#he's too sexy for a marine damnit!

[gildedmuse]

If the Marines are really desperate for recruits just put up a poster of Garp and Bogard. You will get SO MANY APPLICATIONS

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

Hey there! What kind of car do you think the FO4 companions (and Maxson) would drive, and what kind of driver would they be?

(This is most definitely Pre-war or Modern! AU, so this'll be fun)

Cait:

•No car here.

•Instead, Cait drives a dark gray Harley Road King- outfitted completely with skulls and matching gloves.

•Fucking terrible to be on the road with.

Curie:

•Drives a rather cute, white Audi TT.

•Has several notebooks littering the glove box. Random coloured pens, EVERYWHERE.

•Probably has one of those infuriating ty beanie babies sitting upon the dash, staring into your soul with those inhuman beady eyes.

•Okay driver....

Danse:

(I've mentioned a long time ago that in my Pre-War AU, both Danse and Gage are some country bois..well here you go)

•Drives a hella nice, red, lifted Ford F-250 King Ranch. He loves it, but he usually just uses his "baby" to help haul things around.

•Take the love his canon counterpart has for his power armour and apply it to this Danse's truck.

•Has a sticker of his respective branch (I'm think Danse would be a marine or army man..idk) that he is too proud of and hangs his dog tags on the mirror.

•Stupidly strict about following all rules of the road.

Deacon:

•Ever seen one of those creepy vans with a painted tiger and wizard battling on the side? That's Deacon's.

•The back is renovated with a whole ass couch, tapestries and a funky disco ball.

•Calls it "the party wagon"

•Drives however he feels like.

Gage:

(Yee haw..)

•Drives an absolutely massive, dark gray, lifted 2019 F150 super duty. Has modifications on this bitch so expensive and wonderful that even Danse would shed a tear.

•Has a skull sticker on his back dash, a rifle behind the front seat, and brass knuckles in his glove box. Man is just waiting for a fight. Even the fucking antenna cover is shaped like a bullet...

•If you want to see your life flash before your eyes, ride with him. Uses the shoulder as a lane to pass people, thinks the speed limit is a mere suggestion, and is willing to ram someone for cutting him off.

Hancock:

•Thanks to his funds, he drives a pretty nice black Range Rover with fancy red interior.

•Advent drunk driver but somehow never gets caught.

Macready:

•Drives an old, yet dependable, 2004 Nissan x-terra. Boy, does that thing make him so close to cussing because of that thing. Duncan always laughs at him when that happens.

•It periodically stalls, but it's still faithful when he needs it....

•Mediocre driver..until someone cuts him off.

Piper:

•Drives a 2013 convertible, bright red, mustang!

•Blasts music and drives fast af when it's safe...but is strangely the safest one to ride with out of everyone else.

Maxson:

•Mr. Maxson, or rather the Maxson family is ridiculously rich..lemme just put that here first.

•Drives a badass, black Mclaren P1.

•Terrible driver.

Nick:

•Drives an astonishing cream coloured vintage Cadillac.

•Smells of smoke and coffee and the inside has cigarette ashes and littered newspapers.

•Drives waaaay too slow.

Old Longfellow:

•Does his boat count? Because he isn't really supposed to be driving that thing either but shit, it's better than getting caught driving his car with his suspended license having ass. Don't drink and drive, kids.

Preston:

•Drives a cactus green Ford Bronco. Freaking adores that thing too.

•Has a little rubber duckie that wears glasses perched up on the dashboard. It's name is Steven and he is considered Preston's good luck charm. Laugh all you want damnit.

•Frequently causes traffic jams because he'll let everyone out in front of him.

Sturges!:

•ooooh boy.

•This man loves his several cars, but his main one is a very sexy light blue '68 chevelle that he affectionately refers to as "sweetheart".

•He built the thing up from the ground practically,

•Has a relatively unhealthy attachment to that car and will beat someone up over sitting on it.

•Extremely careful driver...unless he is drag racing in one of his other babies, then it's game on.

X6-88:

•Also doesn't drive a car.

•Instead drives an all black CBR 1000RR Honda motorcycle.

•Has blue LED lights under the bike. Show off.

•Gives zero fucks about traffic rules and primarily drives at night.

[imagine-that-one-thing]

Styles Towers. || 10

Authors Note: Hello!! To celebrate the coming of a New Year, here is a New Chapter on Styles Towers. I am so excited to have finally managed to write this chapter and hopefully, I can keep it constant with my updating. No promised though. Happy New Year, as wel leave 2017 I hope you all have a lovely start to 2018. Be careful, my lovelies and gave fun ringing in the year! XX 

Thank you to my lovely BETA @lostinreality014 for helping me quite a lot with this series, if you get a chance please read her Niall Blurb, very fluffy and sweet. Also check out @haroldsflowerchild new series.

Rated M for Mature audiences.

Don’t forget the other links: The first book, Styles & Co, can be found on WattPad, HERE. And can be found on Tumblr HERE. Styles & Co. || Extras.

You can find my blurb Master list HERE

                                          || My Office. ||

Before we knew it, snow is settling outside and formulating a perfect blanket in our backyard, Logan and Harry have half a relationship— well, they don’t ignore each other as much— they have conversations every now and again; it’s November, I have regained access to the business with the strict orders of Harry; I am not permitted to spend too much time working, the second I yawn, Niall or Harry send me home. Oh, and I’m six months pregnant. While Harry has been on partial leave with the business due to the downfall, Niall has been interim CEO and with the go-ahead from Harry, bumped me up to Chief administrative officer. To sum up, what I do besides staying out of Harry’s way when he is pissed off at work, I manage daily administrative operations. I am part of the top executive team reporting directly to the CEO. At times, I find it hard to look at Harry with a straight face and say, ‘boss.’

Harry gave Logan the money he needed to pay off Charles, that was quite the dinner conversation we had. Harry came clean and informed me that his brother, Logan needed 125,000 pounds to pay off his debt and Harry managed to come up with it. I didn't ask too many questions, I trusted his judgment. He mumbled something about being responsible… Apparently, Logan had turned to Harry and Harry quite literally told him to fuck off. I guess deep down Harry does have some concern for his brother, even if he attempts to come off as a hard ass who despises him. I have attempted to convince Harry to bury the hatchet, but we aren’t quite there yet. He still has that bit of hatred in him, whether that be for Logan or their Father, I do not know. 

The audit for the business has been a bit of a hell-bent ride, the business accounts have been frozen for the last three months but besides from that, everything has been relatively well… As well as can be. I had thought this rollercoaster ride with the business would put a strain on Harry and I since he doesn't have an outlet to relieve his stress and anger, but to my surprise he has been calm. He does what he can around the office without stepping his boundaries and has been doing his physical therapy.

You could say things are going as smooth as expected.

At three in the morning when the birds have yet to wake and commence to chirping their favourite song and the sun hasn’t peaked from its resting place, I discover myself gracefully making my way around the penthouse in an attempt to tire myself enough to go to sleep.

I rest down at the small counter and open Harry’s laptop and log in on my account, deciding that I may as well put my time to good use while I am awake and apparently rather active. I read a few emails and reply to them, despite the ungodly hour before I unintentionally click the stocks section. “Damnit,” I grumble to myself as the screen shifts black before the stocks pop up and my screen is lit with essentially green streaks while the news of the stocks operates across the bottom of my screen. For a moment, I am astonished that there is so much green across my screen a positive outcome I hadn’t expected, at least not so soon.

—

I make my way downstairs to Harry’s office areas in an attempt to tire myself a little bit. When we stay here, I have made a habit of just roaming the main business floor at night. I have managed to find it soothing, for what reason I do not know. 

Sometimes if Harry doesn’t discover me missing by the time I come down here, I sneak into his office and relax in his leather chair while facing the window. The city is so impressive at night when it is meant to be sleeping… It is even more beautiful to watch the town turn from a darkened ghost town with the night sky washing a heather-purple to a busy city as the sun begins to rise and the afternoon sky becomes a cocktail-blue. There is just something about chords of soft light spearing down from above and through the large pane windows that is calming and peaceful. Now, since it is winter, the gravel-grey skies are bare, bleak and depressing.

I’m surprised when I discover Niall hunkered in his office, the door open with the light on. I peer in and he immediately looks up and flashes me a smile. His mariner-blue eyes peer at me and his laptop constantly they’re a-gleam with delight and the vigour of youth. They are soft, Irish eyes that always swim with delight no matter what ungodly hour it is. “Elise, why hello. What are you doing up at this hour?” He questions and my eyes instantly take notice of the moon that is shining brightly outside like a ghostly-silver disc in the sky.

His office views differently to Harry’s, it’s a varied scenery to see at this hour.

I step closer to his desk and give him a small smile. “I can’t sleep and Harry’s out like a light so can’t keep me entertained,” I notify Niall and he chuckles. “I saw the stocks increased, what’s going on?” I challenge, a bit on edge about the stats that I accidentally came across on Harry’s laptop. I am still learning my way around the business world and the stock market, to say the least, it is one hell of a learning process.

Niall clears his throat and flashes me a bright smile. “Well, in short terms, I’m out of a job.”

I cock my head to the side, “What do you mean?” The last time Niall thought he was out of a job was when Harry threatened to fire him when Harry was pissed off that he was stuck at home and not able to do business.

We don’t let Harry live that day down.

With a gregarious personality and a galactic smile he speaks, “As of three fifteen, Harry got his business back, I am no longer the interim CEO.” Niall informs me, “I am demoted, sadly. But this is great for you two.”

I stare at Niall for a moment, unsure of whether he is screwing with me or not. He has screwed with me a little bit over the last few months, he has this humorous side to him that he reveals every now and again and I haven’t managed to figure out when he is using it against me. “Elise, why do you look like you’re plotting my death in a very nonchalant way?”

“Are you screwing with me, Horan?”

“No,” he shakes his head, “I am serious. Harry is back as CEO”

***

I make my way back upstairs to the Penthouse not bothering to be quiet as I let the door close behind me.

“Harry, Harry wake up,” I benevolently wake him and force him out of his slumber. He lets out a groan as his arm moves and he buries himself further in his pillow. “Harry, babe.. wake up.” I tenderly nudge his arm and he lets out another grunt.

“Leave me alone,” he grumbles in a somnolent voice.

I call his name repeatedly, shaking him with a little more force. His enrapturing, loam-grey eyes flutter open and he promptly swallows, “what.. what’s wrong? Are you okay?” He hurriedly sits up, “is it the baby? What’s wrong?” He’s very expeditious with his words as his voice is deep and laced with sleep.

“I’m fine, the stocks just went up,” I inform him in an attempt to express what exactly has occurred.

He grows silent for a moment as he rubs his eyes, “you woke me for the fucking stock market? I thought you were going into early labour or some shit,” Harry murmurs lamentably as he leans his back against the headboard and crosses his arms over his chest. “Unless you’re in labour or something, I’m going back to fucking sleep, I don’t care.” Harry drowsily and grumpily mumbles as he wiggles onto his back and pulls forcibly at his covers.

“Harry, get up.” I huff and tug at the blankets, causing him to sit up again, “I’m in labour,” I roll my eyes in frustration.

“Don’t fuck with me,” he grumbles into his pillow, “don’t be the boy that cries wolf.”  

I heavily sigh, becoming frustrated with him. “Harry, the stock is up.”

“Elise, shhh.”

“Harry, get the fuck up,” I benevolently tug on his arm. “We need to go downstairs. Get up.” I instruct, completely drawing the covers off of him, exposing him. His eyes fly open and he huffs heavily as he nonchalantly sits up and rubs his eyes.

I wander my way to the door and he gradually follows me with a confused expression painted across his lips, “what the fuck are we doing?” His voice is hoarse from being asleep, his hand yet again rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He pads through the room like a panther in slow-mo.

I grab his hand. “You’re coming with me.”

“That sounds so damn sexy, but baby, I’m tired.”

I flick my eyes to glare over at him before I roll my eyes a-flicker with curiosity over a genial smile. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realises that our troubles are over and that he has his pride and joy back.

“Good to know you’re still perverted when you’re half asleep,” I mutter and he glances at me with a-glow with love and he flashes me an amiable smile.

I have to say that I am rather pleased that after all these years together that he still flirts with me. I love it.

I lure him downstairs and force him into Niall office where Niall grins as he glances up at the two of us.

“The fuck am I doing here?” Harry demands with a yawn and Niall begins to laugh, seeming unable to control himself.

“Nice attire and that hair, real turn on, lad.” Niall winks as he gestures to Harry who looks like he’s a bit of a mess. A pair of sweatpants, a wrinkled t-shirt and his usually lush, mother lode-brown hair he usually grooms so carefully has a rippling quality and is all over the place from being asleep.He has a mannish, designer stubble that I quite find to be a turn on. Quite the different appearance compared to what Niall is used to recognizing. Niall is used to a suit and tie of some sort and a very well groomed Harry.

I shoot Niall a glower and he immediately seizes his lips into a narrow line and stops chuckling. It isn't the first time I have shot him a glare and he has subsequently shut up relatively quick. I don't know what it is, when I give Harry the scowl he just rolls his eyes and laughs, when Niall is on the receiving end of my glare, Niall readjusts his tone and behaviour.

I am not quite sure if he's deathly afraid of me or if he is deathly afraid of what Harry will do if he makes a wrong move with me.

Harry sighs as he stretches his back and arms out, a few cracks in his bones sounds and sends shivers down my back. “Again, what the hell am I doing here?” he demands while crossing his arms over his chest, not too amused with either Niall or me.

Niall leans back in his chair in the same manly manner Harry does, “Congratulations, Harry. You’re the CEO again.” Niall informs Harry, “you’re now my boss again.”

He snarls to himself before frowning at Niall. “I’ve always been your boss you little twerp.” His derring-do personality and bass voice is a big part of his ambitious character and it never seizes to diminish when he is tired and a bit of a cocky prick.

“Harry, the stocks rose... You’re back.” I state for what feels like the hundredth time.

I was hoping Niall could get through to him since Harry’s tired ass is a bit slow and not functioning.

His voice is mellifluous as it leaves his lips. “No fucking way. You’re lying,” he gasps, finally clicking on what we’ve been trying to tell his sleepy self.

Niall gestures towards his laptop that is open to the stock exchange, “No, I’m serious... saw it fo’ myself. Look.” … “I’m out of a job. The stocks are up which means you’re back and the board can’t hold anything over you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Harry,” I gently nudge him for his use of language, he needs to watch his language before our child comes out stringing cuss words before it can even read.

Harry clears his throat and rolls his tired eyes, “sorry, bloody rubbish.”

“You’re CEO again.” Niall chuckles as he watches me huff in frustration.

Harry grows silent for a moment as he stares at Niall in disbelief. His eyes became a-glow with love and he flashes me an amiable smile. “I’m back!” His voice is like bottled thunder, a measure of his vitality. I stare into his enrapturing, loam-grey eyes and it is like Spring has arrived. Spring is merriment. It’s a fizzy tonic, like a leisurely overflowing bottle of bubbling pleasure. You know that bubbly, delightful feeling you exhibit when you take that first fresh breath of spring air? That is what I swear I feel when I gaze into his eyes— his nautical-grey eyes shine as clear as a summer brook.

He eased about the room with a balletic grace before placing his arms around me in a light manner, his arms curling around my waist, drawing me closer to him. “Congratulations, you have the business back.”

“We have it back.” Harry whispers, leaning down and kissing me tenderly.

“You do all the work, I just sit and look pretty,” I chuckle, wrapping my arms around his figure.

He shakes his head, “Nonsense,” he kisses my forehead affectionately.

Niall clears his throat, “can you two get a room…. That isn’t my office,”

Harry shoots Niall a glare and Niall in return gives him his lambent, meltwater-blue eyes that were a-dazzle with wonder with a friendly smile.

“Hey Niall, very kindly, fuck off.” Harry grins, “Go home.”

“Please, spare my office its innocence.” Niall sighs as he closes the lid of his laptop.

Harry rolls his eyes, “my office?” Harry caresses his lips to my ear and I let out a stifled laugh while considerately stretching away and swatting his chest ever so benevolently.

[wellntruly]

This is not to say I will manage to write a presentable word of any of these, but here they are:

The Deep Space Nine Fanfics of Wellntruly’s Heart

Thus far.

- Julian has to talk Miles through treating something he can’t reach himself, Side A: what comedy! what antics! what space husbands!

- Julian has to talk Miles through treating something he can’t reach himself, Side B: who sanctioned this, jesus fuck. This one may be my dearest impossibility because I’m horribly obsessed with it and have so many beats mapped in my head, but it needs to be heavily, wonderfully in O’Brien’s voice—difficult—and also achieve that thing where even though we’re so tied in to his POV, there’s still enough there that the reader can get a more macro view on things beyond what he is aware of, and just break apart in whole additional ways. This would be like. A stretch goal.

- The One Where Tarra Writes A Bottle Episode. How did we make it through seven seasons without an episode where everyone is kept up all night long in various and sundry occupations/combinations? Let me correct this. 

- DRINK SPACE NINE. Unfortunately this is even more of an episode of television than the previous one, because each scene needs to start with some version of a cup being picked up by someone, and the through-line — the drinks — is really best done visually. [waves hand] Whatever. Starring Kira Nerys, my Lady of Space Bevs.

- The affectionate and thorough John le Carré joke: Tinker Tailor Cardassian Spy. This would just be a straight up pastiche, sliding into homage at times. I struggled to find my Smiley for far too long given that Odo exists. Quark we have discussed. Garak actually tracks onto Bill Haydon at many points down the line, but despite where that would probably take the story, I would actually like to avoid having this one tear everyone’s heart out?

- Conversely: Dramatown Elim Garak magnum opus, nearly overloaded with every tragic idea about him I’ve had so far, including #confirmed Sad Headcanons No One Asked For! Possibly a time-skipping sequence of Regency era restraint and a lot of weighted descriptions of cloth, intercut with a brutal interrogation. Actually definitely that. And this time it is exactly to tear everyone’s heart out.

- I want O’Brien and Bashir in the Battle of Britain damnit, and I want it to get weird.

- Just the concept “the last few minutes of ‘Looking For Par’mach In All the Wrong Places’” but blown out over several thousand words. In short: everyone’s gettin it on too hard and keeps having to drag their battered, sexy bodies to the infirmary to have Dr. Bashir put them back together again. The most explicit fic that contains no actual sex scenes you have ever read. Redefines medical porn. Is mostly a comedy.

- Just once in my life I want an old school haunted starship, and apparently I’m only gonna get this if I write it myself. With Captain Sisko and his right-hand Old Man. And fucking space ghosts.

- I love dreaming and dream imagery and am required to torture Miles, so O’Brien Must Suffer: Actual Nightmare Edition. During a tense week on the station, Chief O’Brien starts having other people’s stress dreams. Which are…illuminating. And just as my own personal fix-it, LAVISH descriptions for everyone’s space bedding, which they HAVE.

- The fic I will trick my old English teacher into co-writing with me that’s aaaall about nuances of naval ranks. I imagine that will be a pretty easy grift given that within a minute of talking about Star Trek with him he started telling me how he preferred TNG to TOS because it had a character who filled the Marine Detachment role, and he’d missed that presence. This one will have a…niche audience.

- When @memory-for-trifles informed me that ‘Treachery, Faith & the Great River’ was inspired by Catch-22 I nearly had a heart attack of joy, so would be HONORED to write a chapter of Nog-as-Milo-Minderbinder, Miles-as-Captain-Yossarian, fuck, would I.

- She also commented after the finale: “I love ruthless power couple Kira and Garak. Those two could take over the quadrant,” and I would sure like to think about how that would look, thank you.

- The Blindfold Fic. At the end of ‘Doctor Bashir, I Presume’, Miles suggested they even out their dart game by blindfolding Julian, and there is just nothing not perfect about that idea, I am sorry. It is exactly the right arrangement for an NCO literally leading his CO around, and also for these two in particular. Julian will get to play at being a superior officer with little sing-songy directions for Miles to hand him the darts or whatever, and Miles will get to tease Julian about how exclusively he is relying on him to keep him from bonking his head on something, etc. But Miles hadn’t allotted for just how completely Julian trusts him, and how that can knock a man off balance when seen up close like this. And there’s no way they don’t follow their usual course and suddenly find themselves well past the middle of something, the air starting to slow and then seeming to hold this one ~moment~ and ohhh no, uh, can we pause? our lives? But you cannot. Sorry Chief.

- WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MONTH JULIAN WAS IN THE DOMINION PRISON CAMP. I actually have no idea besides bro development with Martok, but I do feel strongly about that part.

- Hella grim Garak/Bashir Dominion War piece set during the Defiant miniseries period, inspired by, shockingly, canon. The only one of these to center a physically intimate relationship, with actual scenes of same, but surprise: it’s distant and strange and troubled and not what we thought we wanted at all! Spoiler alert: fucked up hopeless unsolvable scenarios—aka my jam. At one point it seems maybe we’ll be saved by another element coming into play but haha nope, that just made it ten times worse.

- Worf Completes Tasks. 10,000 words.

Anyway at press time I have actually read a sum total of none DS9 fanfic, which I feel will either explain a lot here or just open up more questions about who I am as a person.

[fesahaawit]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners!

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that do – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners! posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

[heliosfinance]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners!

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that do – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners! published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B

[fesahaawit]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners!

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that do – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners! posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

[fesahaawit]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners!

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that do – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

A handful of SUPER clever ways to spend $100 this holiday season :) PLUS: Our Christmas Stimulus winners! posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

[heliosfinance]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B

[fesahaawit]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

*******

The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

*******

The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

*******

The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

*******

The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

*******

The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

*******

The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

*******

The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

*******

The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

*******

The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

*******

The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

*******

The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

*******

The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

*******

The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

*******

The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

*******

The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

 *******

And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

[heliosfinance]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!)

‘Sup sup!

J. Money Claus here to spread the wealth, both literally and figuratively! ;)

Just spent three solid hours reading and responding to all the great entries from last week’s Christmas Stimulus giveaway (over 800+ comments!), and WOW was it fascinating! You guys are so freakin’ creative!! We had the usual “I’d pay down debts” or “I’d bank it/invest it” or “I’d give it all away to charity” responses of course, but I was blown away by the level of thought that a lot of you put into this too.

You’re good :)

But since I can’t give $100 to *everyone* who made me smile today (and also because I made this a *randomized* drawing vs hand-picking the winners), I wanted to showcase a lot of these gems I came across in case they help you with your OWN ideas for the upcoming holidays, but also just to show these commenters some love too. Perhaps the fame you get off it today will amount to more than $100 over time? I mean, this IS the most fantastic blog in the world, you know!

Before we get to all that though, let me announce the 5 people who DID win the contest so you’re not biting off all your nails and annoying your co-workers.

So drum roll please…. dum ditty dum ditty dum…

The 5 lucky winners of $100 a piece are:

Nicole P.

Maisie

Sarah P. 

Danny (Commenter #633)

Mike (Commenter #756)

Woo! Congrats! I’ll be reaching out to you on the side to get your money, and be sure to not be strangers the rest of the year as if this was some sort of Church where you only pop over on the “important” days ;) Free education is better than free money, damnit!!

Now to the fun ways to use $100 this holiday!

(Or really, any time – because why only be nice once a year?)

We’ll start with the ones that made me laugh the hardest, and then go down the list to those that were just clever as hell, and then finally right into the ones that make you say, “awwwwww….”

Runners up to the people who mentioned: Chuck E. Cheese’s, doorbells, monks, manatees, accordions, tacos, sensory deprivation tanks (?), pickles, cabin escapes, tequila, fruit roll-ups, marijuana stock, escape rooms, “dutch ovens” (hah!), lunch tables, baseball cards, greenhouses, livestock water troughs, and finally to the one who almost made me spit out my coffee with their “Careergasm courses” line, haha… *goes to turn browser on “private” mode*

Now to the ones we’re paying in fame:

*******

The Prankster

I’d take it to the bank and ask for all quarters, and then take the quarters and glue them to the sidewalk and sit on my porch with my phone filming all the kids so excited to see 400 quarters on the ground, and then me laughing at them because they can’t pick them up.

Then I’d start a YouTube channel with my daily videos and take my millions of dollars from my massive subscriber growth and buy a cabin up in the mountains and buy all the turtles from pet stores to start training them to fight terrorism and then set them free all around the world. – Lance

*******

The Jeffersonian

First I would ask to be paid in $2 bills! Then I would stack those Jefferson’s as high as they would go and just admire them a bit. Then I would hop on my electric bike and head downtown handing them out to anyone in need, ending up at my favorite watering hole with just three of them left. I would then order my favorite IPA and drop my last three Jefferson’s on the unsuspecting waitress and call it a day! – bmiles62

*******

The Convert

I’d convert the $100 all into pennies and leave noticeable and various pennies around the house to drive my brother crazy. – Kevin

(Editor’s Note: I don’t know why that would drive him crazy? It’s FREE MONEY!!! :))

*******

The Goldbug

I would buy gold. Then, I would ask my friends what they would do if they had $100 worth of gold. The best response gets the gold! – Meghan

*******

The Kidder

I would use the $100 on hookers and blow. Just kidding. Something boring like saving for my kids education. – Josh

*******

The Original Zac Efron

I’ll buy 2 MyHeritage DNA kits at a discount. One for myself and another for Zac Efron. I wanna prove everyone wrong that he’s not my twin brother :) – Menard

(Editor’s Note: I actually DO want this kit! It’s pretty cool!!)

*******

The Gamer

I would throw a $100 party. It would consist of me and my girlfriend maybe a brother or cousin in there randomly sitting on the couch at my place drinking crown royal (750ml) $22.97. I would eventually get off the couch, and cook up some ribs (3 racks $38) that had been marinating in the fridge over night (spices and various ingredients $10). After the food is consumed we would partake in a intense game of drunkin-go-kart on the Nintendo 64 (24 pack of Bud Light of Coors Light $20). With the remaining $9.03 we would donate it to a random homeless person. – Heath

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The Gambler

Put aside for buying lottery tickets in all of 2018, because someone once said “Is $1 a week worth a chance to win $100,000,000 or even $1,000,000,000?” For me it is. – Nitin

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The Adventurer

We’re looking to convert a school bus over the next year and then take a leap year to travel with our 5 kids (ages 4 months-18yrs) all over the US. I’d add it to our school bus fund! – Aden

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The Stealthy Kleenexer

I will exchange them into 100 $1 bills and treat my 10 friends with a box of Kleenex each for Christmas. And after the first couple of Kleenex, there will be surprises waiting. – Kim

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The Money Oozer ;)

I would use an extra $100 to buy a bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume. My kids love it when Mommy smells good and it makes me feel sexy – LIKE $$ MONEY $$! – Rebekah

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The Dollar Tree Fan

I would get 50 $1.00 bills and hide them around the Dollar Tree with my granddaughter. Then take her to lunch and leave the rest for a tip. What a fun day! – Rose

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The Financial Gabber

I would use it to pay you $100 for a 30 minute phone call for some financial advice. This would be the biggest gift of all. I feel like the hardest part is talking about money with other people (no one want’s to hear your problems) and it’s driving me crazy because I really want to talk about it and get good sound advice on how to get out of the mess I’m in. – Mike

(Editor’s Note: This is actually a REALLY good idea and there’s a big need for this in our community! Unfortunately I don’t do coaching anymore, but here’s a list of other people in our space here that does – in case anyone else is looking for a good money coach: http://ift.tt/2jvY42T)

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The Brainstormer

I have 2 Ebay stores that have been running for a few years now and need to know how to increase our sales… I would use this for a brainstorm session at our local Panera or Starbucks hoping to find someone that could help me with promotion of our sites – or run a contest online for the best idea. – Kate

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The Quitter

I will put in my 2-weeks notice at my job for early/mini-retirement on Friday! – JP

(Editor’s Note: I sure hope $100 isn’t the only thing stopping you from doing this! :))

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The Self-Promoter/Do-good-er ;)

I’d buy 49 copies of my book, Success: For Minority Teens (& Their Friends) at $4.99/copy, defraying the cost of taxes, and I’d give these to 49 of my most needy 8th grade students at school. So many need a book like mine but can’t afford to buy on Amazon. – Carlos Gomez

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The Gardener

I would buy $100 worth of seeds, plant them and go back and give them out to all of my elementary school classrooms. Learning how to tend to a garden, getting your hands dirty, keeping plants alive and getting to enjoy the result of your hard work is one of those timeless lessons that is hard to recreate in our candy crush obsessed society. – Alicia

******* The Compassionate Knitter

If I won the money I’d use it to buy yarn to knit a blanket for my mother-in-law. The yarn is sort of expensive, like $70 per blanket, and it takes about 15 hours of knitting (so not a smart time or money investment) but it is a handmade blanket, and relationships with the in-laws are important. – Hannah

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The Knowledge Pusher

I’ll use the money to buy books related to Investing and give them away to my coworkers. I have given 2 books away for my coworkers In the past years: Total Money Makeover, The Millionaire Teacher. – Vielka

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The Tree Gifter

I’d use $100 to purchase a bike for a little boy – there’s a giving tree at my local wellness center with tags listing gift wishes from local children in need. This particular tag has been languishing as it’s a request for a larger gift. I’ve purchased a few gifts to match other requests, and saw this tag when I delivered the gifts. It’s been weighing on me since – I’d hate for this little one to go without and will find a way to get a bike to him – Heather

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The Perfect Wife ;)

I would use the money to buy my husband 10 movie tickets so he could get out of the house, take a break from the kids, and treat himself to a movie about once a month! – Kayla

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The Fiscal Librarian

I’d use the money for books that I want to read. Then I’d donate the books to my local library so everyone else will have a chance to read them too. Not a big choice for money management, retirement, investment, or financial books available and I’d like to change that. – Michelle

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The Best Christmas Game (Not really an entry, but still a fun idea!)

Every participant puts in twenty bucks cash. The wad of money is wrapped in paper, then more, then a box, then more paper, another box, etc. until you have a large box wrapped. You set a timer or play music and you have only so many seconds to unwrap. When the timer dings, you have to pass the wrapped wad of cash. Whoever touches the cash first wins it all!!! One year I used my teeth – she said it wasn’t allowed but I say house rules. – Victoria

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And lastly, The Boobie Award

I’m not going to lie, I’d probably blow the $100 on food and drink for Christmas day… Probably why I’m in debt and reading this blog… – Kate

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks ;)

Happy weekend, y’all!

****** Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links, and I want you to buy 1,000,000 of those books/DNA kits so I can give away another $500 and keep being entertained by you all… Make it happen!

[Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash]

24 Ways to Spend $100 This Holiday Season :) (Plus: Our Stimulus Winners!) published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B