What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar

The average wage earner in the U.S. should start seeing an extra $13 per week in their paycheck in the next few weeks.  Why?  The stimulus plan, spearheaded by the Obama administration in February 2009, made a provision to give money to wage earners called "It Pays to Work".

So, I don't care about the politics of that, what I want to address is how are you going to spend $13?  You can breathe easy again, this isn't a test.  I'm on a crusade to figure out what people can do with their $13 and how spending this money in this manner benefits the overall economy and the greater good.

This week I'm going to dive deeply into some self promotion.  I make coffee cup sleeves and sell them on Etsy (engbynik.etsy.com).  You know what a coffee cup sleeve is, right?  It's that cardboard thing they hand you at the coffee shop to go around your cup to keep you from burning your hands.  The barristas I've spoken with said they hand out about 200-300 on an average day.  Some website said that each coffee drinker is responsible for 6-10 pounds of wasted paper from the coffee cup sleeve!

Okay, so now we have a problem (the environment) and a solution (my coffee cup sleeves).  They are made out of cotton in high-end designer fabrics with flannel in between the layers to insulate the cup a bit.

How am I going to re-direct your $13?  I have a sale going right now.  Choose any three cup sleeves in the store and send me $13.  The sleeves, normally $4.75 each, will cost you a grand total of $13 for all three and that even includes shipping in the U.S.!  (Sorry to the rest of the world, President Obama only gave us $13 so you're going to have to pony up for your own shipping.)

You will be getting a coffee cup sleeve treat for you and possibly two great, environmentally friendly gifts for other people.  You will be easing pollution because less energy will go into making cardboard coffee cup sleeves if less people use them and there will be fewer items thrown into the landfill.  By carrying around a spiffy coffee cup sleeve, you will encourage the people who see you to adopt your new coffee cup sleeve custom so they don't miss out on looking as stylish as you.  Just think of the positive environmental impact you will have just by putting your coffee cup into a stylish sleeve without the coffee shop's logo all over it. 

They money you send to me, admittedly, will not go to orphans in Thailand.  However, I buy most of my gifts and supplies through local sellers or sellers on Etsy.  I promise to keep the money in the system helping other people out, maybe even by going out to dinner at a local restaurant and I promise to not save the money under my mattress for the better days ahead.

So this is how you can spend $13 this week.  I'm cooking up more ideas for this topic but if you have an Etsy shop and would like to have a $13 sale too, let me know and I'll plug it here.  If you are interested in offering a service for $13 I can also plug that here but hear me now, those services must all be above board: weeding, raking, laundry, grocery shopping, Mother's Helper (not mommy's LITTLE helper).  Get back to me with your ideas and I'll get it into the blog.

Nik