that you're looking to get sales leads assigned and acted on more quickly after trade shows. Is that the biggest area you're looking for this new hire to handle, or am I missing something major?" Once you and the hiring manager are talking about the business issues and not the often-irrelevant list of job requirements, your conversation will become much more substantive and fun.

For more great interviewing tips, read on.

7 Secret Tips to Getting Freebies From an Expert

Emily Co — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:24:20 PDT

I'm sure all of you agree that there's nothing as gratifying as getting a freebie. It's hard enough to scour the web for coupon codes, which a lot of the times don't work or have expired, so the best thing to do is to call in an expert. Kathy Spencer, author of the How to Shop For Free, spills the dirt on how to get some really awesome freebies. She calls them her "Lucky 7 Tips," because you’ll feel lucky after you get such good stuff for free! Be sure to also check out her website at HowtoShopForFree.net.

Have a free girls’ night out. Call up Bath and Body Works and ask to reserve one. They’ll close the store down for you and your friends, and give you free foot soaks, mini facials, make up applications, and more.
Get your make up done for free at Sephora. Sephora offers complimentary 15-minute make up applications during which they teach you how to do it yourself-things like smoky eyes and luscious lips. You’ll walk out feeling beautiful, and you’ll get free samples.
Free monthly gifts. Register for an Aerie store card and get a free gift like lotions, gift bags, or undies once a month.
Shop for free at Kohl's. Register for email alerts at Kohl's.com and they’ll email you a 5/5 coupon. It’s like a $5.00 bill to play with. Grab a free beach towel or tank top.

For more amazing freebies, read on.

Craigslist: A Good Way to Sell Your Home?

Emily Co — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:29:31 PDT

If you're pulling your hair out about how hopeless the sale of your house is going, maybe you should hop onto the Craigslist bandwagon. Scott Miller, a resident of Dallas, TX, decided to place an advertisement in the online classifieds network for his five-bedroom house, according to the Daily Mail. He's asking for $349,500, and has already received a bid that matches the amount. Miller says, "I think it could change the way people sell their houses in America because it puts the sales process in the hands of the owner."

Miller's going the nontraditional route of taking things into his own hands and not relying on a realtor. It seems to have worked - within two days of putting up the ad, Miller had received several bids. Would you consider selling your home on Craigslist?