Purge Books, Help People

This is somewhat unrelated to saving money, but it is about simplifying your life, getting a tax break and, most importantly, helping others. I hope you’ll bear with me.  

There’s a group that I’m involved with called Women in Portland Publishing (WiPP). We’re sponsoring a book drive in Portland benefiting 3 organizations:

• Regence Boys & Girls Club in North Portland
• Books to Oregon Prisoners
• Portland Books to Prisoners (sister organization of Books to Oregon Prisoners)

WiPP is collecting new and used books for these organizations. Scroll down a little further to find out more about the needs of each group.

The drive runs from June 27 to August 3, 2007.

You can drop off books at these local businesses. If you are interested in donating new books, please consider buying from these stores.

• Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy
• Looking Glass Bookstore, 7983 SE 13th Avenue
• Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Avenue
• In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworh Street
• A Children’s Place, 4807 NE Fremont Street
• Ink & Paper Group, 1825 SE 7th Avenue, (M–F, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.)

The benefits of participating are:

• Your donation is tax deductible.  
• This is an opportunity to clean out your bookshelves of books that are collecting dust and cluttering your life.
• This is, most importantly, a way to help fellow Oregonians. The more literate, educated, entertained people we have in Oregon, the better.

More information on the organizations and their needs:

Regence Boys & Girls Club of North Portland just opened its doors on June 18, 2007. Their library is currently empty, so there is a real need here. They are looking for both new and used books for youths ages 6–18.

Books to Oregon Prisoners and Portland Books to Prisoners strive to bring books into prison libraries and directly into the hands of inmates. They have a need for books covering topics such as history, science, indigenous studies, women’s/feminism studies, African-American studies, Latina/o studies, and books in Spanish. Science fiction and fantasy are also welcome, as are dictionaries and thesauruses. They cannot accept books that contain depictions of weapons, martial arts, or nudity. They have a need for both new and used books: used books will be added to prison libraries, and new books will be mailed directly to inmates.

Please feel free to tell others about the drive. Here’s a press release that gives a little more info: 2007_bookdrivepr.pdf

Free Smoothie from Jamba Juice

Here’s a “buy one, get one free” coupon for Jamba Juice.

 http://www.jambasummer.com/freesmoothie/thankyou3.htm

Jamba!

Free Harry Potter Screening for MySpace Members

 Attention Harry Potter fans:

MySpace members can enjoy a free advanced screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on June 28.

The screening will take place in the following cities:

Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Dallas, TX
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Pittsburgh, PA
Atlanta, GA
Orlando, FL 

In order to attend, you must add both Black Curtain Screenings and Harry Potter to your profile and put them in your Top Friends. Then print out your profile and go to the theater as early as possible—it is first come, first serve. Be sure to read all of the fine print here: http://www.myspace.com/blackcurtain.

Personal Finance Advice Found at Garage Sale

I had a great time at the Eastmoreland Garage Sale on Saturday. The weather was perfect, clear but not hot. As always, I loved walking the neighborhood and looking at the gorgeous houses and gardens. I was particularly intrigued by these purple flowers.

But of course, I was there for business, first and foremost. Purchase-wise, it was a light day. I didn’t find a whole lot that I needed or wanted. Most of the things I got were on the frivolous side, but for the price, I couldn’t resist. I bought:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (hardcover) in excellent condition: $1
6 gift bags, new (the seller owned a stationery business): $2.75
Witch’s hat (hello Halloween!): 50 cents
Bag of popcorn from 2 boys: 50 cents
Donut: 50 cents
Bottled water: $1
Silver elephant bank (I have a thing for elephants): $1

Last but not least, my best purchase of the day:

Stock advice from a little girl…I mean, young Wall Street female up-and-comer: 50 cents.

Hallelujah, I need all the help I can get! I gladly handed over my money, and she gave me a paper-clipped stack of index cards. As they say, great wisdom often comes in the most unassuming of packages.

Her hot picks in no particular order:

“apple conputer is a really useful difice including teknolg and fun!”

“Worner music is a wonderful seence it sponsers so mony famis singers such as Avril Lavigne it is garinted to do well”

“Disney is a wonderful stock becaus it is good for all ages”

I couldn’t have asked for better advice. Unfortunately, she did not let me keep the cards. Very shrewd.

Full of bargains, imagination and charm, the Eastmoreland Garage Sale is one of my favorite summer events. I’ll definitely be back next year.

Eastmoreland Garage Sale 2007 Map

In case you didn’t get a chance to go to the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Garage Sale today, but are thinking of going tomorrow, here’s the map of participating homes and descriptions of what they are selling.

Please note that S/O means “Saturday only.” Those opportunities have come and gone. But a little over 40 homes will still have their doors open tomorrow. Happy shopping!

Click on image to enlarge.

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I’m Planning a Big Trip, Any Advice?

My husband and I would like to take a trip to Tokyo and Manila sometime this winter.

So far, I’ve found airfare prices that start at $1,200 per person. Is this a good deal?

I’ve looked at the major travel websites (Kayak, for example). And the lowest prices are in the $1,600 range.

I found the lower fare of $1,200 through Sankei, a Japanese travel agency in San Francisco:

http://english.sankeisanfrancisco.com/

I highly recommend this company. All communication has been through email, and they have been amazingly prompt and courteous with their responses.

I’ve also been in contact with IACE, both their Seattle office and their Tokyo office:

http://www.iace.co.jp/english/

Like Sankei, all communication has been through email, all in English, and all super fast and nice. They tell me, however, that they will not have discount offers for winter until early fall.

So this is my dilemma (and is always my dilemma when I am booking travel), should I book now ($1,200/person) or wait to see if a better deal comes along?

Does anyone have advice on finding great deals on airfare to Asia?

Best Garage Sale Event in Portland Is Happening This Weekend: Eastmoreland Garage Sale

I am a garage sale fiend.

As such, one of the highlights of summer in Portland is the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Garage Sale.

Each year on the weekend after Father’s Day, more than 100 households push their “junk” outdoors to the delight of “salers” young and old.

That means that this year’s sale is this weekend, Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24. 

On Saturday, my plan is to start early, about 8 am. First stop will be the Eastmoreland Grocery to get the free map that displays all participating homes and a description of what they are selling. Then I’ll likely walk around for 3, 4, 5, maybe 6 hours. The thrill of the hunt makes the hours fly by, and the beauty of the neighborhood makes one not want to leave too quickly.

So if you’re in the area, come out and join the fun. Bring small bills, water, sunscreen, and most importantly…pray for sun!

Eastmoreland is located in SE Portland. Click here for a map.

Women and Kids Clothing Swaps in Portland

Back in October I wrote about PDXSwap, a group that organizes free clothing swaps for women in Portland.

Now PDXSwap has expanded the swapping love with two new ongoing events: a kids’ clothing swap and an all-sizes women’s swap.

You can learn more about the kids clothing swap here.

The all-sizes women’s swap is held quarterly at the Heritage Center in Tualatin. To learn more, contact: mom at blackboxphotography dot com (replace “at” with @ and “dot” with a period).

Carnival of Personal Finance Is Up: Issue #104

The 104th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up at Getting Green:

http://www.financeispersonal.com/2007/06/carnival-of-personal-finance-104.html

I’m thrilled that my post was included among 70+ others from the PF blogging community.

Thank you to all the readers who visited my site and gave me such warm compliments.

My New Money-Saving (and Fat-Busting) Game

 I’ve got a new game, which is helping me save money, burn fat, and boost my self-esteem.

A couple of months ago, my company extended a new benefit to employees: free bus passes.

I’ve never been thrilled about taking public transit, because there’s only one bus that comes within a quarter mile of my house. And it runs only once an hour. And it assumes that you have an 8 pm curfew.

But with the free pass and a change in attitude, the world of public transit has completely changed for me. With the weather improving in Portland, I realized that I can and should walk more. What’s more efficient than combining exercise with my commute? So I started to brainstorm major streets and transit centers within a one-mile radius of my house. I thought, I can walk a mile, right?

I found two bus-heavy areas that are about one mile away, and they are easy to walk to. Instantly, my bus options went from a frustrating one to an exciting six!

Now I take my neighborhood bus to work (I still can’t fathom walking a mile first thing in the morning, when I could be sleeping until the last minute) and taking any one of the six options to get home.

And it’s become a game for me to try to figure out where else I can go on the bus. I just found out that my weekend yoga class, for example, is totally doable on the bus. That makes me giddy.

My self-esteem has skyrocketed:

• I feel better about the idea of public transit, since finding out that I have more bus options than I originally thought. I just had to do some creative thinking. Now I don’t have to stress about missing my neighborhood bus and having to wait an hour for the next one. And I can stay late for work or go out to happy hour with friends and still get home on my own.
• It feels great not to have to depend on my car. I save money on gas, wear and tear, and parking. And if there ever came a time when I didn’t have access to a car, I’m confident that I’d be okay.
• I feel less guilty about my impact on the environment.
• I feel great that I’m exercising more. For so long, I’ve been making excuses about why I can’t get to the gym on weekdays. It feels great to walk, and it’s more fun to exercise when the purpose is something other than exercise!
• I appreciate my neighborhood more. When I walk or take the bus, I notice more things around me than I do when driving: the birds, the trees, the houses with their beautiful gardens and quirky lawn ornaments.
• Even though my commute is longer, I feel like I have more time. I can read, write and think better on the bus than when driving. And again, I’m combining my workout with my commute.

I highly recommend exploring the public transportation options in your area. If you are in Portland, TriMet has an amazing website, www.trimet.org, with handy tools to help you plan your commute. Let’s all broaden our transportation options this summer. It’s the perfect time to start!