I actually landed this job because I would send out emails ranting about the debt that Americans were in and how we were spending more money than we were making. 

The average American spends more money than they make. When will this stop? It is going to catch up with us at some time or another.

I wrote that statement three years ago.  Indeed, it has caught up with us.  We are in a mess right now, mostly due to overspending and people borrowing money.  Trust me, I’ve learned my lessons along the way too.

Blogging has been a great experience for me.  It helped me to rediscover how much I enjoy to write.  Along the way, I’ve met some pretty amazing bloggers and readers.  Some great friendships have been formed.  I normally don’t like to toot my own horn (it’s just awkward), but here are some pretty neat things that have happened:

• I was interviewed on the nationally syndicated Cooper Lawrence Show several times.
• For a few months, I had a weekly Thrifty Mommy segment on the Cooper Lawrence Show each Thursday night.  Cooper would read some of my money saving tips.
• I was invited to attend a Pampers Mommy Blogging Event.  Last year, I flew to Ohio to tour the Pampers headquarters and meet with Pamper executives. I met some pretty cool blogging chicks too and learned about the good that Unicef is doing.
• I interviewed Teri Gault, founder of The Grocery Game and Michael Smith, chef on The Food Network.
• I was part of the opening act for the Clark Howard Show in North Carolina.  I’m a big Clark Howard fan, so this was a real treat.  I met Clark and at the event I spoke about saving money with coupons.
• I recently had my first article published.  I hope it won’t be the last!

Thanks everyone for reading my tips and encouraging me along the way.   I hope you’ll stick around and have some cake and read more of Thrifty Mommy.  

image sxc.hu

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Stop by and take part in the fun. How yummy is your blog?

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Woohoo!  We have a lot to celebrate at Thrifty Mommy.  This blog has been around for three years and we’re celebrating our 2000th post!

You’ve seen us through a lot here and we’re thankful for those of you that have stuck around and also for you lurkers.    We hope that you have enjoyed our thrifty tips and tidbits that we’ve had to offer over the years. 

To celebrate our milestone, we’ll be having some great giveaways in the upcoming days.  Stay tuned for some awesome prizes.  In the meantime, I hope you’ll check out 101 Helpful Thrifty Mommy Articles. 

A special thanks to Revka at RS Designs for designing our celebration logo.  Revka is a pleasure to work with and she offers blog designs, mommy cards, etsy banners and buttons, and so much more!

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Tom Copland is a Chartered Accountant who operates his public accounting practice in Ontario, Canada. He’s been teaching Bible’s financial principles as a ministry at no charge since 1982.

I hope you’ll drop by Bible Finance 101 for some tips on financial principles.

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I’m very excited to announce this giveaway from RS Designs.  My friend Revka has given us a $60 credit towards anything in her store.  If you choose something that costs more than $60, all you have to do is pay the difference.  Revka has expanded her business and she is doing more than site designs.  There should be something for everyone!

Here’s some of the great things RS Designs offers:

• mommy cards
• custom business and blog cards
• premade headers and templates
• custom made headers, signature, divider, banner
• 3 custom blog design packages
• 2 discounted work at home packages, including etsy button and banner package
• discounted add-ons with the purchase of any premade blog designs
• set up and design of wordpress powered boutique (ex: Sparkle and Charm and SweetCheeks Scrapbooks)
• standard html website (ex: Danajill Designs)

Even if you don’t have a blog or website, you can find something cute at RS Designs.  Check out these cute business and mommy cards.  People ask me if I have a card for my freelance writing and I keep saying I need to get some.  Looks like I need some of these cute pink ones!

In case you’re wondering, Revka is a stay-at-home mom of four beautiful children, she homeschools her children, and she is a self-taught designer.  In addition to all of this, she is a great friend, a person of integrity, and she guarantees satisfaction in all of her business transactions. 

And now, for the specifics:

• This contest ends September 30.  A winner will be chosen the week of October 1.
• This contest is open to everyone.  It’s not just for moms.
• You can enter a few different ways.  1)  Leave a comment below, telling which item you like from RS Designs and/or 2)  Write about this giveaway at your website, linking to this giveaway, and leave a separate comment below with a link to your article.
• The winner will be contacted via email.

And by the way, RS Designs is also offering all of their premade blog designs for 25% off during the month of September.  Work-at-home moms get a 10% discount.  

Good luck everyone!

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I have taken on a new writing project. You can also find me at One Book Two Book, another b5 Media blog.  I’ll be writing about books, tips for getting your child to read, activities to go along with books, and more.

I hope you’ll drop by One Book Two Book to see what Mary Emma and I are discussing, to add comments to the discussion, ask questions, and to give us inspiration and ideas for future articles.

As always, you can find me at: 
Little Fun; Little Learning
Thrifty Mommy
A Healthy Balance
One Book Two Book

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Now, on to our winners . . .

Prize #1 is a package from Honey Thyme Herb Farm.  Gotta love those natural handmade honey products.  They have wonderful healing agents that leave your skin feeling so smooth.  Congratulations to Allison at Allison Says.

Prize #2 is a handmade bag from My Recycled Bags.  Cindy has a talent for taking plastic bags, bed sheets, VCR & cassette tapes, and other materials and making them into one-of-a-kind creations.  Congratulations to Sandy of Under the Son.

Prize #3 is a Cooking Light Complete Cookbook which has over 1,200 recipes and 600 pictures.  It’s a great book for getting your family to eat healthier foods.  Congratulations to Julie of Mom Two Ways. 

Prize #4 is a Towel Spa.  This sudden cooler weather is leaving me feeling cold today and I sure could use one of this awesome gadgets.  Right now, I’m sitting here with a shirt on my legs that just came from the dryer.  lol  Congratulations to Laurie of La Vie de Laurie.

Prize #5 is a Tessy & Tab Money Management Kit for Kids.  This kit translates the concept of managing money into a 7-step program of kid-appropriate activities.  Congratulations to Bailey’s Leaf.

A special thanks to our sponsors.  We wouldn’t have had such a fabulous giveaway without you.  Everyone please take a moment to stop by their sites to help show our thanks.

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Giveaway #1 – Honey Thyme Herb Farm Products

Giveaway #2 – Recycled Bag made from Plastic Grocery Bags

Giveaway #3 – Cooking Light Complete Cookbook 

Giveaway #4 – Towel Spa 

Giveaway #5 – Tessy and Tab Money Management for Kids

To win, all you have to do is leave a comment.  Good luck!

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I just found out that Darren at ProBlogger declared Monday, April 14th as the unofficial BLOGGER APPRECIATION DAY.  Basically, we’re encouraged to do an act of kindness, say “thank you”, encourage another blogger, and to pay it forward. 

To celebrate, I’ve decided to recognize our top incoming links with some link love.  These are our top incoming links for March:

1. Angie at BabyCheapskate
2. Judy at Goodyblog
3. Jennifer at iMommies
4. Crystal at Biblical Womanhood
5. Crystal at Money Saving Mom
6. Wendy at LifeHacker
7. Kris at Cheap Healthy Good
8. Susan and Janice at 5 Minutes for Mom
9. “NCN” at No Credit Needed
10. Deb at Simply Thrifty
11. Jonathan at Wasted Food
12. Lynnae at Being Frugal
13. Maricar at Keeping the Castle
14. Pat Veretto’s Frugal Living
15. Pajama Mommy Community
16. Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer
17. Broke Grad Student
18. Jennifer at All Things Frugal
19. Frugal Hacks
20. Dawn at Frugal for Life

If I’ve messed up any names or website addresses, please let me know (nicely).

Thanks again to everyone.  Now, will you pay it forward?

Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer

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Would you like to win this Wow Hits cd?  If so, then stop by iMommies to see how to enter.  It’s sponsored by yours truly. 

I haven’t forgotten about the Perdue Chicken Giveaway.  I actually spent quite a bit of time going through the entries yesterday and reading the recipes.  Winner(s) will be announced very soon.

BTW, is there a club for blogging addicts? 

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