a peek inside the fishbowl

15 Feb, 2012

Ottawa giveaway alert – the sweet gift of time from Tradex

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Fishbowl patrons|Giveaways and product reviews

Fishbowl patron Tradex is hosting this little giveaway.

As we approach the RRSP contribution deadline for the 2011 tax year of February 29 (this date is due to leap year – usually it’s March 1!), Tradex thought it’d be fun to offer the “gift of time” to one lucky Fishbowl reader. (I am well aware that using the words “fun” and “deadline” and  “tax” in the same sentence is virtually unheard of, but please bear with me.)

This giveaway consists of:

  • One copy of “Turbo Tax 2011” tax preparation software
  • Six jars of homemade jam in support of QUAIL – the Quebec Association for Independent Living, a non-profit charitable association that cares for adults with developmental disabilities. (You get three jars of blueberry and three jars of strawberry.)
  • Six packages of Tradex’s signature chocolate acorns – custom made for Tradex by Lanark Village Treats.
  • … all packaged in one high quality Tradex tote bag.

Hey! You can eat the chocolates and make jam sandwiches while filing your tax return! :)

tradex-giveaway

Interested in winning? Tell us about one financial goal you have for the coming year.

  • This giveaway is open to anyone residing in the Ottawa area but is void in Quebec. (Sorry guys, here’s why.)
  • Delivery of prizing will be via Canada Post, or, depending on location of the winner, can be picked up or hand-delivered.
  • If you can’t post your comment because you’re behind a firewall at work (or whatever), you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com (Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder!)
  • One entry per person please! We want lots of people to have the opportunity to win.
  • Good karma goes to those who tweet or post about this on your blog or Facebook. Seriously.

I will do a random draw using Random.org at noon EST on Wednesday February 22, 2012.

That’s it! Thank you Tradex for this sweet giveaway!


32 Responses to "Ottawa giveaway alert – the sweet gift of time from Tradex"

1 | Patricia S

February 15th, 2012 at 4:46 pm

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Hmm, this years goal is to pay off the line of credit.

2 | Don

February 15th, 2012 at 4:47 pm

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One financial goal of the coming year, sizeable pay down of principle on mortgage?

3 | coffeewithjulie

February 15th, 2012 at 5:09 pm

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Line of credit. ‘Nuff said.

4 | Nurse_Ja

February 15th, 2012 at 5:53 pm

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My line of credit for my renovations of my 3 yrs old bathroom. Crappy Builder

5 | Jennie

February 15th, 2012 at 7:06 pm

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Getting the line of credit paid off and then catching up on my TFSA,

6 | Elizabeth

February 15th, 2012 at 7:20 pm

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Hard to say…we paid off our credit cards and reduced the interest on our mortgage so far this year…pay off the orthodontist bill ($10,000!) is one of our goals this year as well.

7 | Just An Ottawa Dad

February 15th, 2012 at 8:04 pm

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Oh, easy. Pay off the credit line. (Seems to be a common thought)

8 | Valerie

February 15th, 2012 at 8:08 pm

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could use the 1st, would love the 2nd, and am not sure about the 3rd – though I love chocolate (of course!), I’ve never tried acorns.

My financial goal is to seriously curb my spending. I have a smaller paycheque due to taking the summer off (worth it!), and haven’t adjusted my spending to match.

9 | Brenda A

February 15th, 2012 at 8:11 pm

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Knocking another few years off of the mortgage! Hello lump sum! *I hope*.

10 | KarenL

February 15th, 2012 at 8:34 pm

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Resist the urge to spend my meager savings!

11 | elsewise

February 15th, 2012 at 10:53 pm

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Pay off the car, then put the usual car payment money toward the mortgage (we also need to renegotiate the mortgage rate, but that’s another story).

12 | Shakira

February 15th, 2012 at 11:33 pm

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pay off our credit cards

13 | Kaitlin

February 16th, 2012 at 9:10 am

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Student loans. Paid off. (Also, a book contract for the husband.)

14 | Daniel Laprise

February 16th, 2012 at 9:26 am

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Chocolate… taxes… jam… one of these things does not belong

15 | andrea

February 16th, 2012 at 9:43 am

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This entry is being posted on behalf of Brenda:

“I would love to win your draw for a couple reasons!!!

For the first time in many years… I haven’t been able to do my taxes because I literally couldn’t afford it. My finances are finally on track after battling cancer and a few other major issues. This summer my finances were so bad that I had a hard time buy food! These few years have made me one strong woman!

Back in 2007 and I had to claim bankruptcy to get my life on track! After doing that after many months of debate… mths later I was diagnosed with cancer and ended up off work for two years. In a silly way, the bankruptcy was a blessing in disguise. I’m single with no insurance etc… Had I not claimed, it would have been a financial hell while going through treatments! With that being said, just last week I started a new job, VERY good pay, full benefits etc… The first GOAL on my list is to get my 3 years of taxes caught up! Just today I got a call from revenue canada… It is so funny how the universe works!

Please Help me get back on track (with no finacially worry) by rewarding me with this package!!

Also, homemade jam brings me memories of my Granny!! I would love to have that comfort!”

16 | Lolo R

February 16th, 2012 at 1:53 pm

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Saving enough to go on a shopping spree in NYC! That and always paying my credit card balances in full.

17 | Mark

February 16th, 2012 at 2:02 pm

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Add as much as I can to the kids RESP.

18 | Jen

February 16th, 2012 at 2:14 pm

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fabulous giveaway!

this year, i’d like to help my daughter open her own bank account and help teach her to spend and save the bits of money she is given and earns on her own (lemonade stand central!).

and i’d like to do even better on the investment knowledge front too.

19 | Lara

February 16th, 2012 at 2:31 pm

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Not shoving everything into a box and dealing with is later? :)

20 | Cari

February 16th, 2012 at 4:39 pm

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This year I’d like to move some my savings into a tfsa. I’d also like to learn to spend my extra money without feeling guilty.

21 | Carla

February 17th, 2012 at 12:02 am

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oh, me me me! This is a great giveaway! One of us is self-employed so this would be super super helpful, every year it’s a bit of a pain to get it all together.

After going debt-free in the fall (apart from mortgage) we are focusing on managing a more streamlined budget and building a savings cushion and happy to say we are halfway so far.

22 | Kathleen

February 17th, 2012 at 1:44 am

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Great question. I don’t think we talk about personal finances nearly enough. Whenever I make a lump sum payment on our mortgage, the newer tellers at the bank need to have a supervisor help them out with the transaction because it’s not something people often do. I love making lump sum payments so much I’ll do it whenever I have an extra $200.

Financial goals? We’re going to take another couple years off our mortgage this year through lump sum payments and increasing our monthly payments. Since I work as a freelancer, we cover our regular expenses on my husband’s salary and use my salary — whenever it arrives — for vacations, additional savings, extra costs and lump sum mortgage payments.

23 | AllisonP

February 17th, 2012 at 3:37 pm

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Make a budget and stick to it!

24 | EmmyB

February 17th, 2012 at 8:38 pm

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I’d like to put more thought into how I’m spending my money – I’m too quick to just buy my lunch or another coffee, when I could be spending much less. And it’s time to really start making an effort to teach my 6 year old about money.

25 | wendy

February 18th, 2012 at 12:11 pm

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I can relate to so many posts here.

Without getting TOO personal, I can tell you that we just moved back to the city and have downsized considerabley.
Having our heads in the sand did not help.
It took my youngest daughter (26) to open our eyes. She is amazing, she should be a life coach!
If we won, I would give the package to her, but I know she would make me use the Turbo tax ASAP….lol.
Thanks, Andrea

26 | Lynn

February 18th, 2012 at 2:12 pm

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I really, really need to curb my online spending. I don’t go out shopping much, but I surf TOO much, and when I see something I like I whip out the credit card without thinking. Etsy is my ENEMY.

(Yet I love her. Don’t ever change, Etsy!)

27 | Sara

February 19th, 2012 at 5:02 pm

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I got an extended contract at work so I’ll be employed until 2014 so I want to build up my savings and start planning for the next few years as opposed to living month to month.

28 | Erin

February 19th, 2012 at 11:52 pm

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oooh pay off the big suv

29 | kev

February 20th, 2012 at 5:58 pm

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Noticing that everyone’s focusing on the Tax software, I can assure you all that the preserves Gillian makes for Quail are _amazing_. She’s been doing this as long as I’ve known her (over two decades), and they are fantastic. Quail’s one of those amazing little things you don’t really think about, and really should. Sorry for the plugging in comments, I just like it a whole bunch.

30 | andrea

February 22nd, 2012 at 1:24 pm

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Entries are officially closed! Stay tuned for the winner~!

31 | andrea

February 22nd, 2012 at 1:27 pm

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The winner is commenter 28 – Erin – who writes:

“oooh pay off the big sub”

Good luck with that Erin. :)
I will be contacting you ASAP!

Thank you Tradex for providing such a smart (and sweet!) giveaway!

32 | Brien

February 22nd, 2012 at 2:37 pm

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Thanks for everyone who shared their comments and congratulations to Erin.

Debt paydown seems to be a common theme, whether you happen to be Greece, Ontario, or just someone with a line of credit that they’d like to see shrink!

If you are looking at the other side of the ledger, i.e. building up your assets, please don’t hesitate to contact Tradex to take advantage of our co-operative values and objective advice…and our chocolate acorns!)

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