The only thing I remember peddling as a kid was my bike. Now kids are peddling candy bars, gift wrap, popcorn, candles, and trash bags to family and friends to raise money for their school, church, or sports team. I’m all for teaching kids to work hard to fund their activities, and I rarely turn down a kid that asks me nicely to donate a dollar, but year round fundraising that is expensive to boot is just too much.

ShoutBack solves the problem of plopping your kids in front of Wal-Mart to sell overpriced gift wrap by utilizing commission-based affiliate marketing and an auction feature to raise funds. It’s safer, easier, and you can raise more funds quicker by reaching a larger audience.

By creating or joining a group, you can shop, save, and sell items with the profits benefiting your group. You can add details about your group, including photos, and direct friends and family to your groups page to shop and raise funds. It’s a great way to reach people across the country and reach out for donations you might never have gotten otherwise.

The site looks like it’s just getting started, so be one of the first to create your group start raking in the dough for your sports team, church group, or other organization.

Today is laundry night. I know it’s not the most exciting use of a Friday night, but I’m being productive, and that’s what counts. Anyway, I went to the laundry room to move my towels from the washer to the dryer and I noticed that there was a note on top of the washer. Someone desperately needed a washer, so they moved my items to the dryer and left me a note saying which dryer it was in and their apartment number so I know who moved it.

If that wasn’t courteous enough, they and even paid to start the dryer and put in a dryer sheet. I saw the person a few minutes later and offered them the money for the dryer, and they declined.

A local radio station dubbed Fridays “Pay It Forward Friday” and encourages people to do something nice. I think my neighbor accomplished that today and saved me a dollar.

There’s nothing that I enjoy more than taking advantage of a great deal. Okay, maybe a great deal on something unique and beautiful gives me a little more satisfaction. Throw in a charitable cause, and I’m threw the roof with joy!

Making a purchase from JacarandaStyle takes me to that joyous level with a great deal, a great product, and a great cause. JacarandaStyle’s unique accessories and jewelry are all handmade in South Africa and a portion of every sale goes to benefit the Ethembeni School in South Africa, benefiting the 300 disabled children who attend the school.

I absolutely love unique bowls and platters, so the Octagonal Platter immediately caught my eye. The shape is unique, the colors and patterns are vivid, and it is personally signed by the artist. Plus, I’m always looking for a nice plate to serve dinner on instead of scooping it straight out of the pot, and this does the job with style.

Between now and December 14th, purchase a beautiful accessory or piece of jewelry and save 10% by using the code JSTYLE.

I am in the midst of addressing, stuffing, sealing and mailing 2,700 of the most hideous Corporate Christmas Cards I’ve ever seen. They were purchased from a no name greeting card company, and management is so worried about being politically correct that they are bland and boring and don’t reflect the holiday spirit one bit.

The order should have been placed with The Gallery Collection, which sells holiday greeting cards with pizzazz and style. They are also a company with a heart that understands the meaning of Christmas and shows it by donating greeting cards to Soldiers Angels, which sends holiday wishes to soldiers and supplies them with greeting cards to write home.

I’ve decided to sponsor a family for Thanksgiving. I received a letter in the mail from the local mission and was shocked that for just $16.81 I could feed 9 people Thanksgiving dinner. $16.81 is nothing. I’ll spend more than that in gas going to see my family on Thanksgiving.

It is a full on Thanksgiving dinner, too. The table will include turkey, stuffing, rolls, vegetables, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

The mission also sends a little card you can fill out with words of encouragement and Thanksgiving wishes that will be set on the table for the family to read, which I thought was a nice personal touch.