{Giveaway} Family Friendly Frugality Birthday Bash: Over $400 in Prizes!

One year ago today, I started a blog. It wasn’t called Family Friendly Frugality. In fact, it was actually called A Passion for Savings. It didn’t take me long to realize that there actually is another blog titled Passion for Savings (ironically owned by a woman named Heather as well), so I quickly brainstormed another name.

Family Friendly Frugality started with 3 posts.

These posts would end up being the pillar articles for this site and really defined it’s purpose from early on.

I had been a stay at home mom for over 3 years by this point (I worked part time at a local Mother’s Day Out 2 days a week, but that’s it), and I had learned a LOT about living on one income. We didn’t start off our marriage as wise spenders, that’s for sure. It took our electricity getting disconnected, I don’t even want to think about how many late fees and a LOT of mistakes to get to where we finally found our feet on solid ground. It was an education, that’s for sure. It was a time period that we really struggled through. Luckily, we found our way out to the other side.

I wanted to share what we had learned with other families. I knew if I could help even one family avoid the pain and frustration of having too much month at the end of their money, it would be worth it.  (and I’ll admit, I wanted Swagbucks referrals as well!)

Throughout the past year, I’ve logged more hours on this website then I should probably admit. I went MONTHS without earning a dime and with an audience of a few dozen. 

In January though, I reached out to a few bloggers and I formed a blogging group with them. This blogging group was a total game changer for me. For once, I had a group of ladies beside me who understood what this crazy internet job was all about. We began to bounce suggestions off each other, and team up on projects. Little by little, I started to understand the value of networking and reaching out beyond my tiny little blogging bubble.

The more fans I received, the more emails I received. Complete strangers thanking me for helping them save money. I’ve even received emails thanking me for saving marriages! I started to realize that maybe I had a knack for helping others with this money saving stuff. As the blog began to grow and started to generate an income, I started pouring that money right back into more resources to help my readers.

I moved to a hosted domain to allow for more traffic. I added a Coupon Database. I hired a designer to give the entire site a re-design to make it more user friendly. I hired my friend Katie to help with some of the workload. I invested in prizes to thank my loyal fans for sticking around with me.

And somehow…from that tiny little blog….a business grew.

Just Thankful, So Thankful

Whether you’ve been a fan of FFF since 1 year ago today, or you just became a fan today…I’m so thankful.

I have fumbled my way through this year.

Trying to learn HTML, spending 30 minutes typing up a deal scenario only to have the deal go dead the moment it published, fielding questions and negativity from naysayers, trying to make the hours spent away from my family worth their while and trying to learn how to find my own little niche within the very heavily populated frugal blogging community. Dealing with email overload from PR agencies who actually think I know what I’m doing (I’m getting there!) and feeling the drop in my gut when I realize a coupon code I posted is dead or a freebie isn’t valid. Just wanting to be at my best for all of you, at all times…has been a humbling and educating experience.

It’s been a year of tears and triumphs, but every lick of it has been worth it.

So I just want to say Thank You. I want to say it to each and every one of you, right to your faces and follow it up with a big ol’ hug. But I’ve got some social anxiety and meeting all of you in person is not really likely…so I’ll just throw some goodies at you!

First though, I want to thank a few really REALLY important people:

  • My husband. I did not get a SINGLE check for over 6 months. That man watched me slave away over a tiny little website for hours on end, and didn’t bat an eyelash when I QUIT my job to work on the site full time…never knowing if it would ever be worth it. He trusted me and had faith in me in a way that I’m not really sure I deserved! I know many women claim to have the perfect husband, but man…I KNOW I do.
  • My family. My kids have adjusted to work at home mommy with nary a tear. My MIL has given me plenty of words of wisdom as a veteran business owner that I have applied with wonderful results. Even those family members that have never said a word about the site…I see them following on Facebook and “liking” a company soon after I post a freebie. Even that quiet support means the world to me.
  • God. Well…duh. Without Him nothing is possible. He put this task on my heart a long time ago. He knew my strengths and He knew my weaknesses and He knew that I had something to give back to the world. I am so thankful that I listened (because I don’t always).
  • My fellow bloggers. I know I will leave some out. I know it. So I’m not going to list them. They know who they are. If you are in Blogging Friends…I am indebted to you for the rest of my life for opening up my eyes to the possibilities. If you are in Bargain Network, wowzers! Thanks for the HUGE push and the daily votes of confidence. To all the other bloggers I converse with on a daily and weekly basis…THANK YOU! Together, we make a much better team then alone!
  • My readers. This would be a very boring and inactive site without all of you. Sharing my content (even when Facebook makes it so gosh darn difficult), and telling your family and friends about the site, you have no idea what that means to me. My readers ARE what Family Friendly Frugality is all about. I hope to always make you all proud.

So without further ado…here goes the Birthday Bash!

The Birthday Bash

Here are the prizes:

4 Lucky Readers will win $10 Starbucks Gift Cards

3 Lucky Readers will win $10 Amazon Gift Cards!

2 Lucky Readers will win $10 Walmart Gift Cards

2 Lucky Readers will win $10 Target Gift Cards

1 Lucky Reader will win $25 Paypal CASH!

1 Lucky Reader will win a Coupon Clutch Gift Certificate ($55)

Grand Prize Winner will receive: $215 Paypal CASH!

That’s over $400 worth of prizes…and 14 winners!

Entry into the birthday bash is easy.

Here are the various options available to earn the most chances to win:

  1. Subscribe by email (You must confirm! If you don’t confirm, the entry will be invalid)
  2. Follow on Facebook
  3. Follow on Twitter
  4. Add FFF to your Google Reader (directions HERE)

Next just fill out the Rafflecopter form below (you will need javascript enabled to see this giveaway):

<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.This giveaway will end on August 22, 2011 (my birthday!).

This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Facebook, Amazon, Paypal, Coupon Clutch, Target, Walmart or Starbucks. It’s all sponsored by ME!
This giveaway is open to residents of US/Canada 18+ but all gift cards and funds will be paid out in US dollars.

Published by

Heather

Heather is the creator and owner of Family Friendly Frugality. She calls Texas home and is married to her best friend. With 2 children 22 months apart, she has her hands full. So full that she decided to start blogging as a hobby. That hobby blew up into a full time job. Now she's got the husband, the kids and the blog. We're not exactly sure what she was thinking, but she's too busy for us to ask. Find Me On Google +

58 thoughts on “{Giveaway} Family Friendly Frugality Birthday Bash: Over $400 in Prizes!”

  5. sorry for the multiple entrys, but my puter got hacked by a virus and I keep getting booted. didn’t know I did it.

    Happy Blogaversary!!

    Reply

  6. Happy birthday! Somehow my computer is now letting me enter using Rafflecopter….YAY! I stopped entering things because it wouldn’t let me 🙂

    Reply

  8. Hey there! I love this post. It really touched me. My blog is about a month old and I am only dreaming of the one year birthday bash.

    I am hoping that mine turns into a business, as I am now a stay at home mother and we are actually trying for another baby 🙂

    I would really appreciate if you could email me sometime. I would love to chat with you and make a new blogging buddie.

    🙂 Amber

    Reply

  9. Congratulations!!! You are by far one of my favorite frugal blogs and always have been a sweetheart! You definitely care about us, we feel that through your posts <3

    Reply

  11. ps. you are the 1st person I am following on Twitter. Brand new Twitterererer and you r my 1st friend!!! 🙂

    Reply

  17. Happy birthday and congratulations on the success of your site!

    You give me hope and reassurance in your post. I have used coupons, codes, ad-matching, CVS, etc ever since I got married 13 years ago. Until recently I was very quiet & almost embarassed about it. None of my friends understood or were interested in it at all. Then I found blogs where there were people like me!! I wanted to share my knowledge too, so I started my own blog but it’s been very slow in growing. I had 2000+ readers but then changed my blog name and no one followed me on the new one. 🙁 So starting from scratch now. Reading about your experience tells me that maybe I can do it, too, just need to be patient!

    Reply

  24. Congrats on your anniversary! 🙂 It’s inspiring that you quit your job and turned full time blogger. The section about your husband brought tears to my eyes. It’s priceless to have someone there for you who has complete faith and trust in your decisions.

    Thanks for the giveaway celebration!

    Reply

  25. What great news for you! So happy for you , I just started a blog but havent spent any time on it yet, it’s a lot of upkeep I know.

    Reply

  41. I love your blog. Can’t remember how I found it, but it has helped me tremendously. The last I went shopping, I saved a total of $53. Not much compared to you! But, it’s more than I have ever saved before!

    By the way, you have the same birthday as my first husband, and yes, he is a great guy!

    Reply

  47. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

  48. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

  49. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

  50. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

  51. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

  52. Coupon Mamacita sent me!!! I subscribed to your email and “liked” you on FB!!!! 🙂 Looking forward to learning more about you!!! 🙂

    Reply

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