I just wanted to pop in with a quick update about my newest cash giveaway starting on St. Patrick’s Day. I am giving away $25 cash! It will be sent by paypal which requires you to have an account through them. This giveaway is open to everyone age 18+ in any country! This is my first worldwide giveaway so I’m really excited. The prize money is coming from me. It is a fun way to thank you for stopping by my blog to read and comment. As I grow my blog, then I will be able to have more fun giveaways! Come back on Friday for the St. Patrick’s Day $25 Cash Giveaway. I actually do have a little Irish on my mom’s side, but I promise you won’t have to kiss me.

Today’s thrifty living tip is to use online banking to pay your bills. I have a couple of my bills automatically drafted, but I use my bank’s online bill pay system for all my other bills for free. At the beginning of each month, I schedule all my bills with the date I want them to be paid. It is much less trouble, and I save money on stamps and checks.

The price of stamps is getting very expensive. I have about 10 bills to pay, so this saves me close to $5 a month in stamps. I realize $60 does not seem like much savings, but that is equivalent to buying a couple more Christmas gifts. It all adds up especially in this economy with the cost of living going up rapidly, and my husband’s salary is not. I write two checks a month so one box lasts for a couple of years. My bank does offer rewards for using its online bill pay service.

Do you use online banking?

*Note: All reputable banks have security locks on their page but just double check for extra reassurance. *Note: I have used online banking for over 12 years safely.

Today’s thrifty living tip is to use a bag as a paint tray liner. I don’t have any pictures, but basically use a plastic shopping bag or even a garbage bag as a liner for the paint tray. It’s much cheaper than buying those plastic throw away ones at the store. It is much easier to clean up when you are done. I just put the paint tray inside the bag and tie at the end. It stays in place, and all I have to do is untie and throw the mess away. Try it for your next painting project.

Month of May Giveaway

(This is NOT like any other giveaway we’ve done so PLEASE READ IT ALL TO GET A FULL UNDERSTANDING!)

Important Information for Bloggers:

COST:$7 to enter, $2 is admin fee due to the magnitude of the giveaway, $5 is for Facebook Link only which will be due on May 13 to the winner of the giveaway. In addition, each blogger will supply the winner with $5 paypal cash. (This one is going to cost A LOT of my own time to organize, set up and make it a success I’m certain it will be. I’m pretty sure it will make the HP giveaway look like child’s play.)

When:Blogs can sign up until March 30, 2012. Giveaway runs April 1st- May 13, 2012 which is Mother’s Day.

How it works: There will be teams: The number of teams depends on how many people sign up. If 100 bloggers sign up, the teams will be divided into 10 bloggers per Rafflecopter and which means there will be 10 Rafflecopters. Once the entrant has entered the giveaway via team 1 RC, they can move on to another team 2 RC and enter there as well. They can enter on all ten RCs!

This is how the prize will work: 1 winner will be selected from each of the Team Rafflecopters. Each winner from each team RC will receive the cash prized from that winning RC. The bloggers on that team RC will send their $5 to the winner. For example: Team 1 RC has ten bloggers in it. Jane Doe wins Team 1 RC. All ten bloggers on Team 1 RC send Jane Doe $5 paypal cash for a grand total of $50 winnings for Jane Doe. Each Team RC will do the same thing for their winner. Finally, all cash winners from each team RC will be put on a new RC drawing. Random.org will select one of those cash winners to be the grand prize winner of the NETBOOK COMPUTER! Bloggers win too! All bloggers on the Rafflecopters will be entered into a drawing at the end of the giveaway to win $100 paypal, courtesy of LaDonna Dennis. At the end of every month, from now until the giveaway starts, all bloggers who’ve entered and PAID their fee will be entered into a drawing to win $25 paypal for that month.

RULES: You must agree to follow the rules of this giveaway!

• Sign up and pay your $7 fee.
• Agree to pay the cash winner on your RC $5 via Paypal.
• Find as many others participants as you possibly can to come and join us on this fabulous giveaway. The more sign ups, the more LIKES! If 100 bloggers sign up, you will get the traffic from their fans coming to enter your RC and vice versa.
• Make sure all the bloggers you refer put your blog’s name in the signup sheet.
• The Blog with the most referrals will get their $7 sign up fee returned. And I will pay your $5 cash winnings as well.
• You must advertise the sign up for this giveaway on your blog, both via a post and a button in the sidebar.
• Once the giveaway starts all members signed up are required to advertise the giveaway via all their social networks and by placing a button in their sidebar.

Important Information for Entrants: Entrants can enter all Team RCs. They can enter Team 1 RC and complete all the entries, then they can go on to enter all remaining team RCs. Technically, they could win all the Team RCs! On each team RC, they could win up to $50 paypal cash. Each blogger on the Rafflecopter will pay the winner $5 paypal cash.

And, the best part: All Rafflecopter winners will be entered into a random.org selection for the Grand Prize: the NETBOOK!

ALL IN ALL THIS GIVEAWAY WILL ONLY COST EACH BLOG THAT SIGNS UP A TOTAL OF $12! $7 due at the time of sign up and $5 due May 13 when the winners are selected. SIGN UP NOW FOR MORE LIKES AND TRAFFIC THEN YOU CAN IMAGINE

SIGN UP HERE: Remember to tell them Bonnie at Thrifty Momma Ramblings sent you!

Bright Future International is a non-profit organization helping to make children’s lives better and brighter. BFI  has launched a worldwide charitable initiative entitled “Bright Future for Children” to raise funds and awareness about the needs of children in Burundi, Kenya and Russia. They are helping underprivileged children achieve a better future by promoting values such as: compassion, self-esteem, the willingness to help others, and hope.

I learned more information about on their website about CHABHA (Children Affected by HIV/AIDS) in Burundi, BFI Children’s Studio in Russia, and Heshima Kenya. It is very sad to read how these children aren’t receiving the proper care they deserve. It really broke my heart to read about the young girls in Eastern Africa without families or support to help them.

You can help this wonderful organization by visting the Bright Future International (BFI) Facebook page. For every new “Like” $1 will be donated to BFI! It only takes a few minutes, but you will be doing so much to help make these children’s lives better and brighter.

Any person who makes a donation in the amount of $15 or more will receive a free DVD of the hit music video “A Merry Christmas,” featuring Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Larry King, Jordin Sparks, Jermaine Jackson and other stars. Put together by BFI, the goal of the music video was to promote community and peace by uniting people around the world regardless of race, religion and social status.

So please visit Bright Future International (BFI) Facebook page to learn more about this wonderful initiative. You can also follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central for Bright Future International. A small donation to Bright Future International was made in my name from Mom Central as a thank-you for participating.