Congratulations to our winner…Katie!

Here are your random numbers:

15	

Timestamp: 2009-09-05 12:17:15 UTC

Growing up, my sister and I did not get an allowance. We were expected to complete chores as part of a contributing member of the household, and when we wanted something my parents were generous enough to give us cash.

Times are different and allowances are becoming the norm, but kids still need guidance. The Money Savvy Pig is an excellent way to teach kids how to manage their allowance and do more than just buy candy and comic books.

The Money Savvy Pig actually shows kids exactly how their birthday and baby sitting money is being divied up. The bank is divided into four chambers – save, spend, donate and invest – so that kids can begin making choices about how to allocate their money.

The Money Savvy Pig even comes with goal setting stickers so kids can tag their spend chamber with exactly what they are planning to buy and work to pay cash for their purchase. Excellent lesson for everyone!

The Money Savvy Pig is from Monday Savvy Generation where you can find all sorts of information on teaching kids and teens the value of a dollar. They have also been generous enough to offer one of my readers a Money Savvy Pig of their own! Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment and let me know what you do to teach your kids the value of money? If you don’t have children, how did (or didn’t) your parents teach you the value of money?

As a bonus, there’s also a Twitter giveaway for a $25 Barns & Noble gift card and a complete Classroom Solution curriculum. Just follow @susanbeacham (the genius behind Money Savvy Generation) on Twitter and send a tweet using the hashtag #MoneySavvyPig.

You have until September 5th to enter. Good luck!

The fine print… Entries will be accepted until midnight, Friday, September 5th. One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Saturday, September 6th. Contest open to US residents. Winner will be contacted by email and/or Twitter and will have 48 hours to respond. Please use your real first name and a valid email address when entering. I am not responsible for incorrect contact information. Prize will be shipped directly from Money Savvy Generation. Good luck!

I blogged about GE Strong as Steel appliances a few months back and now I’m part of a great giveaway on my blog Oh Hey that I want to tell everyone about!

All you have to do is go over to www.ohheywhatsup.com and look for the Strong as Steel widget in the right sidebar. Click sweepstakes then fill in your name, birthday, and email address and hit submit.

You just entered to win a GE appliance of your choice! You can enter EVERY DAY between now and November 15th.

And the part I’m most excited about – if you enter using my widget and win then I win too!

So head on over to Oh Hey, look for the Strong as Steel widget, and enter to win!

• $20 gas
• $40 Bar Louie
• $55 Hooters
• $6 McDonalds
• $9 Dairy Queen
• $20 Post Office
• $25 doctor’s appointment
• $72 Costco
• $163 grocery

After eating out every day this past week, it was time to go grocery shopping – major grocery shopping. Our cabinets were literally empty. I don’t think we’ve been to the grocery in over a month. We needed everything from butter and flour (okay – so we had a craving for homemade chocolate chip cookies) to noodles and rice.

My friend Toni is a coupon queen and I consulted her for some tips on my first official trip to the grocery with a fist-full of coupons. I don’t think she’ll be very impressed with my $24.27 savings, but I think she’ll be proud of my effort.

I would have saved $6 more, but I was handing the coupons to my husband to stash in his pocket while I shopped and he didn’t hand them all to me at checkout.

We’re learning.

As I was paying car insurance, renters insurance, and insurance on my wedding rings, I was reminded again that we don’t have any life insurance. From my very preliminary research, it seems like term life insurance is where we should start. It’s the simplist form of life insurance and is the most affordable – especially when you can browse and compare term life insurance rates from providers such as Prudential and ING and at http://www.freelifetermquote.com.

Do you have life insurance? What kind? Through which provider? Did you do a lot of research and cost comparisons?

• $115 Target
• $376 car payment -Corolla
• $490 car payment – Prius
• $167 Sallie Mae
• $214 State Farm -jewelry insurance
• $1,000 Chase
• $20 Checks-In-The-Mail
• $34 Sprint
• $165 dentist
• $50 grocery

Monthly stock-up on paper products, toiletries, and cleaning supplies at Target and another $1,000 of credit card debt paid off!

I still haven’t done proper grocery shopping in over a month and my husband is getting very hungry.

Oh my, I’m way behind on my July paid blogging report.

• PayPerPost = $13.00
• SocialSpark = $103.00
• Sponsored Tweets = $19.86
• Freelance = $40.00

Total = $175.86

I didn’t reach my goal of $300, but the products I received to review (and fully disclose when doing so) take me well beyond my goal.

Sponsored Tweets is a new platform from IZEA* which allows Twitter users to monetize their Twitter stream – I was hesitant at first because I refuse to support the clutterization of Twitter, but the system allows me to tailor my Tweets to my followers and turn-down offers that don’t jive with my Twitter style which means I’m in control. And we all know how I love to be in control.

I also attended Affiliate Summit East last week and am testing new affiliate relationships that may generate additional revenue. Affiliate services in general always seem pretty spammy to me, but I connected with a few affiliates that really fit my niche and I think we can work well together.

Since August is half over and I pretty much know how the month is going to pan out, I’m setting my goal at $200.

So…how much did you make this month?

*Disclosure: I am an Izea Insider – read more and join The Peanut Gallery!

I may shop a lot, but I’m a bargain hunter. I do my research before I buy to find the best price and locate any coupons or incentives that are available. From groceries to clothes to electronics, I rarely buy anything at full price.

That goes for web hosting, too. I always find the best deal on all the bells and whistles that I need to keep my websites up and running. I won’t pay extra for services I won’t use and I won’t make do with an inferior service just to save a few bucks.

That’s why I always check out Web Hosting Geeks when it’s time to renew my host. Their web hosting comparison includes hosting features, price, full reviews, and any extras that the host includes in their packages. Users can also add their own review, good or bad.

I also keep tabs on the Web Hosting Geeks Blog to read the latest reviews, learn more about hosts are offering, and find other resources for improving my websites!

If you’re in the market for a host or it’s time for you to renew your host, I highly recommend checking out Web Hosting Geeks. They are by far the best hosting resource available online and have helped me find a host that I’m very happy with!