If you’ve been wanting to start your own blog or website, now is a good time to do so!  GoDaddy.com is offering .99 cents domains when you use code SOCCER99 at checkout.  This works for COM, US, MOBI, BIZ, NET, ORG, CA, CO.UK and IN.  These .99 cent codes don’t last long, and only come around about two times a year.  Grab your new domain now, and get yourself set up with WordPress.com. Thanks dealfinder122!

Do you have a blog or business and would like to get some more exposure for your brand?  Google Adwords is offering a free $75 advertising credit when you sign up HERE.

If you don’t want to continue paying for ads after you reach your limit, be sure to cancel the ad so you don’t pay any on it!

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

If you couldn’t tell by the fact that posting is more frequent today, I’m back from my trip to Baltimore!  I had an incredible time with some amazing bloggers.  I met with Erin from 5DollarDinners.com, Toni from TheHappyHousewife.com, Andrea from MommySnacks.net and Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com.

We flew to meet each other so that we could get some major work and preparation done for the upcoming Savvy Blogging Summit in July.  If you are a blogger, and really want to take your blog to the next level, I highly recommend you stop by and apply to come to this event.  We have some great things planned, and it is definitely going to be a blog-changing experience.

While in Baltimore Toni, Crystal and I also went to the Apologia Live Homeschool Conference.  My son is just now turning 4, and I’m going to be homeschooling him and my daughter when she gets older.  This was a great chance for me to get inspired, learn some great things and return home motivated and rejuvenated.

So thank you all for your patience while posting was so sparse, and I hope to share some of the  fabulous things I learned with you!  Check out My Flickr Page to see all photos from this weekend, including photos I took while at Fox News with Erin!

Many times I have said that my site is about finding a balance between natural and thrifty.  If you are new to my site, you might sometimes be confused by the deals I post.  I’m a big promoter of what is organic, green, natural and better for the environment and our bodies.

This does not mean that I exclusively promote organic deals.  I know that many of you out there, despite the fact that you would like to, can’t buy exclusively organic because of the way prices are.  I too am not able to buy exclusive organic, but I do buy it when I can.  Life to me is all about balance, and this is what I try to do with the deals I post on my site.

What you will find here: The occasional free food deal or freebie, that isn’t necessarily healthy/better for the environment.  But I do try my best to ensure that the majority of my deals are promoting healthy eating and living.

What you will not find here: My endorsement of a product I do not believe in.  Endorsement versus offering you all a deal or freebie is a totally different thing, in my opinion.   This very subject raised quite a stir on my Facebook Fan Page earlier in the week, when I mentioned that I turned down a $100 gift card and Flip camera from a company because I didn’t feel I could endorse their products.   A lot of people misunderstand what bloggers do.  Most of us aren’t out just to get free product from companies (we do after all, have to claim it all on our taxes).  We are out to help our readers.  Personally, I don’t always like receiving things from companies (strange right?).  It’s a lot of work testing out a product to make sure it’s okay for my readers.  I have to record it all for tax purposes, and then I have to do the work of writing a post and running a giveaway.  Sometimes this involves mailing out items, which can sometimes be a task in and of itself and cost me money.

But I know that you my readers like giveaways.  I can’t offer a giveaway on a product I don’t believe in and haven’t tried, so this is why I usually receive samples.

I can’t speak for other bloggers, but this is me in a nutshell.  I’m devoted to finding a balance between natural and thrifty, endorsement and deal promoting, life, family and blogging.   To read more about me and why I blog, read the post Why I do, What I do here.

Are you a business owner?  How would you like a free advertising credit on Facebook?  I know I’ll be using it for my blog!  Go HERE to get a code for a free $78 advertising credit on Facebook. Once you get the code, set up your ad on Facebook HERE.

While you are over on Facebook, be sure to become a fan of The Thrifty Mama here!

Thanks The Thrifty Couple (love the name by the way!).

*Note that you will need to check your advertising balance frequently for when the credit runs out, as it will not automatically stop.  If you don’t want to be charged after the credit is gone, then make sure you stop it.

For those of you that leave comments, have you noticed that there is a picture next to some people’s comments?  You can make it so that a picture appears next to your name and it’s a snap to do (and it’s free!).  Just follow the easy 3-step instructions on How to Create a Gravatar here.  I would love to be able to see some of your faces, or maybe just a picture that you like to represent you!

The nice thing about Gravatar is that your picture will be connected with your email and should appear anywhere you leave a comment using that email address.   So not only will you be able to show your face or favorite picture here, but also on all the other blogs that you visit.   Once you do a gravatar, come back here and leave a comment so we can see it!

Find your perfect frugal blog match with The Frugal Map by Bargain Briana.  She’s put a ton of work in on this, and is still adding frugal bloggers to the map.  You can find The Frugal Map on my top navigation menu.  It makes it so simple to see bloggers by area.   Bloggers are being added to it as Briana finds more, so be sure to check back frequently on the Frugal Map for your perfect Frugal Blogger Match.

Click Here if You Can’t See the Video

I am honored to have met you all at Blissdom and Savvy Blogging!

Thanks to my readers for being so patient this week, and look forward to a few more videos from Blissdom to come, including a walking tour of the hotel.

Click Here if You Can’t View the Video

Bloggers I ate lunch with:

Rachel from Surviving the Stores

Crystal from Money Saving Mom

Dana from Mrs. Moneysaver

Tiffany from Living As Mom

Shellie from Saving with Shellie

Stephanie from Couponing 101

If you haven’t noticed already, I’m officially back from blogging break.  I hope that you all are enjoying all of the awesome deals that are going on right now.

One of my Blogging Goals for 2010 is to continue making sure my readers are happy with what I do here on TheThriftyMama.com.  To do this, I am going to need some feedback from all of you.  So I have a request to make.  I’m requesting that you delurk for a short period of time, answer this poll and leave me any extra feedback that you have in the comment section.  This is your chance to make your voice heard, and influence what happens on this site in 2010.

Thanks so much and I really appreciate all of you!

If you are viewing this post through email or a reader, you will need to visit my site in order to answer the poll.

If I do not aim for anything, then I am sure to hit my mark every time.  It’s time I write down my vision and make it plain.  I’ve had many successes this past year, but also many ideas and attempts that didn’t go so well.  I have a few goals that I would like to achieve personally as well as in the blogging realm this year, and here they are in  no particular order:

Personal Goals

• Lose 20 lbs.  I’ve already dropped two pant sizes, now I would like to get my weight down.  I’ve already lost 2 pounds in the last few weeks, so I have 18 more to go.  I’m not in  a rush.  My main goal,  as always, is to become more fit and healthy.
• Set aside and devote more time to spend in prayer and Bible reading.
• Start a monthly or bi-weekly fellowship or Bible Study in my home.
• Begin officially homeschooling my son.
• Set a schedule for cleaning, and continue adding recipes to my repertoire of meal planning.
• Attempt Organic Gardening again this year, and hopefully have a better success than this past year!

Blogging

• First and foremost, be sure that my family comes before my blog.
• Set up a blogging schedule.
• Promote the Forums more and grow the community there.
• Create quality content: Share more personal posting, and tips that will help readers live more natural and thrifty lives (meaning, don’t get too carried away with all the deal posting, but actually devote time and posting to more in-depth posts).
• Double my traffic by the end of the year.
• Build a better relationship with my readers:  Work harder at responding to comments and emails, and also finding out what exactly my readers would like to see on my blog.
• Schedule regular breaks from blogging so that I don’t get burnt out.
• Attend Savvy Blogging and Blissdom in February.
• Improve my photography skills.
• Make more videos and vlogs.
• Send my husband to an accounting class so he can learn more about taxes and such……dread… This year’s tax filing should be interesting.
• Ministry – While my blog is set up as a business and I do make money off of advertising, I do what I do for YOU! My readers are the most important part of my blog, and are the main reason that I even started this blog.  I plan to always keep this focus throughout the year, and do what I can to help others.

See more goals for 2010 HERE.

If you have any feedback for my blog and forums that would make this site a better place for all my readers, I would love to hear your thoughts!

As 2009 draws to a close, I’m reminiscent of all the awesome things that happened in my own life and on my blog.  While I didn’t save up to pay cash for a house, I did however have an incredible year of savings!

The Best of Blogging and Life Changes

- I provided healthy and organic foods for my family for under $40 a week.

- I stepped out of my comfort zone and taught my first couponing class.

- I was named one of Savings.com’s Top 30 Deal Pros and was flown out to San Francisco for an exclusive event with other bloggers.

- My site traffic more than doubled.

- I launched Forums and a Chat Room on my site.

-We cut out our home phone bill by switching to Magic Jack, and haven’t looked back! Phone service now only costs us $20 a year!

-We cut our Cable TV, but still are able to watch all of our favorite shows for under $10 a month.  More will come on this later.

- I personally scored a FREE Wii and Wii Fit, and dropped two pant sizes by working out!

The Best Freebies

Disney Pixar’s UP for free on Blu-Ray and DVD, Disney’s Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure for free on Blu-Ray and DVD, Free Chick Fil A Sandwich, $10 in free gas at Shell or Jiffy Lube, $10 in free food from Swan’s, Free subscription to Woman’s Day magazine, $25 in free groceries from Kraft., Glade Soy Candles, 3 lb. Bag of Organic Honeycrisp Apples, Full Sized Bottle of Old Orchard Juice., Free Lunches at Ted’s Montana Grill., Free International Delight Coffee Creamer and More International Delight Coffee Creamer,  Free EOS Organic Lip Balm, Free $15 Credit on Shutterfly, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Coupon for a Free Quik Trip Sandwich, Salad or Wrap (you know, I think this has reset again!), $25 in Free Sharpie Products, Seventh Generation Laundry  Sheets and Seventh Generation Dish Soap, Free Organic Hand Sanitizer, Free Organic Steaz Tea, Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce, Free Hot Beverage at 7-Eleven, Free Box full of full-sized Boiron Homeopathics, Free Starbucks Coffee and More Free Starbucks, and even more Free Starbucks, Free Sweetfire Chicken at Panda Express, Free Bounce Dryer Bar, Free Bare Minerals Make-Up and Brush from Sephora, Free Quart of Glidden Paint, Free Beach Umbrellas at Rite Aid, Free Dagoba Organic Chocolate, Free Tropicana Juice, Free DiGiorno Flatbread Melts and Again!, Free Chocolate Fridays, Free Burt’s Bees Lip Balm, Free $10 Gift Card to the Mall of your choice, plus a ton of Mall freebies!, Free Burger’s at TGI Fridays, and even More free burgers, Free Honey Bunches of Oats, Free CFL Light Bulb from Home Depot, Free Thomas Train at Toys R’ Us, Back to Nature Macaroni and Cheese at Whole Foods and a Free Bottle of Suave.

The Best of Deals

-$5 off any purchase of $5 or more at Hallmark, $5 Huggies Coupons and $5 Luvs Diaper Coupons, $10 Honey Baked Ham coupon, Free Laura Mercier Primer, Burt’s Bees Grab Bag Deal, Buy One Get One Free Egg Coupon and Again., Personalized Photo Stamps for .40 cents each,  $40 in Free stuff at 1-800 Flowers, Organic Maple Syrup for $11-$13 shipped on Amazon (free with Swagbucks), Old Navy Online Coupon Hunt,  Veggie Tales DVD for $2.99 shipped, Eco-Friendly Shoes for under $10 Shipped, Space Chimps Wii Game for $5.89 Shipped, $20 in free plants from Spring Hill Nursery, Free Car Rental from Hertz, $1 Hotel Rooms, Hickory Farms Gift Sets Were 90% Off. This happened in January last year, so hopefully we will see this deal again in 2010!!, $25 back when you joined Sam’s Club, Quick Books Simple Start Free or Better at Office Depot, and a $5 Jennie O coupon, which made for free meats!

The Worst of Deals (Ones that Didn’t Go so Well)

Many companies still do not realize the power of viral marketing, and how quickly deals spread across the internet.  Here are some of the deals that did not go so well in 2009.

-Korres Free Gift with any purchase:  While the company wasn’t able to fulfill our orders, they did in fact send us all some great free samples.  They made the best out of a bad situation.

-Gevalia coffee pot deal:  Sadly all of our orders were canceled.

-$10 Free Credits on QVC: QVC offered everyone free $10 credits, but then backed out and removed everyone’s credits. Not cool QVC!

-Free Cranberry Squares on Amazon: Amazon canceled everyone’s orders, admitting there was a pricing error.

-$10 Sears Junior Fashions Coupon: Sears started rejecting the coupon across the board, even though the coupon was still available on the Sears.com website.  They shamefully wasted a lot of people’s valuable time, when they could have easily removed the coupon from their website.

-Free Rotisserie Chicken and Flowers at Whole Foods:  Unfortunately the coupon went viral way too quickly, and Whole Foods had to retract it.

-KFC 2-piece Meal Coupon: Another example of a company underestimating the power of the internet.  Everyone started getting turned away, and finally KFC refused to accept anymore coupons.  You could get a raincheck if you went in and picked up a form to fill out and mail in. Did anyone do this?  Not me!  I was done with them at that point.

-Free Stuffed Animal and Baby Blanket: This was apparently a scam site that duped many of us, including myself.

I don’t know about you all, but I am definitely looking forward to the deals to come in 2010.  I hope you will all stick around and enjoy the savings this following year.  If you’ve followed me at all this year, then you know that this list barely even scratches the surface of all the deals we uncovered together in 2009.  I’m interested to hear what your favorite deal from this past year was.  And I’d also love to know if you have any positive feedback in order to make 2010 a fabulously thrifty year on TheThriftyMama.com!

A few months ago I was chatting with some great blogging friends on Twitter.  We all felt there was a need for a resource for frugal bloggers that would help build a community, teach blogging ethics and how to turn a blog into a business.

That conversation on Twitter lead to the creation of Savvy Blogging.  Since the launch on twitter, #SavvyBlogging has exploded into something we never even thought possible.  Bloggers are getting help,  and there is a community growing that supports bloggers who want to turn their blogs into a business.  I myself have learned so much from my fellow bloggers in the past month, and I am so blessed to now have a community that I can turn to for advice and support.

Here is the Savvy Blogging team that is heading this up:

Crystal from Money Saving Mom

Toni from The Happy Housewife

Andrea from Mommy Snacks

Erin from $5 Dinners

Crystal from The Thrifty Mama (that’s me!)

We will be hosting a round table dinner on February 5th in Nashville, TN.  The dinner sold out an hour after opening registration for it, but there will be many more opportunities to come!  If you are interested in growing your blog, turning it into a business, learning about ethical blogging and more, I highly encourage you to follow the twitter conversation, and add Savvy Blogging to your daily reader. You can also become a fan on Facebook of Savvy Blogging, and follow @SavvyBlogging on Twitter.

Be sure to also follow all of the Savvy Blogging hostesses on Twitter: @CrystalPaine, @HappyHousewife, @MommySnacks, @5DollarDinners, and @TheThriftyMama.

If you are looking to become more “Savvy” in your blogging, one of the best things to do is to set some blogging goals.  I will be writing up a post soon on what my goals for 2010 will be.  Savvy Blogging will have a post on Monday in which we can all link and share our goals for 2010.  If you aim for nothing, then you are sure to get it. Let’s all work together, and reach some goals this next year as bloggers.

Being a frugal blogger is tough.  There are a bunch of us out here in the blogging world that are trying to “make it” online.  Each frugal blogger chooses the way that they run their site, and most of us choose to work together as a community.  It’s a rough world out there, and business today can be very cut-throat.  However, I would like to think of the frugal blogging community as different and set apart from the dog-eat-dog approach to business.

In my days browsing the frugal blogosphere, I have seen MANY bloggers (newer and older) using posts and deals that were obviously taken from another site.  But yet, no credit was given.  And, I’ve seen many posts that were found on forums and no credit was given there either (I have made this mistake myself).  Crediting forums is a sticky issue, that many of us will not agree on.  If many bloggers find the same deal on a forum and post something, there’s likely to be ill feelings between these bloggers because one will think the other stole the deal.

Let me make something perfectly clear: Just because one blogger posted something first, it does not mean that others are stealing from that person if no credit is given. Many of these types of deals are discovered on forums, and it’s my experience that bloggers don’t usually credit forums. I myself have been accused of stealing posts from another blogger, when I merely found the deal on the same forum. And sometimes, there are just coincidental circumstances where two or three different bloggers happened upon a deal at the same time.  Most of us are subscribed to the same email updates from companies, and we get alerted to the deals at the same time.

Here’s what I believe we can do to make the frugal blogging community a better place:

Crediting

If you find a deal, coupon ect.. on another blog, do your best to credit the other site and not “steal” the information. Forums usually have crazy practices and rules, so most of us do not want to link there.  No need.  At least thank them without a link if you can. Again, some of you may not think it necessary to credit forums, but I think this could help avoid all the accusations of stealing that keep going around.

If you see a frugal blogger that hardly ever credits anyone, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the ones finding all of the deals.  It usually means they are just stealing deals without proper crediting.

Copyright

A blogger’s posts are legally protected by copyright, the same way that books, magazines and newspapers are.  It is NEVER okay to copy someone’s work and post it as your own unless they have given you express written permission to do so.  You are always welcome to quote a few lines, but you should always leave a link back to the other blogger.  There are a lot of new bloggers out there, that don’t realize you should be crediting your sources.

Community

I would like to see all bloggers working together as a community.  There’s no need to have the mindset of “I have to be better than this blogger.”  The internet is big enough for all of us. If we will be honest and help each other out, we will all be happier and still grow.  I love cheering other bloggers on when they succeed!  And let’s face it, social networking and building relationships with other frugal bloggers can be mutually beneficial.  You don’t want to estrange yourself from other bloggers due to dishonest practices (whether intentional or not).  And sometimes, to make a better community, we will also need to forgive a fellow blogger that has wronged us.  Continuing to hold a grudge over something that was done in the past only hurts you.  Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and a poisoned heart. Whether someone is “sorry” or not, forgiving them is always the better road to take.

I know this is probably a heated topic, and a little more intense than I usually like to get on my blog, but I felt the need to get some of these things out in the open.  I hope it has helped some of you, and please feel free to link to this page if you ever find someone that is copying your work (but be nice about it).  Most people just don’t understand how it works, so I hope this helps!