Jana Says

Living life from cover to cover

My top 10 vacation moments (and a giveaway)

by Jana 5 Comments

I’ve been lucky. I’ve had lots of opportunities to travel and explore and see different things. However, when I was asked to write about the most exciting vacation I’ve ever taken, I drew a blank. I just couldn’t. Because they’ve all been exciting in their own way.

Instead, I decided to write a list of my top 10 exciting vacation moments (in no particular order except the way they popped into my head). For your entertainment, I’ve also decided to include the year, the location, and my age at the time of said moment.

Let’s get started. Jana’s Top 10 Vacation Moments in No Particular Order:

  1. Walking the plank of a pirate ship (age 10, 1988, Aruba)
  2. Participating in a toilet paper/rotten egg/tomato fight with the Coast Guard, honoring Key West’s brief cessation from the U.S. (age 28, 2006, Key West, FL)
  3. Standing on a glacier (age 16, 1993, somewhere in Canada)
  4. Sleeping on a Native American reservation and all that goes with it, excluding the trauma of the porta-potty but including sitting on rocks watching wild horses frolic (age 16, 1993, Wyoming)
  5. Visiting Carcassonne, an ancient town built into a fort (age 17, 1994, France)
  6. Achieving second place in a beer chugging contest (age 22, 2000, Cancun). Note: I am particularly proud of this one. It was beer in a yard glass. 
  7. Accidentally attending a funeral at the Notre Dame (age 17, 1994, France)
  8. Watching my daughter’s face the whole time (age 34, 2012, Disney World)
  9. Winning money in the casino on our honeymoon despite my husband’s poor advice (age 26, 2004, Bahamas) Note: I almost never gamble so this was a big deal. I don’t even participate in football or basketball pools. 
  10. Staying an a house with an elevator and a wrap around porch on the top of the house (age 31, 2009, Outer Banks, NC)

So that’s just the top 10. I could have included seeing the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls or whitewater rafting or almost drowning in a kayak (don’t judge me) or seeing a woman pee in the middle of the street in Santa Barbara or a whole host of other moments that remind me why going on vacation is so amazing (well, the peeing thing was kind of gross but 20 years later, I still remember it). I’d love to hear about your favorite or most exciting vacation moment so please let me know in the comments below (this is also important to what’s coming up next). 

August Blog GiveawayAnd now, something exciting–a giveaway. Of money. All you have to do it fill in the entry form below and you’re entered. Simple, right? Oh, and did I mention first prize is $500? That’s a lot of money to put towards a vacation (or anything else you want).

A few quick notes: 1) the money will be paid via PayPal so make sure you have a valid PayPal address; 2) this contest is open to anyone, not just US residents; 3) all terms and conditions are included in the RaffleCopter widget, should you want to read them; and 4) all entries are optional. You can use all the methods or just a selected few. Entirely up to you.

So what are you waiting for? Enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The $20 “I almost made it to my Facebook goal” giveaway

by Jana 16 Comments

Around mid-July, I embarked on a mission to gather 100 individual Facebook likes for Daily Money Shot by July 31st. I said that if I did, I’d give away $25. Well, I didn’t achieve the goal but I came pretty close (I got to 93) so I figured it’d be pretty crappy of me to let that go unnoticed. So, I’m doing a giveaway anyway but it’s for $20 rather than $25. It’s better than nothing, right?

To gain entry into the giveaway, just follow the directions below. If you already follow me on Twitter or like DMS on Facebook, make sure to let me know so I can somehow work that fact into the entries. I don’t want anyone to miss out on all their chances to win $20 via Paypal (cash) or to Amazon.

The giveaway will be open from today through August 9th so make sure to get your entries in! I’ll be selecting the winner using Rafflecopter and will make the announcement on Saturday, August 11th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book review: Millionaire Teacher

by Jana 17 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to read Andrew Hallam’s book, Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School. I was a bit skeptical of it at first, given the title and the fact that after perusing it, I realized that it was heavily focused on investing (we all know how I feel about investing). I figured there was no way this book could capture my interest or attention but you know what? It did.

The book starts off with Andrew describing how he chose to live post-college. The frugality (okay, let’s call a spade a spade. Extreme cheapness) with which he lived made me cringe at times (living with no heat, in Canada, in winter because he didn’t want to pay for heat? Ridiculous).  He’s pretty self-depracating about it and recognizes that a) no one should actually attempt to live like he did and b) it was just a tad extreme. But he makes a good point–no one can get wealthy if he has a cloud of debt hanging over his head.

He also does a great job of telling the story of how he came to have his views on wealth, and what he needed to do to get there (I don’t want to ruin the story for you). He recognized that as a private school teacher, he was not guaranteed the same retirement funds as public school teachers. As a result, he had to take a much more active role in shaping his retirement and the book shares the lessons he learned in socking away money for the day he retires.

But the crux of the book is where he explains investing, why it’s important, how to do it and why he believes investing is really the only true path to wealth. He does an outstanding job of explaining the basics of investing (which, for someone like me, is really helpful), including defining terms, concepts and methods not so much for investing but picking the types of stocks and bonds to invest in. Now, I’m sure just reading that last sentence bored you. I assure you, the way Andrew presents that information is way less boring than it seems and he makes a Prison Break reference (which made me very, very happy)! By weaving personal stories, relatable metaphors and culture references, Andrew makes investing understandable for everyone–including me!

I don’t know that learning this information in school would have made me more interested in investing (at the time). But that’s just me. I think there are plenty of people–kids and adults–who can benefit from Andrew’s story. And his book. So, thanks to the wonderful people at Wiley publishing, I have 2 copies of the book to give away. Just follow the directions on the widget and enter to win your own copy of Millionaire Teacher.

Winners will be announced on Monday, April 9 so get your entries in!

 

 

 

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24 Hours Only! ImpulseSave Giveaway!–CLOSED!!

by Jana 2 Comments

3/13/12 update–This giveaway is now over. The winners will be notified by email. 

I am SUPER excited to announce The ImpulseSave Invite Giveaway! ImpulseSave is an awesome new saving tool that makes saving as easy and rewarding as spending.

ImpulseSave is a private savings site, intent on helping you turn your impulse-buys into ImpulseSaves. It’s so easy to use, too (trust me. If I can figure it out, you can figure it out). You provide a bit of information, set a savings goal, connect your bank account and you’re off! You can even transfer money via text while you’re in a store! How cool is that?!

Here’s a video explaining how the product works:

The site hasn’t officially launched yet; it’s only available by invitation. But the folks at ImpulseSave have given me 10 invitations to pass out to my readers.To enter the giveaway, just click on the pig below, enter your email address, and I’ll email the 10 winners tomorrow around Noon EST! Remember, although the contest is open now, you only have until 10:00 AM EST tomorrow to enter. To enter, just click the link below and submit your email address (Note: I promise I will not sell or use your email addresses for any shady or unsavory reasons).

Click the pig!

As an added bonus, when you enter your email, you’re also making sure you never miss an update from Daily Money Shot since you’ll be receiving updates right in your email! AND as a bonus-bonus – ImpulseSave is offering a way for you to still get in the door, or at least be at the top of the list once they launch!  

*Please note: this giveaway is open to US account holders only. We’re bummed, too, but don’t worry! We’ll be helping you save someday soon!

**This is a sponsored post. 

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