Host Your Seasonal Giveaway with The Frugal Burqueño!

photo © Jaime Jordan 2009

December is my favorite month to enter contests because there are many great Christmas giveaways! Because I like them so much, I would love to be able to host more giveaways on my blog.  So here is a shout out to local businesses! It would make me very happy to host a giveaway on my blog if you could kindly donate a prize :-) Please contact me and we could work out a unique contest with you in the spotlight :-)  Let's have fun and let's give away some prizes to our fellow Burqueños!

Capture The Southwest !

photo © Jaime Jordan 2009 

Have you taken any spectacular photos of the Southwest? If your answer is yes, head to Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel on Facebook to post your image. You can win a 2-night stay at the Sheraton Albuquerque or a $100 visa gift card. You can even pick your prize! The photo with the most "likes" wins. The contest started on Monday, November 21st and and it ends on December 12th at 5 p.m. Let me know if you are taking part in this contest! I have some lovely photos I could submit but would you help me win? :-)

Golden Globe Sweepstakes!

photo courtesy of Mama's Minerals

How about a new decorative addition to your home? Enter Mama's Minerals Golden Globe Sweepstakes for your chance to win a Citrine Sphere from Brazil! The sphere comes with a golden brass stand, measures 1.75" by 2.25" and it's valued at $50. Citrine is often referred to as the Merchant Stone and it's believed to promote wealth and prosperity :-) It is also a birthstone for November.  Don't forget to enter Mama's Minerals sweepstakes every month. Back in June I won a nice prize from them :-)  

Keeping Money In Albuquerque!

photo © Jaime Jordan 2009

It's been my third Thanksgiving since I moved to the US and evidently I don't get the Black Friday fever :-) As much as I want to find great deals and save money, I haven't bought anything today. I just don't like crowded stores and parking lots. There were a few baby items I wanted to get on Amazon and thought they would be cheaper today but the prices haven't changed at all...However, I've been very excited about Shop Small Saturday which takes place tomorrow, November 26! I do want to support the Albuquerque economy and I'm planning to visit a few locally owned small businesses in Old Town. One of my  favorite places to go is tucked away in Patio Escondido KISS Coffee located at 404 San Felipe St. NW. It's a bright & quirky art gallery  and a coffee shop that serves the best brownies and lemonade in the world! Check by yourself and if you like it there, come back here to find out more about our future giveaway for a chance to win a prize from  Keep It Simple Stupid !

Happy Thanksgiving!

photo © Jaime Jordan 2007

Looking for the best deals out there, let's not forget to reflect on what is the most important in our lives :-)

Hope you have a great time with your families and enjoy your holiday dinner! Wishing you all Happy Thanksgiving :-) 

Baillio's Black Friday!

photo courtesy of Baillio's

Are you looking for some great Black Friday doorbusters? Baillio's Appliance and Electronics Specialists will be giving away free $25 gift cards to the first 25 customers in store on Friday starting at 6 am! Limit one gift card per family. Check out the inserts in today's paper for all the specials and shop local this holiday :-)

Thanks For The Meal Giveaway!

photo courtesy of Young & Free NM

If you'd like to share what you are thankful for, enter Thanks For The Meal Giveaway and you could win $100 from Young & Free New Mexico ! Create a short video, post a picture or write a paragraph explaining what it is you are thankful for. All entries will be posted on the website and the entry with the most "likes" for the week, wins! You can enter every week  but you can only win once and your entry must be different each time. If you win, a donation on your behalf will be given to your local Food Bank to provide  Christmas dinner to a family in your area. I think it's a wonderful idea for a fall giveaway. Thank you Michelle for the contest! So, may I ask what you are thankful for this season? :-)

Win a Photography Session!

photo courtesy of DPbyLeah

Leah, a talented local photographer and owner of Destination Photography, is giving away a 30 minute photo session and a DVD with all pictures. All you have to do is go to her Facebook page and leave a comment before January 31, 2012. You can earn bonus entries for every friend of yours who likes DPbyLeah (ask them to mention you in a comment). The giveaway is open to Albuquerque and Rio Rancho residents. I think a professional photo shoot is a great prize to win. Lately, I have been enjoying making photo books - a perfect Christmas present ;-)  Good luck with the giveaway and thanks for this unique opportunity, Leah!

Giveaways from MgDezigns!

If you are looking for more giveaways to enter, MgDezigns always have some going on :-) Although the are not local, I would like to mention them because I won my biz cards (in the picture) just for retweeting their tweet :-). Check their November - December giveaway - you can win a customized tote bag or a coffee mug. I would recommend following them on Twitter for more giveaways and deals. Do you enter many contests on Twitter or do you prefer those you can find on Facebook? As for me, I like Twitter more :-)

Share your Thanksgiving with Puye Cliffs !

 photo courtesy of Puye Cliff Dwellings

After Santa Clara Canyon was devastated in the 2000 wildfire, Puye Cliff Dwellings' site wasn't reopened to the public until 2009. If you'd like to experience amazing cultural attractions (featuring cliffs, cave dwellings and early Pueblo architecture) how about a family tour? Starting this week they are running a Friends and Family promotion - 4 pack of Adventure Tour tickets for $100 (retail $35/person). The promotion will also be available for the Thanksgiving tour on November 24 (only one Adventure Tour at 10am). Reservations (until Nov. 23rd) - 888-320-5008 or 505-927-2731. The tour usually takes a little over two hours. They will have some feast cookies and pies to share with us :) We're going there on Black Friday so I'll be posting more!

I found a coupon at a store :)

This was so cool! When I was shopping at Smith's I saw a coupon that somebody didn't need so he or she left it for another person to use :) I found it really charming! I wish we could have secret places at stores where we could leave coupons for other customers who may want them. It would be even better if we were officially allowed to place our coupons next to the products on shelves (that's our goal, OK?). Anyhow, on the same shelf there was a PomWonderful Juice which I know because once I won a six pack of it on Twitter. It was on sale! (I think from $3.99 reduced to $2.99) but I didn't have a $1.00 off coupon I came across one day (do you print out every coupon you see?). I'll be back to get it :) It was quite a big bottle of 100% pomegranate juice! It's so healthy!

Thanks for joining the blog Miriam!

Time for my giveaway!

Thanks to QPONABQ.com I am giving away a $10.00 gift certificate to Pizza 9 (three participating locations). To enter, join this blog, follow me on Twitter or like my FB page . Then, leave a separate comment for each you do (more comments-more chances). Please share any thoughts on pizza that come to your mind :) and don't forget to leave your name, twitter id, etc. On Monday, November 21st I'll use random.org to pick up a winning comment number. If for some reason I cannot contact the winner I will ask him or her to email me. Good luck! P.S. We did try this pizza and we liked it!

My first big couponing experience

Yes, I am into coupons now (thanks to my couponing friends Lisa and Payje). Until now I've been mostly using coupons I won and those were good to get a specific product for free. Recently I have understood that it's enough to have a $1.00 off coupon to get something for free if we can find it on sale for $0.99! And that's the way to go! Over the weekend I wanted to try if I can get some nice food for free. I went to my closest grocery store- Smith's. I decided to save $5.00 when getting 10 participating products. I bought 6 Campbell's soups (I used a coupon and got them for about 33 cents per can) and  4 boxes of organic broth (used 2 coupons and got them for $1.50 each). Not too bad! I can definitely stack up on those products (check expiration dates and reach for products that are put deeper on a shelf). Some more exciting experience I had at Albertson's. I wanted to buy 10 participating products to get each of them for $1.00. It took me quite some time finding everything but I collected 10 items and had  a few coupons. At the register it turned out I grabbed the wrong cans of tomatoes. I ran to exchange them and was embarassed, paid what it was and left. Then I saw that the soy sauce I got wasn't $1.00 (I had a $1.00 coupon) but much more. I made a mistake and got a 10 oz bottle (the shop sticker was just under this row of bottles!) when I should have got a 5 oz one. At least I had one more other product that participated in this promotion so I did get 10 products for a buck each and I used more coupons (that I won) so I got a lot of stuff for free. Lesson learned: always check your basket before approaching the cash register. And pay attention to the size of products to match coupons. My shopping experience took a lot of energy and I understood I am not going to be an extreme couponer :-) I also don't want to buy things I won't use. So if you need some coupons I am open for exchange. Or I can just send them your way because I don't like things going to waste :-)

Veterans Day Sale at Savers!

 © Jaime Jordan 2007

If you shop at Savers, you should take advantage of their Veterans Day Sale! Save 50% on clothing, accessories, shoes, bed & bath. Sale excludes new merchandise (red tags), books and items tagged housewares or furniture. They close at 9pm :-)

Win a weekend trip to Red River!

photo © Jaime Jordan 2009

No plans for January 13-16, 2012? Enter to win a weekend trip to Red River worth over $1000! What you have to do is submit a video (sixty seconds or less) telling why you should be a Red River ambassador until November 20th and get your friends and family to vote from you daily. 10 finalists will move to the next round and a panel of judges will pick three winners to be named Red River Snow-It-Alls. The prize sounds really cool: three nights lodging for two adults from 3 Bears Lodge, Copper King Lodge, or Black Mountain Lodge; lift tickets, lessons, and rentals from the Red River Ski Area; trail passes and rentals from the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski & Snowshoe Area;  meals provided from Mountain Treasures Bistro, Capo's Corner, Timbers Restaurant, Old Tymer's Cafe, the Red River Ski Area, and VIP access to the 2012 Winter Carnival events.

What do you think of this contest? Have you been to Red River? I've always wanted to go there :-)

Polish Food in Albuquerque!

We love this food!

This is something Frugal Burqueños should know about! Thanks to my Polish Friends I have discovered Polish food here in Albuquerque:
EuroZone Food Distributors. We love the food  and I have to say that prices are much lower in comparison to an online store in Chicago we ordered from.

- pierogi (12 pieces, 14 oz) cost $

- delicje (soft biscuit topped with chocolate and jelly):  $1.40

- plum butter : $2.80

-canadian bacon: we paid $4.80 for 1.38lb

So if you are looking for deals and want to save money, here we go! They have bread, sausage, farmers cheese (those sell fast, you'd better go at the beginning of a week after the delivery truck comes on Monday) juices, teas, spices, cakes, smoked fish, soups and salads in jars, water, all kinds of candy :) and many many more. Plus you can order whatever you wish a week in advance (that's important before holidays when they have seasonal food). The  warehouse is located in a very picturesque place and even a bear found it worth breaking into! It's a truly unique experience shopping there. It's best calling before you go to make sure they are home so they will open the shop just for you.

Thank you Grace and Jon for running this shop!

P.S. Update as of Jan 2013 - I am now running an online store offering Polish food so if you can't make it to Cedar Crest, I can ship you the products :-)
Check out Europa Pantry! 

Radio Contests

photo © J. Jordan 2006

I'm back! (technical difficulties) So what is going on in the contest world? Of course plenty of giveaways around! Check all the local radio stations and local tv stations! 100.3 The Peak is running their Xmas cash giveaway called Win Holiday Cash ($1000 for the 20th caller! They are also giving away gift cards to Coronado Mall (You Shop With Our Money) where you need to enter daily and call back within 10 minutes if they call your name on air. At first I was too shy calling radio stations. I was afraid I will not understand something (once again, I am Polish) and make a fool of myself. But I did try to call a few times - the number was busy (of course! who wouldn't like $1000?). Have you ever won a contest where you had to be a caller of a given number? Any tips? Thanks in advance!