Harvest Fest - free family event!

photo  © J. Jordan 2008

Blaze Christian Fellowship invites you to their 8th Annual Harvest Fest at the Genoveva Chavez Center on Monday, October 31 from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. It's a non-alcoholic and safe environment for the families in the community of Santa Fe and surrounding area on Halloween night. There will be free food, beverages, popcorn & candy (yum yum). They will also give away prizes, including an iPod :-)  Just a few other attractions will be: cakewalks, face panting, jumping gyms, climbing wall, soft toys,games and a a concert (DS Eclectic, Illusent and many more). Please bring non-perishable food items to donate to their local food pantries.

This sounds really cool and if I lived in Santa Fe, I'd go. 

Thank you Sarah for the information! 

Best Time To Set Up Meetings - Lesson Learned !

photo  © J. Jordan 2007

Last Saturday I was planning to meet some local bloggers so I scheduled the time (3:00) and the place (Flying Star). I didn't meet anybody but sitting there, sipping my coffee and watching the place I made an observation that is going to help me improve my planning skills and save my time in a long run :) When I arrived at the Flying Star on a busy Saturday afternoon around 3 o'clock, there were so many people that the only tables left were those round ones for 2, in the middle of the room. Around 3:30 most of the crowd was gone! And at  3:45 it looked almost empty. I realized  that when we set up a meeting we tend to arrange it on the hour : Oh, let's meet at 2, at 3, at 7, etc., we say. But when it comes to busy, popular places why not to schedule to get together at 2:30, 3:30, 7:30, etc? :-) Just a thought :)

Do you have any time-saving tips? When is the best time to go shopping?

A Bunch of Local Giveaways to Enter Today

Autumn  © J. Jordan 2008

Are you looking for some local contests to enter today? Here are a few :

- You can win a Lobo Prize Pack with Baillio's!I think it's really worth entering if you are a Lobo fan and if you're going to the game. You must be present at the time of the drawing to win! The prize vary each week and they are always great. Enter on their FB and in store.

- Win an iPod Shuffle with QponABQ ! If you spot their truck, take a picture and post on their FB wall for a chance to win. I will enter if I see the truck :) Keep your eyes open!

- Like (if you haven't already done so)  Things You Want to Know, Places You Want to Go on FB and you can win a $30 Amazon giftcard! Only 30 more likes until a 200 fan giveaway :)

- Coronado Center Halloween Photo Contest- take a picture of your child in a Halloween costume for a chance to win a vacation for four to Universal Orlando Resort  and a $1000 Mall gift card. I don't know how the winner is going to be selected but I would like to try my luck :) We have no idea what Zoe is gonna be for Halloween yet!

- Enter for your chance to win up to $10,000 college scholarship and a family trip to the Gildan New Mexico Bowl (ends Nov 15).  Instant winners (I would like to score this!) receive a College Care Package filled with quality basics from Gildan like active wear, socks and a Gildan New Mexico Bowl t-shirt :) Good luck!

Thank you Marcella for submitting this contest!  Great to have you here!

How We Got a Free Car Wash :-)

photo  © J. Jordan 2009

So this is a story I have to share! My husband went to a car wash but the automatic bay was blocked by a cone and a service vehicle. As he drove by, a man motioned to him to come in. The man needed to test the wash cycle he just worked on so we got a free car wash :-) This is called being in the right place at the right time! Keep it in mind when you need to have your car washed ;)

Too many sweepstakes to enter :)

Test drive for Rich Ford  © J. Jordan

There are so many giveaways going on in New Mexico that I can hardly keep up :) The ones I am posting on FB may be different from the ones I retweet. And here, on the blog, I will choose those most interesting ones that can bring some comments and discussion. It would be great if you could join and participate! Thanks!

Let me just briefly mention some giveaways going on right now:

- Mama's Minerals - I love them! I won a prize from them in July. I will always support them. They have 3 contests posted : their October Raffle (be back each month),  Win a Crystal Skull giveaway (perfect timing for Halloween) and their Home Decorating Contest (I still haven't sent my entry!).

- Rich Ford NM - I love them too :) I won a $10 Starbucks gift card from them (Gosh, I have to pick it up!) and that 2012 Mustang my husband drove for a week was from their NM Rockstar contest (I know, we owe more videos!). Anyhow, each Tuesday they post a trivia question on their FB page and there are not that many comments so the chances of winning are great! Just keep on trying and you'll win. I think I won on my second attempt. It's a perfect giveaway for a beginner sweeper just to prove yourself that yes you can win something :) And $10 is enough to invite someone for a good cup of coffee.

- Baillio's - (got a dishwasher from them and PNM!) - each time I check their FB page they have at least one giveaway going on! Enter today before midnight to win a $25 gift card!

I feel  like I have just promoted the companies that gave me some prizes :) Well, it only proves that their contests are fair and if I won, you can win there too. I recommend :)

Albuquerque Bloggers Meetup

photo © J. Jordan 2008

Albuquerque Bloggers, what about getting together this weekend? We could have coffee and we could just talk about our vision (do we have one yet?) I'd like to share my tiny experience and I'd love to hear your feedback and get some advice (about blogspot features for example). I may bring a laptop unless someone has an ipad :) Please leave a comment if you are available (Saturday afternoon?) and let's decide where and what time. I live in NE. Thanks Ladies! (and Gentlemen?)

Contests and spam



photo  © J. Jordan 2007

This morning I got a spam email asking for my private information in order to unblock my Wells Fargo account. Normally I would ignore that (I'm not even their customer) but I felt like I had to protect Burquenos so I reported that email and tweeted about it. When I enter contests I always use a separate email account and even though most sponsors claim they won't sell your email address, somehow it ended up on the wrong list. Don't enter every contest. If it looks too good to be true, reconsider signing up. In Poland we play contests where you have to DO something in order to win: come up with a creative entry or answer a trivia question. It was in the US where I came across sweepstakes when you just  fill out a form (I like those that only ask for an email, don't like those asking for my birthday) and hope to get lucky. I have a hard time believing or understanding that someone can give me something for FREE. It's a different style of playing to the one I was used to but people do win big! But if it looks too good, I don't enter. It depends if the sponsor is well known, if the site has followers, sometimes I would do a google search. Follow your instincts :) Read the contest rules (it would be a bummer to win something you can't claim). Check your spam folder from time to time because sometimes prize notifications end up there. I lost a DVD I won from Weekly Alibi. It came as spam and I answered back a week later (well, I was in the maternity ward!) but never got my prize. I emailed again and finally gave up :)

These were some random thoughts connected with entering contests. Hope I didn't discourage anybody! Good luck and come back to tell us what you won!

Young & Free New Mexico - local blog

I won!

Frugal Burqueños should definitely know about Michelle Peterson's blog!  Young & Free New Mexico, which is powered by The Credit Unions of New Mexico, offers  many tips on saving money and living a frugal life! What I found very interesting was the collection of the spokespeople's best money-saving blog posts which cover topis like: auto (for example: 9 ways to save money at the pump), banking, budgeting (for ex.: I have some budget tips for you), college & university (for ex.: Save money on back to school shopping; Three ways to save on textbooks), credit (for ex.: Credit Cards: Good or Evil?), dept, dining (for ex.: video Save $$ at the grocery store; Sneaky ways to eat out and save), entertainment (for ex.: Save money at the movies), financial planning (for ex.: The importance of saving early), housing, insurance, saving (for ex.: Save money with snail mail; video DIY cleaning supplies; Save money on your cell phone bill), shopping (for ex.: The art of looking good for cheap) and travel (for ex.: Thrifty Thursday: Plane tickets).

I need to take my time to read them carefully so we can all discuss the best tips together :)

Last but not least, if you sign up for e-updates from the blog you can win a $50 gift card!

So go and check out Michelle's blog and learn from it! But most of all, enjoy it :-)

A Call to All Local Bloggers!

photo © J. Jordan 2007

New Mexico Bloggers! I'd like to add a list of local blogs to this site. I think there are quite a few of us out there and it's not that easy to be found and acknowledged. I know that Duke City Fix has a list of local bloggers and I'm happy they added my link :-)

Payje, you inspired me to do this! Thank you for everything! I owe you big time. Thank you for featuring me on your blog! Let's be a team, New Mexico :) Please leave a comment here (or drop me a line) and I will be happy to write about your blog and put it on a local blogger list :) Many thanks!

AND there are giveaways going on right now on Payje's,  Michelle's and Lynn's blogs!

Lynn, is your site a blog? You are a blogger!

Lisa, I'd like to hear from you, too!

Are you in, Leah? You are our greatest winner ;)

Beth, we are just starting! Let's help each other :)

Couponing in Albuquerque!

We all use coupons, right? I love the feeling of leaving a shop with "free" groceries in my bag :)  A few times I was asked by a cashier where I got my coupon and I proudly answered that I won it :-) Couponing is a very frugal thing to do that's why I'd like to introduce other Albuquerque bloggers who search for deals helping the Burquenos save money :) Tonight I'll start with Things You Want to Know, Places You Want to Go. Payje does an awesome job finding great coupons and explaining how to coupon in New Mexico. She also writes about giveaways, freebies, food, events and her unique photography. Go check it out! I'm sure you'll like it there!

Great to have you here, Payje! Thanks for the follow!

Win a photography session!

photo © J. Jordan 2008

Elizabeth Waldron-Yuhas is an Albuquerque artist and a fine art photographer. On her blog she has posted a  contest where locals can win a photography session worth $350! This is a great prize and the winner can choose the type of session he wants. You can also get a 25% off coupon  that applies to both local sessions/prints and the Etsy shop. Please help spread the word about Elizabeth's work!

Bookworks Big Event!

photo © J. Jordan 2006

I am always for supporting locally-owned small businesses, especially when it comes to books! I heard it on the wind that Bookworks, our locally operated and independent bookstore,  is having a big event this Friday, October 14 for their Twitter followers! So make sure you follow @bkwrksevents for  their Twitter sale - 40% off a big selection of items!

Come on, let's support them! They give back to our community however they can.

Maybe it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents? A good book will always be appreciated! Well, I'll be shopping :)

How much time do you spend entering sweepstakes?

15:10 photo © J. Jordan 2009

They say you can't win if you don't enter! And *they* are right!  I don't have much time to enter all the contests I come across or to blog about them (I beg for your contribution). Nowadays I am more choosy and I play to win prizes I really want to. I do like entering creative contests - I believe it gives me a better chance at winning. I don't like voting contests. I was trying my hand at photo contests but I realized that entering a picture often means granting somebody rights to use it however they want to. I don't want that. I read that it's best to make it a habbit to enter at least one contest a day and really stick to playing daily. Well, I'd love to make it a habbit to write one blog post a day hehe. Do you enter many contests? What kind of sweepstakes do you like most? How much time do you spend on this hobby? I would appreciate any reflection on this subject. Thanks!

"Balloon Memories” contest winner!

When you are looking for creative contests to enter always check with our local TV stations. For example there are always some ongoing contests on KRQE News 13 . During the Balloon Fiesta they asked to submit the 'Balloon Memories' so I tried (a few times) and I won on the last day! It made me very happy because I loved the prize pack and I proved to myself I am able to win an essay contest even though English is not my first language! One of my favorite items that I won was the book called The World Comes to Albuquerque. I really wanted to have it! I decided to share my prize with my family so everyone got something they liked :) A big thank you to Jeremy Felipe who was very kind to wait for me when I was running late to pick up my prize! I always like going to the tv stations because I can run into some local personalities and this time I saw Kim Vallez who is one of my favorites! And what's your favorite local celebrity?

Win An "I Love New Mexico" T-shirt!

photo © J. Jordan 2011

Would you like to win a cool New Mexico T-shirt? Check out The New Mexico Enchantment Giveaway! Head to their website and tell them what you love about NM or what you'd like to read about on the site. You can get extra entries by following @nmenchantment1 on Twitter, posting, blogging and tweeting about this giveaway. No purchase is necessary to win. Contest ends October 31, 2011 and winners will be announced by November 5, 2011. I am going to enter this giveaway. I know exactly whom I would give this T-shirt if I won it :)

Diamond Club Tickets Winner!

I have to admit I didn't know about The Diamond Club until I saw their contest. Well, that's how advertising works, right? I was the first person who answered correctly their trivia question (I did my homework) and won 2 tickets to "experience the comfort of an enclosed lounge and heated balcony at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum which overlooks the entire balloon park". We were very excited about this win! The tickets had a fixed date and my husband wasn't able to take that morning off so we offered the tickets to our aunt and uncle. It rained cats and dogs that morning! The Balloon Fiesta was cancelled. But they still went there and got their brekkie, met new people and hanged out in the Balloon Museum for a few hours! They enjoyed the experience and it made me happy that the tickets didn't go to waste. I really really do not like wasting my wins but it did happen in the past that I won something (tickets) I couldn't use. It made me feel bad because I felt like I took a chance away from somebody else. Now I want to enter contests I really want to win. Thinking about this makes me think about the prospect of people collecting wins just to sell them. May I ask what's your view on it?

Won 100 Biz Cards!

It looks like everyone could use business cards these days. When I started this site I wanted to find more local people who share the same hobby. As you can see I signed up for different social media in order to build a community of Frugal Burquenos. I thought to myself that it would be great to have biz cards with just the website address. I also thought I should not buy them because maybe I'll be lucky enough to win them :-) And it did happen! Oh I love Twitter so much! Follow @MGdezigns ! They have a giveaway each month and coupons/deals are posted daily. Now I have 100 biz cards and I hope to get 100 blog followers! Can you help me, please? :-) To sind out more about MGDesigns click here. See my prize on flickr :-)