Winners Of Housewife Superstar - The Very Best of Marjorie Bligh

The Winners Of Housewife Superstar - The Very Best of Marjorie Bligh by Danielle Wood book are:

Winner Number 1 - is Nadia.

Winner Number 2 - is Practical Parsimony.

To see their comments click HERE. They were selected by Random Generator - just like picking a name from a hat.

Winners,  Please email me your address so that the friendly Madeleine from Text Publishing Can post your books to you :-)

Lucky Ducks!!! I wouldn't mind this book on my frugal reference book shelf.

A Few More Days Before The Draw Of The Frugal GIVEAWAY

Hi Everyone.

Make sure you don't forget to enter my Frugal Book GIVEAWAY HERE.

I have 2 copies and it's an International GIVEAWAY - So Aussies and those in other lands can enter too :-)

I filled myself with Cherries, Blue Berries and Banana at my desk in the morning, expensive but vitamin rich. Lunchtime I had plain potato, with tomato and avocado to get good food into my depleted body. And then we ate out tonight - Pizza for the soul, after a long day at work, feeling still a little shaky but so happy to be getting better.

Hand stitching in the quiet

Tonight I'm having quiet time and hand stitching another gift for a person Dolly adores out of scrap fabric and old clothes :-)  The Rambling Expat and Dolly have both been fast asleep since 7:15pm tonight. My unwellness and coughing has really worn them out with stress and interrupted sleep.

What are you up to?

FRUGAL INTERNATIONAL BOOK GIVEAWAY - Housewife Superstar

Hello frugality lovers. I have a special treat for you today that I am very very excited about!!! Text Publishing have sponsored 2 copies of The Housewife Superstar: The Very Best Of Marjorie Bligh to GIVEAWAY to my 2 winning blog readers. 

All you need to do is write one of your "eccentric frugal tricks/tips" in the comments below to be in the running. The competition is open to everyone and I will use Random Generator to pick the 2 winners.

Comp starts now and ends on the 15 December 2011 11:59pm Darwin Time.

Don't forget to click on the link above to read a bit about Housewife Superstar and Marjorie. What a woman. I'm sure we could all learn a thing or two from her, she reduces, reuses and recycles by upcycling! A real Frugalista this book is full of frugal ticks some bordering on eccentricity - LOVE IT>

 Housewife Superstar 
The Very Best of Marjorie Bligh

Danielle Wood

My Terms and Conditions:

• If you are not one of my lovely followers you must leave your email address in case you're the winner. But best to follow me and have your email activated to save yourself the hassle ;-)
• One entry only per person.
• Competition ends on the 15 December 2011, 11:59pm Darwin Time.

Disclaimer: I have been offered 2 copies of Housewife Superstar to giveaway and did not receive any form of payment or gifts myself.

(KATE you haven't made contact regarding your $50 Coles Myer win and your email is not active on your blogger account - can you please activate it.)

The WINNERS are....

My Competition for some $$$ Sponsored by the delightful smelling Air Wick Aqua Mist and Soup now has winners.

My judge was Dana from Soup and this is what she said:

"What a tough choice it was!"  "I wish we could have given loads more prizes to all the great suggestions!"

So without dragging it out longer.... The WINNERS are:

1. Eve and the apple tree - has won a $200 Coles Myer Voucher.
2. Erica Louise - has won a $100 Coles Myer Voucher
3. Kate - has won a $50 Coles Myer Voucher

Lucky Ducks !!! I wish I could have entered :-)  But at least I have 3 bottles of lovely home scents to make my home smell fresh. You can read their entries HERE.

Thank you to everyone who entered and read my review of Air Wick Aqua Mist. It was because of all of you that I was able to have such a cool sponsored GIVEAWAY. Lets all hope another opportunity presents itself again in the future, because testing nice product for free was kind of fun and giving money away is a very nice feeling indeed :-)

Three cheers for Judging Dana who had the hardest job.  Hip Hip Hurrah!

LAST DAY TO WIN $200, $100 or $50

Hi to all Readers in Australia! 

Today is the LAST DAY to ENTER my WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY from the AIR WICK and SOUP people.

Lovely DANA from SOUP will be the judge!

You don't have to be a follower - (but I'd love it if you were). Even lurkers can enter. I average 160 hits a day - so I know you're out there. Come on, enter and wish upon a lucky star.....

So quick CLICK HERE to enter.

And Good Luck.

Keep in Frugal :-)

$$$ Air Wick Aqua Mist GIVEAWAY For Australian Readers

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR ENTRIES. THIS COMP IS NOW CLOSED. I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE LOVELY DANA FROM SOUP HAS CHOSEN THE WINNERS.

As many of you know I was sent bottles Air Wick Aqua Mist (Air Freshener) to sample with family and friends, so I hosted a sniffing party with my neighbours which I mentioned here. I also handed bottles to each of my 6 work colleagues in the team I work with.

Many of these people regularly purchase air freshening products. I myself don't as I'm on a tight budget and use ecalyptus oil, bicarb and vinegar to clean. Plus I keep my windows open when I'm home. Also air fresheners sometimes trigger asthma in The Rambling Expat. However I put up my hand to try a product for FREE and give it a Review, so I tested it myself at home.

I found the new Air Wick Aqua Mist to be mild and soft. I hasn't triggered coughing in my family and the smell is not as throat grabbing intense and artificial smelling as other popular products from the supermarket shelf which I smell at work or friends homes.

These are the three scents I received and tried out:

• Wild Lavender & Mountain Breeze (lavender, herbs, chamomile and precious woods.)
• Fresh Waters (ocean waters and sparkling citrus.)
• Magnolia & Cherry Blossom (magnolia, cherry blossom, apple and jasmine).

I found all 3 scents to be very pleasant. My absolute favourite is Fresh Waters. It's a very light scent that doesn't smell overly feminine. It smells fresh and uplifting. I placed brackets around (Air Freshener) because these can actually be used on some fabrics such as clothing and furniture. I know I will find my bottles of Air Wick Aqua Mist to very be useful when the wet season is in full swing and our clothes get that musty mouldy odour when it rains day, after day, after day. And I could have done with this is my wild and crazy nightclubbing cigarette smoking heydays.

My neighbours have also enjoyed the scents and their favourite has been diverse. Some like Lavender, others Cherry Blossom and some prefer Fresh Waters. My work colleagues have also given lots of positive feedback on the scents, packaging and dispersion of the Air Wick Aqua Mist.

Don't worry, I have not buried my head in the sand. I will say ecologically/sustainably, purchased air fresheners and many of those home made varieties are not environmentally sound. However, if you already purchase air fresheners this seems to be one of the better choices on the supermarket shelf. The new Air Wick Aqua Mist is non aerosol so that is a major plus. You can also re-use or recycle the spray plastic bottle, which is a good thing. As for the ingredients listed, there is a lot of debate on the web and a lot of it is heavily chemistry jargoned and hard to understand. I have learnt the ingredients are not great however they are not the worst in the air freshener world. So my neighbours and friends who LOVE air fresheners can make baby steps to be slightly more eco with their supermarket choices and now select Air Wick Aqua Mist. And hopefully as demand for ecological products increase, popular brands will rise to the occasion and offer better choices.

As for me and my 3 bottles. I will use them sparingly and they will last 2 or 3 years. I will then reuse the spray bottle because I'm eco frugal like that. And I'm glad Soup and Air Wick gave me the opportunity to put my hand up to Try, Review, Giveaway and Educate myself on Air Wick Aqua Mist and other household products in the process.

Now for my BEST GIVEAWAY EVER on my blog, for Australian Residents. Soup and Air Wick gave me some money to run a Giveaway Comp, so this is it!

You need to leave a comment below telling me "What is your best tip for keeping your home looking and feeling fresh."

The Best Entry will win a $200 Coles Myer Gift Voucher!!! How cool is that! A bit of cash to spend now, so you can get ahead with your budget for those important things in life. And that's not all!!! I have a second prize of a $100 Coles Myer Voucher and amazingly a 3rd Prize of a $50 Coles Myer Voucher.

Terms and Conditions:

• To keep it equitable, I've asked lovely Dana from the Soup team to select my winner. 
• If you are not one of my lovely followers you must leave your email address in case you're the winner. But best to follow me to save yourself the hassle ;-)
• Open to Australian residents only. (Sorry to all my international followers and readers)
• One entry only per person.
• Competition ends on Tuesday 29 November 2011, 11:59pm Darwin Time.
• If my winners do not respond to my emails within 7 days then the prize will be redrawn.

Disclaimer: I received a package of Air Wick Aqua Mist in order to complete this review and did not receive any form of payment. All opinions expressed are completely my own.


Good Luck :-)

A Giveaway Because I'm Going

I'm leaving for a work trip for 3 days. I'm off to Alice Springs. Some of you may remember my last work trip was a year ago to the Kakadu region.

I enjoy work trips because it allows you to refocus on your job in a different light. And being out of the office is a very nice change of the sameness grind, day in - day out.

My little Giveaway is this lovely magazine July-August 2011 Australian Geographic I picked up for $1 at an op shop with an article on Kakadu in the wet season. This magazine retails for $12.95 so I was thrilled to find it stuffed amongst the kids books.

My Giveaway is open to all of those OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA and I will use Random Generator to pick my winner next Monday. So just comment about one simple eco frugal living idea you have.

I will be hosting a HUGE Giveaway for my Readers In Australia sponsored by Air Wick and Soup in the next couple of days.

Is my giveaway frugal for me... NO. But I really want to share my piece of Australia with someone out there. And I like to give gifts. Plus you guys keep me plodding along with my aim towards frugality so I can have those things I really want; A house, part time work, early retirement and a simple life that includes travel.

So type in your ideas and share the wisdom.

Chatting

Ms Dig was in our home town. So we caught up in a park that way Dolly could run around while we chatted. Ms Dig brought the Pizza and we brought the chocolate biscuits. She has made a super interesting career choice as she is an archeologist. I am envious of those who work in their area of passion. I'm now over 40 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Do any of you have this problem too?

Ms Dig, The Rambling Expat and Dolly.

Not everything is my life is fun as on our return home I spent 30 minutes decluttering a huge pile of papers. I reduced it with this pile for the recycling bin.

Waste of Trees - Gone to the Recycling Bin.

The rest is in a folder with the aim of a nightly 5 minute "deal with it and file chore". Paper clutter is my constant battle. My aim if for a tidier home by Saturday as I was sent product to review by Soup and will be inviting all the people from my block to come and do some blind sniff testing. I can't wait - it should be fun. They don't read my blog, so this will be a nice surprise for them.

My Review Goodies - To Sniff and Gift to My Participants.

I have been sponsored by Soup and Air Wick to review the nice smelling product. So stay tuned to find out my real thoughts on the new Air Wick Aqua Mist. I will also have an amazing Giveaway for my Australian readers, so FOLLOW ME to not miss out my notification. (Many apologies to all my overseas readers this time around)

Have you ever been contacted to review a product? What did you think? Was it Fun or an Extra chore?

Country Girl Please Email Me.

Hi Country Girl - I deleted your comment as you didn't want your email address published, but bad me forgot to note your email address before doing so. I tried leaving you a few comments on your blog for you to contact me and also in response to your comment asking when you would received your prize. But you must be busy as I haven't had any responses :-(

Please Please email me at: chaosgirltakescontrol (at) hotmail (dot) com   - because I really want to give you your prize as it's lots of fun.

As for my other readers, fellow Blogger African Aussie is also running the My Memories Suite "International" Giveaway so jump on over and leave a comment for a chance to win the fun program.

Good Luck!

Winner of My Memories Suite Giveaway

The Winner of My Memories Suite Giveaway is Country Girl!!!

I was surprised that only 3 people entered the Giveaway. I think it's a great product, easy to use, fun, frugal, eco and FREE if you won it. I wish I could give all 3 entrants a code to download the software - unfortunately I can't. :-(

I used Random Org to select the winner but had difficulty adding it as a widget on my blog. If any one knows any easy step by step guides please let me know.

Country Girl - please email me your email address so I can send you the downloading code.

Giveaway Ends Tomorrow!!

Hi Everyone,

A reminder that my Giveaway for My Memories Suite Digital Scrap Booking Software ends tomorrow. Don't forget to enter if you are interested in winning this product. It's valued at $39.97US and compatible with PC and Mac!!! The winner will receive a code to download the product for FREE from the My Memories website.

I was given the product for FREE for myself to review. I'm permitted to say what I want - negative and positive. But I have only found positives. I personally think it's easy to use, fun and frugal. It's also eco if you store and send your creations digitally instead of printing out your work.

Here's a review for My Memories Suite that I found on You Tube. When I was originally asked if I was interested in reviewing it by Liz, I did a search around before saying yes. I found that it seems to have a good reputation and is quite popular. So once again if you interested, click on the link above and enter before you miss out.

My Memories Suite Giveaway

Today I'm starting the My Memories Suite Giveaway. The people at My Memories sponsored this Giveaway in exchange for a product review. So lucky me, because I received my very own downloadable My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software, valued at $39.97US and I had enjoyable playtime.

My Memories Suite is a digital scrapbooking software which you download to your computer (PC or Mac). So there's no packaging, no thousands of miles to get to you, no need for craft materials. The best bit is I found out it's more then just scrapbooking, in that you can create your scrapbook pages and send them to Grandma as a cute PowerPoint. No fiddling with PowerPoint for hours and no printing necessary if you don't want to. However if you do want to print, you have the choice of setting up your work as a book, card or even calender. Very cool indeed. I will definitely use this to create a calender for 2012. And wait there's more...  :-)  You can also save your work to a DVD or CD.

I found My Memories Suite very easy to use as you can select a template and then just auto fill them with your selected photographs. The software does the hard work for you within minutes. That means I can get my 4 year old Dolly to sit down, select a template, select her photos and auto fill a small booklet for her friends when they have a fun day together. Imagine at her next birthday, each child could go home with a little souvenir booklet of the party.

I have only touched the tip of the iceberg of My Memories Suite and will definitely play with it much much more as there are many features I haven't looked at yet and my printer is on the blink. Here is a sample of what I created in just a few minutes with a couple of old photographs of Dolly.

So ENTER MY GIVEAWAY to win your very own My Memories Suite. I like things uncomplicated, so all you have to do is visit www.mymemories.com and have a browse. Then come back to This Post and leave 1 comment telling me which of the digital packs or layouts is your favourite. Your comment is your entry. I will them use random.org to select ONE lucky winner at 9:00pm Sunday Night October 2, 2001, Darwin Australia Time. 


Good luck :-)

Giveaway Winner is "Waiting"

The Winner of My Book Giveaway is Blogger "Waiting". She is a single mum on a man diet, while picking up the pieces and rebuilding on her own with her children.

Thank you for all entering - I wish I could send you all a copy as I found the book to be a useful tool for saving for my home to get out of debt faster.

Thank you to you all for reading, following, entering and commenting. You are all part of my life and I am grateful :-)

Dolly pulling out a winner from the 5 entries.

Don't forget my Giveaway which Ends Soon.

Click Here: HERE :-)

Giveaway not Eco but it's Frugal

As most of you know I am a messy and chaotic person. And somewhat disorganised. Anyway I really wanted to do a Eco Magazine giveaway, however it seems they are sitting in the car that is parked in the street. And since it's a few minutes after midnight and I'm in my nightie I really don't feel like walking out there and search the car. I'll do the Eco Mags next weekend.

So instead I will giveaway One copy of my favourite paperback books on paying off your mortgage faster using frugal ways. Your Mortgage And How To Pay It Off in Five Years was one of the 1st books I began reading when I started on my frugal journey. The pages are starting to yellow (I live in the tropics) but they are all firmly intact. I learnt so much from this little gem and think you will too.

I think this book is useful for home owners paying off the mortgage but also renters who could learn some tips on how to make your money work harder by the way you spend it and use it. It's an easy book to read and Anita reads like a true friend.

All you have to do is write a tip or story on how you save/d money to pay/paid off your mortgage or rent. Dolly will pick out one random number out of a bowl and that will be the winner. I'm not techie enough yet for one of those random generators yet. So get your tips and stories in and lets share the savings. You have until the end of Wednesday 06 July 2011 and it's open to everyone in every country.

This is in celebration of hitting over 60 followers, also having a readership from non blogspot folks and because I just turned 41, 29 minutes ago...

Thank you to all of you for keeping me on track, giving great advice and support and allowing me to view a piece of your life. I really look forward to all your great tips and stories.