As the economic climate tightens, it’s natural to tighten our grasp on our own money and spending.
It’s very liberating to find a place where you can let go of money-related anxiety and trust that things will work out.
The concept of giving and receiving is not new, and one that has definite merit. It’s a concept that I believe in, and I’d really like to put my money where my mouth is.
I’m giving away cash!
For this reason, this month I’d like to invite you to be part of my $50 giveaway!
Here’s what I’m going to do:
- I’m giving away $50 USD via paypal to 1 random visitor who follows the rules below.
- I’m also giving away 1 free advertising spot on my sidebar for a month to a 2nd random visitor who follows the rules below (125 x 125 button, valued at $50 USD).
How to be a winner
Update: This competition is now closed, congratulations to the winners.
Why not take a minute to read through the comments below & add your own?
All you have to do to be part of this giveaway is to tell us about something good that has happened to you over the past month. It can be anything at all, big or small. Easy, right? Comment your tales of goodness in the comment section below, and I’ll select two people at random to give the rewards to at the end of August.
Questions!
- Is this a gimmick? – Nope, I’m just giving stuff away, and I want to hear about good things that have happened to people. I’m hoping that you’ll also be able to read other people’s comments and be inspired.
- If I comment 500 times will this give me 500 entries?! – No, nice try… You’re welcome to comment as many times as you like, but all of your comments will only amount to 1 entry per unique person.
Now that you know how to be a winner, here’s my challenge – why don’t you also give $50 away this month?? I’m not suggesting you spend it on yourself here or splurge stupidly, but why not just do something nice for someone else – buy someone dinner, or donate it at random…
Give it a shot! Give of yourself, and amazing things can happen in your life.
(NB – If you’re just visiting here, join in as a free subscriber.
Winners will be announced at the end of August 2009.)
Ok, I’m going to kick it off by saying I’ve just had a week of holidays (woo!) On one perfect day I had a crazy cool ocean-view BBQ lunch & forgot about life for a while….
Yippee, free money. Ok, found out I’m up for a parking space at work. No more being rained on.
Clara´s last blog ..Healthy Uses For Lemons
Something good that happened: My boyfriend & I found the perfect apartment! We’re moving in together, and it was slightly stressful for us to find a place the suited both our needs/styles. Woohoo!
I love your challenge by the way.
I donate via Kiva on my site, I think it’s time to donate again.
Nathalie Lussier´s last blog ..Blender or Juicer: Is it better to juice or to drink smoothies?
OK, let me start over since I just woke up.
Giving away $50. is a wonderful idea you came up with. There are many people who could use the extra money. The elderly, the homeless, single parents.
Pet shelters are always looking for donations.
I give locally to the Soup Kitchens in our neighborhood.
My soon to be ex-girl friend went on a week long vacation without me. How sweet it is!
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog ..Make Your Life Count
I have spent the last three weeks alone with my husband – kids are with the grandparents. These three weeks have proved that our relationship is still strong… that we don’t need the kids to be the “glue” that holds it together.
Vered – Blogger for Hire´s last blog ..Value of Social Networking
My best mate just left me to move to another city on the other side of the country. The first week I was devastated and lonely but this week however with a little help from friends I feel stronger and ready to take on the world. The outlook is beautiful.
Thanks for the article. I’m pretty low on cash at the moment but the next charity collector I see will be presented with a crisp new 50 dollar bill
Thanks for the comments so far guys!
@Clara – sounds good, waiting lists for parking spots at my work are a couple years long!
@Nathalie – well done on the apartment! Hope it works out beautifully..
@Bunny – thanks for the encouragement, it’s great to do things for others from time to time…
@Tom – woah, sounds… bittersweet?!
@Vered – from someone who has been in a relationship for a long time, I know where you’re coming from – nice!
Let’s see,
1. I woke up this morning. (A good thing)
2. I went to work and accomplished everything I planed for the day. (This is also a good thing as usually I start with plan A and end up on plan Z by the end of the day).
3. I come home to my wife and son who after 18 years still greet me as if I was an outside visitor. ( I am so blessed with my family)
4. My wife sent this blog post through Stumble Upon!!!(I have thumbed it up and sent a link to Facebook and some others as this was by far the best thing I have read all day. Not so much for the money but for the fact that I was able to think of how wonderful life really is.(An amazing thing)
5. I made it through another day.(Life is so short and I am thankful for every day I am alive).
Great Post!!!!
Donald´s last blog ..Just A Moment in time
I went on a vacation on hawaii. Was with my friends (fanatastic) and forgot about job(my job sucks
.
Nice idea to make us think positive Ross! Well, one of the good things that happened a couple of weeks ago was that I got an excellent Performance Assessment Review rating at work which is always nice.. Other than that, just starting to feel better overall after a very long time so that’s definitely a good thing.
A good thing that has happened to me over the past month is that I rediscovered my love for books. I haven’t had time to read in a long while and now I make time. It makes me so happy to get absorbed in literary adventures or stories. I also purchased my own ice-cream maker so good month
@Donald, welcome – nice to have you here. So glad you are embracing the essence of this exercise, and interesting to hear what’s going on in your life!
Well done on the assessment, and great to hear you’re generally feeling better.
@Sat Chen – I just recently had holidays too, except was not as extravagant as Hawaii! It’s good to get away from life for a while from time to time…
@Pearl – Woo! Thanks for the encouragement, great to have you here
@Dora – I’m such a fan of books and reading… Maybe I’ll hit you up on your opinions of ebooks vs real books!?
Keep those comments coming guys – this thing is open until the end of August……
Hi there Ross!
A good thing that has happened to me is that my partner has joined me in visiting Mum in the country for a couple of days – usually he stays home. We are having a nice break!
Another is that we actually got our tax done yesterday, which is EARLY (as you would know) – so now we don’t have to stress about it for the rest of the year, like we usually do.
Cheers – Robin
Robin´s last blog ..Counterclockwise, by Ellen Langer
I got straight A’s. No big deal one might think, but to me it is. I am a 39 year old, recently divorced, single mom going to nursing school… I have two semesters left and will absolutely do anything and everything I can to “pay it forward” when I become an RN.
A friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend and had to scatter her thoughts for a while. I got her a nice job at one of Sweden’s biggest rock festivals and she really got a jump start into a better mode.
I am going to surprise her and give her one of my old cameras AND if I get the $50 I’ll send it to her too…
Ah, and I use the principle of paying it forward all the time. It really feels better this way.
Lars Dahlin´s last blog ..Photography is not a crime!
Hey Ross –
At this very moment I have all three of my children staying in our family home! This is a blessing because the eldest is a soldier safely home on leave from his deployment to Iraq(we’ve not seen him since last September). Also a blessing because our grown daughter has accepted our welcome while she gets her feet firmly beneath her. Each and everyone of us including our youngest son who’s been living as ‘an only child’ are totally and utterly happily in love together!
Well, I am moved to tell all here that it is not mere coincidence that when I woke up this morning, a little over an hour ago (around 5 AM Pacific time), the thought running through my mind was how harmful so much competition in the world is.
When I went to check my email, the first thing I did was respond to a StumbleUpon suggestion from you, Ross. Your post above, “August $50 giveaway,” is what you wanted me to see and is about competition designed by you to encourage positive thoughts. My thought was a question. What about the positive thoughts of cooperation and not doing things for personal rewards but rather for the sake of the whole?
All being part of that mentality of wholeness, of course, would mean that each part would receive the benefit of each and all of the others. Therefore, it is good that I woke up this August morning with a mind to encourage greater cooperation and less looking for personal reward but rather toward what will benefit others and to encourage others to do the same. If you give $50 in my direction, it will go into the Christian Commons fund toward obtaining land upon which to grow a wide variety of organic food to feed one and all. Just click the donate button on the Real Liberal Christian Church.
It also occurs to me that this comment may offend some for your sake, Ross. That’s not my intention. If my telling the truth about the sequence of events this morning offends and if some believe I should have kept it all to myself for whatever reason, I simply say please look deeper.
Peace
Let me elaborate a bit just to be on the safe side. I do know that you, Ross, are not emphasizing competition here. I do know that you said “random” visitor. I also know that you are promoting the “pay it forward” spirit. I’m for it.
What I am doing here is trying to encourage anyone competitive/lottery-minded who might be thinking about being the one randomly selected for the $50 to see more of what you have in mind rather than about what he or she could do with the money for self apart from others and all.
Hi everyone, I just want to share the blessings & goodness I had experienced just this month, even the past months. For 6 months now, I’m unemployed, because I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism & PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome. I felt tired, moody & sleepy all the time. I’m just thankful that despite of my age which is 28 yrs old, my parents were & still very supportive of all my medications and labaratory exams like the repeat ultrasound of thyroid & ovaries, even providing a big sum of money for me to have an MRI last month because my doctor was suspecting a brain tumor and thank God, the suspicions were not proven true. After overcoming all this, through God’s grace and goodness, I prayed for a job that is not rigorous for my body because I’m a nurse by profession, but because of my present condition, I choose not to practiced my profession, since the job as a nurse can be very stressful.
Just last week, I was offered a job as a Personal English Tutor For Koreans every morning for 3 hours. I am so thankful because my student lives nearby my home. Next day after I started my tutorial class & going back home, I bumped with one of my neighbor and told me that the president of my country had been sponsoring scholarship for students who are interested in technical & skilled jobs & she told that the qualifying exams for the scholarship was still going on. I did not hesitate and took the exam that day. I’m again so thankful, because I passed the qualifying exam for the scholarship of Medical Transcription course. Right now, I’m into English tutorial every morning and going through the free scholarship training for medical transcription course. Although, I’m still into my medication for hypothyroidism and PCOS, but I’m hopeful that in due time, I will be completely healed. I am just thankful to God, to my parents and to everyone who supported me in times of difficulty & trial. Finally, Tom Usher thank you for giving me a chance to share my wonderful story of goodness and blessing!
- Karen of Davao City, Philippines
Well I’m happy that in the past months because I got a new stable job and my partner in life doesn’t give me a headache. I’m sure to be lucky last month till now both in career and lovelife. What more can I ask for.
Christopher´s last blog ..Earn By Answering Survey!
We are relocating next month and I am thankful that were were able to sell a lot of the items we were trying to get rid of. This will make our load so much lighter as we head farther up north.
Carla´s last blog ..Two Great Green Living Blogs
My children sat quietly for a 14 hour road trip – each direction. No violence. We safely made it home. AWESOME!
Texasholly´s last blog ..Is tax-free weekend just like Christmas?
Great day at the Aquarium and beach with my daughter
http://www.kidzense.com/2009/08/few-lessons-from-day-at-zoo.html
Mike A´s last blog ..Summer Movies Under the Stars
I got engaged, quietly, over dulce de leche gelato.
I retuned home to a small town, in upper New York state, recently to attend my 40th high school reunion. I saw folks I haven’t seen in 40 years. The memories poured through my mind everyday I was there. I smiled and laughed so much, I had cramps in my cheeks. Much to my suprise I even saw an old girlfriend from high school. We were very serious with each other then. Unfortunately we seperated and we each went on with our lives. We are both married now and have children. It was nice to walk around our old neighborhood and discuss the times we had together when we were teens. During our walk we held hands and later had dinner together. We respect each others boundaries. We see each other as close friends now and forever. Our roots and old friends are valuable and are a part of who we are. I felt my foundation as a person get stronger and I reall;y like myself more. Visit your past. It’s a part of who you are. You’ll like it.
My wife has struggled on and off for much of her life with GI pain. Two weeks ago, she went for a colonoscopy. We discovered that she has a slight twist in her colon, and her problems can be relieved by taking a fiber supplement. We’re very thankful.
Greg at Live Fit´s last blog ..Diet Comparison – Lifestyle Eating Habits
I have started walking every day and getting back in shape. I feel so much better already.
I donated a whack of my Glo Bars from my bakery to the Healthy Living Summit and I got a lot of positive feedback from them. I felt so good to be able to do that for others.
Angela (Oh She Glows´s last blog ..Repair and Recover Vegan Chia Pudding
i have greatly improved my health in the last couple months. it is still a work in progress, as my health problems have no quick fixes. actually, most of my doctors told me there was nothing to do and that they are things i would deal with my whole life. i refused to accept that answer. being my own advocate by pushing for real answers has been one of the best things i’ve ever done. i’m so thankful that i did this while i’m still young.
Good things this month? I lost another 6lbs (90 total in 11mos!) and I can now consistently hold my planks for over a minute!
I successfully finished a major project at work (yay) AND after many months I’ve *almost* perfected my flip turn when swimming laps.