The only thing better than a lovely new handbag? It’s got to be a lovely new handbag that’s FREE! …So, how do you rank a chance to win one of 24 spiffy high-end handbags?

To celebrate the launch of their new website, Handbag Planet is giving away 24 handbags in 24 hours on October 15th. Click on over there to sign up for your chance to win the bag of your choice — but know this: I call dibs on that tasty soft green bag, and my fingers are crossed for luck!

If you’re pressed for time today, you might want to skip right down to the nitty-gritty on a free ID Patrol trial giveaway, because — you’ve been warned! — I’m going to ramble on a bit here first. On the other hand, if you’re getting ready to pack up the kids and head out on a road trip, here’s what I’ve been thinking lately about the risks and perils of leaving home:

Photo credit: jetalone

You know how, smack in the middle of vacation season, we always seem to get a parcel of warnngs about staying safe when you travel?

This year is no exception.

Home Security

Insurance companies are always telling us how to help reduce the chance they might have to pay out on your householder’s policy, and there’s good advice to be had there.

After all, these are experts in risk reduction, and they’re motivated to help keep your stuff safe. They’ll tell you all about making your home look as if someone’s still home, when you’re off on vacation: put lights on timers, cancel the newspaper delivery, and get a trusted neighbour to bring in your mail, all that sort of thing…

And just in case there is a break-in while you’re away, you’re supposed to hide your valuables in some clever place that bad guys will never guess.

I have a friend who puts her few bits of heirloom jewellery in a zip-lock baggie and stashes it in the bottom of the kitty litter tray! And a fellow beekeeper I know once hid his valuables in the middle of a busy bee hive.

Can you beat those ideas for exotic safe hiding places? I’d love to hear!

Personal Safety

And then there are all the caveats about not flashing a wad of cash when you’re on the road, not leaving goodies in sight in a parked car, carrying your passport and credit cards in a hidden travel pouch under your clothing, not getting friendly with mysterious strangers in hotel bars in Tangiers, and so on and so on.

It’s almost enough to make a person think seriously about mixing up a pitcher of margaritas, setting up an inflatable kiddie pool, and taking your vacation in the comfort and security of your own home! Almost…

Identity Theft Protection

Photo credit: hellomike

Add to all this, a news story I heard literally just a few minutes ago about VISA’s fraud investigation into self-service kiosks at Pearson Airport in Toronto.

The experts on the radio warn that it’s probably not a good idea to use your passport for identification when getting a boarding pass from a self-service kiosks.

At least, they say, if you use your airline booking number and credit card for identification, if the machine has been compromised and your personal information is swiped, you can call the credit card company and put their anti-fraud experts on the job. (I don’t imagine the credit card companies like that much, but hey, too bad, right? It’s a major inconvenience to you, yes, but a fraudulent credit card charge is way less life-stoppingly horrendous than the risk of having your whole identity stolen!

The news story this morning is one of those ‘synchronicity’ things — for two reasons:

• Just yesterday there was a newsletter from my insurance agent with a whole big write-up about identity theft.
• The nice folks at Equifax have launched a new identity-theft prevention product called ID Patrol — and they’ve given me 3 free trials to give away to readers of DomestikGoddess.com.

Equifax will keep an eye on your credit card activity for suspicious stuff. They’ll lock your credit file so that you’ll know exactly who is asking to look at it. They’ll even scan all sorts of hidden Internet sites where identity thieves buy and sell people’s stolen personal information. Can we say, Peace of mind?

The ID Patrol identity protection service is only applicable in the US right now, alas, or I’d grab one of these freebies for myself:

ID Patrol Free Trial Giveaway

Here’s how to snag your free trial:

• Live in the United States.
• Be one of the first three readers to say “ID Patrol, please!” or words to that effect.

Just post a comment below or send me an email (jen @ domestikgoddess.com) to let me know if you’d like to try ID Patrol for free. I’ll email the secret code to the first three American readers who request it.

Now, a give-away doesn’t get much easier than that, does it?

And just because I care –
Here are a couple bonus tips from Equifax on how to protect yourself from identity theft in your daily life at home:

Know who’s calling
If you receive a call from anyone requesting personal identification information, you should not share any information before verifying the caller’s identity. If the caller claims to be calling on behalf of a specific organization, take the necessary steps to confirm the person’s relationship to that company. You may want to record the caller’s name and telephone number to call them back upon verification of their identity and association with a particular company.

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry told the telemarketer it wasn’t a good time for him, and asked for the caller’s home number so he could call him back later? They never seem to go for that turn-around, do they?!

Put your shredder to work
Use a shredder to dispose of pre-approved credit card offers and other mail and documents displaying your name and personal information. It only takes a simple phone call for an identity thief to activate a pre-approved credit card in your name. Simply throwing these types of offers and other forms of personal identifiable information in the trash is not enough –- identity thieves are not above rummaging through your trash.

If something’s worth doing, it’s worth over-doing, I always say! Around here, all those sorts of sensitive papers go first through the shredder, then the shredded bits go into the compost bin with the coffee grounds and slimy old vegetable peelings.

But what if there’s some ambitious fraud-artist out there who’s ready to paw through my compost bin, find the soggy strips of junk mail, piece them together, and pretend to be me?

Heh.
That’s what I believe the guys in dark suits and earphones would call an acceptable risk!

We have our Garden Giveaway contest winners! Email addresses of our 3 winners have been pulled from our usual Mexican basket-hat by He Who Hogs The Power Tools, and the lucky ones have been notified of their great fortune:

Thanks to Comtech, a CatStop goes to JCF (who apparently has a very specific pesky stray cat in mind for discouragement), a SquirrelStop to Queen Marlene (her songbirds will be happy!), and a SlugsAway goes to Peggie (they say everything is bigger in Texas, so I don’t want to see her slugs!).

Thanks for playing! Your prizes will go out in the mail this week, so cross your fingers for prompt and efficient postal service… And for others, less fortunate, who must now weep over their pest-ravaged gardens in disappointment: Better luck next time! And there will be a next time, you know it!

Sweet spring in the garden, with all the fresh little green sprouts: it’s like heaven from now until harvest! Except for the harsh reality of garden pests. If pesky slugs, cats or quirrels are planting frustration in your lovely garden, my friends, this Garden Giveaway is the contest for you.

3 Great Garden Pest Control Prizes

SlugsAway electronic slug and snail fence

Keep slugs and snails out of your garden without using chemicals. Safe for children and pets, it can protect your garden all season on a single 9-volt battery.

CatStop automatic outdoor cat deterrent

Keep cats out of your garden, safely and efficiently. A motion-activated burst of ultrasonic sound will startle cats and teach them to stay away.

SquirrelStop automatic spinning squirrel deterrent

Keep your bird feeder safe from squirrels. When a squirrel climbs on to the feeder, it triggers the SquirrelStop motor and makes the feeder spin! (Ha! Let’s see you try to stay on that amusement park ride, little seed-stealing rodent!) Works with any hanging feeder weighing up to 10 lbs.

Contest Rules

This contest is open to Canada and USA readers only, sorry — otherwise I’ll go broke on the postage for shipping these things all the way to Uruguay. (Not to worry, there’ll be another giveaway contest for our international friends very soon!)

Deadline to enter: Saturday, 31 May 2008, at 11:59 pm (Eastern)

Winners will be selected by my usual clever method of matching up email addresses with numbers, writing all the numbers on bits of paper, and putting the bits of paper into a hat (actually, a charming Mexican basket since I’m not a hat-wearing kind of gal). As usual, He Who Hogs The Power Tools will close his eyes, reach into the basket, and draw the winning numbers one by one.

First prize winner gets his/her choice of the 3 available prizes; then the 2nd prize winner gets to pick from the other two; and finally, the 3rd prize winner gets whichever prize has not yet been claimed.

Winners will be notified by email on Monday, 2 June 2008, and announced on DomestikGoddess.com at the end of that week.

3 Ways to Enter

1. Sign up to get Domestik Goddess updates by email, if you haven’t already done so, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win.

or

If you’re already a subscriber, drop me a note (my email address is on the About page) or leave a comment on this other post to say “Count me in!”

or

2. Bonus! Get your name put into the hat twice by posting a note on your own blog to help spread the word about this contest — don’t forget to link back to this page, so I’ll see that you’ve entered!

or

3. Super bonus! Tell us your best story about garden pests for an extra chance to win. You can tell your tale in the comments on this other post, or send me an email, or post your garden-pest adventure on your own blog — whatever works for you — just make sure to let me know about it, so it will count towards a ballot in the giveaway!

All clear?

Good.

Remember, Canada and USA only for this one, please… and the deadline to enter is Saturday, 31 May 2008, at 11:59 pm (Eastern).

Now, let the Garden Giveaway begin!

Last Monday I announced a giveway contest for an Insignia Kix mp3 player, courtesy of the fine folks at Best Buy.

Tonight, I want to thank everyone who entered — and tell you about the highly scientific method by which the winner was chosen.

The Draw

At the end of the day on Friday, when the contest closed, I collected all the entries and wrote each email address on a separate piece of paper (recycled junk mail, so no worries, no trees were harmed in the drawing of our winner).

All the pieces of paper were folded up, and dropped into a decorative Mexican basket.

Then I stood on the coffee table, so as to be able to hold the basket up over the head of He Who Hogs The Power Tools — and he was the one who closed his eyes, reached into the basket, stirred around, and drew out the winner.

The Winner

And the lucky winner of the Insignia Kix mp3 player is… Cath, who lives somewhere waaaay down there in Maryland, USA.

Congratulations, Cath!

The Consolation

Now, don’t be too disappointed if you entered and didn’t win this time — your friendly neighbourhood Domestik Goddess has a whole lot of other goodies coming up for grabs in the next little while.

And also, you might want to bop over to Jo Brooks’ blog and check out her giveway for stunning lampwork beads — I’ve got two gorgeous little bee beads she made, and you won’t believe the kind of work this woman can do with glass!

Meanwhile, back to Domestik Goddess…
Here’s a little reward for anyone who troubled to read this whole post, long-winded though it may be! I’ll be quietly collecting comments through the rest of February, and will award a surprise prize to one commenter to be chosen at random on the first day of March. ;) Shhhh, don’t tell anyone! It’ll be our little secret…


Technorati Tags: mp3 player, giveaway, contest

Okay, gang, here we go!

It’s time to give away the Insignia Kix mp3 player I wrote a review about on Friday…

You know, that fun little 1Gb USB mp3 player that would be perfect for a kid… or for someone like me who frankly just doesn’t want the headache of trying to learn her way around a fancy-schmancy gadget…

There are 2 ways to enter for your chance to win:

1. subscribe by email to DomestikGoddess.com

or

2. leave a comment on this post, being sure to put in a valid email address on the comment form.

No worries, your email address won’t be used for any nefarious purpose — I’ll just need a way to get in touch with you if you happen to be the lucky winner, so as to make arrangements to get your Kix delivered, courtesy of Best Buy.

I’ll be making the draw at 10pm AST Friday, 8 February 2008 by the highly scientific process of putting all the entries on little slips of paper, dropping them into a hat, and making He Who Hogs The Power Tools close his eyes to pull one out.

So that’s it — go ahead now and drop a comment or sign up for your Domestik Goddess email updates, your choice — and we’ll announce the winner here on Friday evening.

__________________________________

Friday 10:05 p.m. update:
Contest is closed now — All the entries have been scribbled on squares of recycled junk mail and dropped into a lovely Mexican basket, ready for He Who Hogs The Power Tools to make the draw. I’ll be emailing the happy winner this evening, and announce it as soon as I get a reply… stay tuned! :)

Technorati Tags: gadgets, affordable, mp3 player, giveaway, contest

Now, don’t spill your OJ with the excitement, but General Mills is giving away free samples of their Fiber One breakfast cereal when you sign up for the EatBetterAmerica newsletter.

As the name suggests, this free cereal offer is for Americans only.
Perhaps the rest of us are as “regular” as we need to be?

Nah.
Let’s just not go there….

Go here, instead, and have a bowl of crunchy breakfast fiber goodness for me.