Blogorama Bonanza Sign Ups are OPEN!


Blogorama Bonanza is ALMOST HERE!!! Have you signed up yet?

Another great opportunity to participate in a blog giveaway as a blogger or sponsor!

Event Details 
**Blogorama Bonanza Remix 2012 is being hosted by Jaya's Three of Us GiveawayThe Adventures of J-Man and MillerBug and Generations of Savings!**

- The Blogorama Bonanza Remix 2012 begins at 12:01 am on January 12th and ends at 11:59 pm on January 19th.

- Each participating blog is responsible for securing a prize package valued at $25 or more.  You are welcome to sponsor your own giveaway!  Some great places to find giveaway sponsors are Profnet, Pitchrate, Bloggerdise, and Reporter Connection.

- All blogs will be required to post the linky for the event which allows entrants to "hop" from blog to blog and enter to win great prizes!

- Each blog will have their own theme to make prize packages easily identifiable for entrants!

This is a HUGE event that will consist of up to 200 blogs coming together to bring you great giveaways of fantastic products! Be sure to spread the news about Blogorama Bonanza 2012 on your blog by posting about it, sharing on Facebook and Twitter and inviting your bloggy friends to join!

This event will be heavily promoted by the host blogs!  We are looking forward to a successful event full of fun, friends and fantastic prizes!

Sign up Information
For full information on this event and how to sign up please read the entire original post here:

Bloggers and Sponsors Wanted for Hopping for your Honey Giveaway Blog Hop

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I am quite excited!  This is going to be the first blog hop/giveaway that I'm trying out for.  Please be sure to check it out if you want to participate!

Couponing and Reviewing in TexasIf Only Life Could Be That Simple , Going Crazy, Wanna Go?, and Whirlwind of Surprises will host their first ever “Hopping for your Honey” giveaway blog hop!  They are looking for sponsors and bloggers to participate.  They are also looking for any bloggers who would like to be co-hosts.


If your a blogger, you would want to participate to
  • increase traffic and followers to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and any other social media site
  • increase your exposure
  • meet other bloggers
  • HAVE FUN and win a cash prize!
If your a sponsor, you would want to participate to
  • increase exposure of your product
  • increase traffic to your site and other social media sites

Blog Giveaways ~ My new obsession

My friend, Megan, introduced me to blog giveaways recently and I'm officially hooked.  I haven't won anything yet because I just started them and most of the submission deadlines haven't passed.  But I'm finding all sorts of great things that bloggers are giving away for free!  All you have to do is follow a checklist they supply with things such as:  follow their blog, like their page on facebook, follow them on twitter, tweet their contest on twitter...and other such things.  I'm going on legit sites only that I've found recommended.  I'm sure there are some out there that aren't very trust worthy, so just have to be careful.

Now Megan's site is here:
http://www.naturallythrifty.com/

And the post that introduced me to my first giveway is:
http://www.naturallythrifty.com/?p=3168

This is a Christmas Treasure Train, that includes a blog giveaway hop and treasure hunt.  You can join all 24 of the giveaways or do as I've done and just join the ones you are interested in.  Here are a few I've submitted to so far:

The Mama Zone
Prize:  My Memories Suite (digital scrapbook software)
http://www.themamazone.com/2011/11/welcome-to-christmas-treasure-train.html

Laughter Does the Heart Good
Prize:  Southern Living At Home Hemingway Hurricane
http://godcreatedlaughter.blogspot.com/2011/11/welcome-to-christmas-treasure-train.html

Susan Heim on Parenting
Prize:  Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack
http://susanheim.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-treasure-train-blog-hop-and.html

About A Mom
Prize:  ReCon 6.0 Programmable Rover
http://www.aboutamom.com/2011/11/recon-60-programmable-rover-giveaway.html

At The Maple Table
Prize:  $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
http://www.atthemapletable.com/2011/11/christmas-treasure-trainblog-hop.html

Couponing Texas
Prize:  Pink Monogram Gift
http://couponingreviewingintexas.com/2011/%2011/pink-monogram-review-and-giveaway.html
Prize:  Stampin' Up Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps
http://couponingreviewingintexas.com/2011/%2011/stampin-up-sweet-pressed-cookie-stamps-review-and-giveaway.html

A Gal Needs...
Prize:  Christmas Classic Gourmet Gift Basket
http://helena-agalneedsatleast2blogs.blogspot.com/2011/11/win-gourmet-gift-baskets-christmas.html

I will add more to this post as I enter more!  Finding some great stuff, even if I only win one thing that would be great!  Of course, one can always hope for more ;)

What I'm Thankful For ~ Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving
So much I'm thankful for.
Sometimes its hard to see past
The rough times we endure.

But this year I have come
To appreciate the things
That may seem so small
But happiness they bring.

I'm thankful for my family
Without whom I'd be lost;
For the times they've stood beside me
When grey hairs it did them cost.

I'm thankful for a husband
Who loves me more than I can say.
And is there for me always
In each and every way.

I'm thankful for our son
And all the joy he brings.
Along with all the silly things
He says and funny songs he sings.

I'm thankful for the blessings
That God has given us
Even when we don't deserve it
He sees beyond our fuss.

I'm thankful for so many things
I don't know where to start
But if you're on my friends list
Know I'm thankful for your part!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Couponing & Comparison Shopping - Realistic or Absurd?

For us it has become a necessity.  Luckily I my inner dweeb enjoys the challenge of figuring out which store has the best deals every 2 weeks on grocery day and finding coupons around the internet and in store ads that I can use to help lower the cost even more.

Two weeks ago began my official start of couponing and comparison shopping.  I was desperate to save money somewhere and have seen and heard about all these people that save TONS of money with extreme couponing. While I know I don't have the time or the resources to go the extreme route I figured surely I could at least save a little!  The first thing I did was call all the grocery stores in the area asking several questions:  Did they take manufacturer coupons (all did), if they price matched (only Walmart does that), if they double coupons (no one does that anymore I guess), and if they had a store discount card (only Smith's and Alco have it).

Next I compared normal every day prices between all the stores in the area.  Walmart has gone up on everything lately and isn't the cheapest anymore on many things, at least in this area.  But that varies from item to item and week to week.  So now what I've started doing is to gather up the store newspaper ads every other week on pay day and go through them comparing prices.

I make a lit of things we HAVE to have first...toilet paper, milk, etc.  Then I go through all the store ads and find if any of them are on sale and where I can get them cheapest.  Then I look at other things on sale and write down what is cheapest and where so I know where to buy all the other food to stock us up as much as possible for the next two weeks.

After that I start browsing internet coupon sites.  A few of my favorites:

Now some of these direct you to other coupon sites too.  Also many repeat coupons but that is a good thing because some only allow you to print a certain coupon once.  So if you want two of an item you can typically print the similar coupon from two different sites.  Its not "allowed" to copy or make several copies of the exact same coupon but from what I can tell, printing a similar coupon from two different sites is ok.  I could be wrong on that though.

After finding and printing all the coupons I need, typically for items I already have on my shopping list or some other good deals I find that I think we need, I cut all the coupons out and sort them by coupon type.   Like I said:  inner dweeb.

At this point I have my grocery shopping list for the stores in the area, considering I don't want to waste more gas by driving to several than I'll save in coupons, I keep my shopping trips to stores near each other.  I pack up my grocery lists and coupons and I'm ready to go.  How long does all this take me to this point?  Only about 2 hours total.

So, that's what I've been doing so far.  I'm sure I'll learn more tricks and tips as I go along.  I'm not an extreme coupon-er by any means.  As I said above, I don't have time for that, nor do I live in an area where I could really take advantage of it.  However, I have been able to save quite a bit!  I was going to show that in this post but I think I'll write a separate one as this is getting lengthy already.

Maybe this will help some of you with some ideas on how to comparison shop and find good coupons.  Or maybe some of you have some great tips I could benefit from!  If so please leave a comment!  I'm officially addicted!!