Want to Be a Winner?

Thank you all so much for reading and I am going to do my danrdest to keep at it, hopefully improve in content and style, and keep having a good time interacting with readers and bloggers in this space. November was a banner month for me in terms of reach, and while I know there are search robots that inflate blogger numbers, I've had many newcomers join in the conversations by leaving comments and linking to their own blog. 

Some fun in Blog world is the give aways from time to time. I did one to celebrate my 1 year bloggaversary a long while back. I do want to offer something soon-I have a milestone in mind.  In the mean time, a few giveaways are going on and you can get in on them.

First at Don't Read this, It's Boring, Sluggy has her last giveaway for 2016 HERE. Open to US entries only, it is loaded with terrific products Sluggy sources through her masterful use of points, coupons, and savvy shopping. Oh, there is plenty of chocolate! After you enter, stick around and read, read, read. If you want to learn how to play with the big retailers and win at their game, helping to build a bit of a product reserve for yourself but also how you can build up your ability to add donations of needed items for local food shelves, Sluggy is your  teacher. She's also just a very warm and down to earth soul and fun to get to know. 

Anne at What's Happening at the Table, has a cookbook give away. You can enter HERE. What Sluggy is to retail shopping, Anne is to a kitchen. I highly suggest you back track and read her $50 a week grocery challenge, and be blown away with the health and creativity. Anne also proved a point that while eating very inexpensively can be done, families living on the margins are struggling. She shares her experience with honesty, humility, and compassion. 

The third contest, as such, I want to give a shout out to is The Freer Family over on YouTube. Gary Freer is the chief producer of his family vlogs, documenting their life as a big family of 9 children, 5 grandchildren, parents, friends, and his quest for the perfect Christmas decor and managing to get through school runs and his wife's shopping habits. He has been running shopping haul challenges, where viewers guess the amount.  Three winners lately have been selected to win an original Christmas card made by his 6 year old daughter, mailed anywhere in the world. It really is just a bit of fun, but I got sucked into watching about a half dozen in uploads in a row last summer and now subscribe for regular updates. I think this makes me a bit weird. The Freer's are not the Duggers, the Real Housewives of Wherever, or Jon and Kate or any other of the overly produced, over paid reality show families, but a good bunch that just seem to really like each other. I also respect that he keeps the children that aren't really interested, out of the vlog. Click HERE for the YouTube channel.