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Empire Theatres Buy $30 and get $30 Gift Cards

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I love gift cards. Huge fan here. This time of the year they are my go to present for the hard to buy for folks. You know – the teacher, the babysitter, the educational assistant helper at school, even then neighbour if they have been a good neighbour to me throughout the year. Empire Movie Theatre cards are blockbuster hits. Who doesn’t like the gift of entertainment?And there are so many fabulous movies coming out this Christmas. You could be giving Grandma the gift of Tom Hanks this year! Pretty sure that would solidify your place as best grandchild ever in her heart. Not that you weren’t already. 😉

For the second year in a row I am fortunate enough to be part of the Empire Theatres and Mom Central Canada blog tour about these great gift cards. This year, just like last when you buy $30 worth of the gift cards then you also get $30 worth of money-saving coupons to use throughout the year. For your information there are two great places to use Empire Theatres gift cards in and around London, Ontario. There is the London, Ontario Wellington Road Empire Theatre and there is an Empire Theatre in St. Thomas. There are many others throughout Ontario. So plenty of choices. I am using mine for date night this year since we finally found another babysitter. Oh and big Tom Hanks fan here too. So, see you at the movies, in 2012.

This year the coupons are great moneysavers, so keep them in your pocket or purse and don’t forget them when you go to the movies:

January 9-31: Buy One general admission and get one general admission free.
January 9-31: Also $2 off any combo except for kid’s combo.
February 1-29: Regular admission, plus regular soft drink and small popcorn only $9.99.
March 1 -31: One admission for $6.99.
March 1-31: Purchase a large popcorn, get a free large Coca Cola softdrink.
April 1-30: $4 off one general admission.

So, what are you waiting for head over to Empire Theatres in person, or on line and get your shopping done with Empire gift cards.  http://www.empiretheatres.com/gift/

I am participating in the Empire Theatre Gift Card Holiday campaign with Mom Central Canada. I received compensation for my participation in this campaign. My opinions are all my own.


Oh and don’t forget that tonight (Dec. 8th) Mom Central Canada is having a twitter party at 9 p.m. #empiregiving. Join us for a fun chat and some great prizes.

Money and Marriage by Matt Bell

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I have been reading excellent bloggers this week on how to smartly title a blog post so that it gets noticed. Now normally I would think that a literary title about money might be savvy, but it turns out that I am wrong. All the smart bloggers I admire say simple is best. Apparently Google doesn’t really get literary flowery post titles. So what does that have to do with Money and Marriage? Well clearly this title is succinct. But essentially it tells you everything you need to know to buy the book. Money and Marriage. There is arguably no greater issue in a marriage than money. It can make your relationship challenging to say the least. Luckily author Matt Bell is here to help.
“Couples who disagree about finances at least once a week are over 30 % more likely  to divorce than couples who disagree about finances a few times a month.”
Money and Marriage: A Complete Guide for Engaged and Newly Married Couples contains many excellent guides, charts and activities designed to help new couples discover more about each other’s financial goals, debts and worth. Remember that marriage course you had to take before you walked down the aisle? Well Money and Marriage is like that course, neatly contained in a book, for your finances. Matt Bell begins by outlining the many ways in which men and women are different in terms of spending, saving and investing. Men, for instance, follow business news more often than women. Men cite investing and entrepreneurship as high on their list. Women cite saving and spending as key issues with money. Women are more likely than men to give time and money to charity. If our approaches to money are so different, then is it any wonder than most couples argue about it a lot?
Financial literacy is nothing if not a hot topic these days in light if such severe economic woes in much of North America. Bell, also the author of Money, Purpose, Joy and Money Strategies for Tough Times, provides a helpful guide to start couples on the right track in their new lives together.
There are some helpful practical and common sense tips here, that I like. For instance, continue learning outside the workplace for as long as your are able, especially before children arrive. You increase your worth as a worker if you are always on top of trends and information. Also many workplaces have some sort of tuition reimbursement or cost savings program. Accelerate your payments whenever possible. Avoid debt and where you have debt prior to your marrige be honest with each other about it. Also contact the bank or credit card company to ask for a lower interest rate on your credit cards. Often this is a simple phone call and this is a practical strategy I use here as well.
For this review and book tour there is also an excellent contest going on. I hope every one of my readers takes time to enter. Thanks to Matt Bell for the great giveaway!

Matt About Money Nest Egg Giveaway 

Money and Marriage, by Mat Bell NavPress, 2011, $14.99 softcover, 219 pages

Thriftymommastips rating is $$$1/2 out of $$$$$. The price is right for this book about money. I learned a lot about how spending habits and investing strategies differ by gender.This is clearly an American book with US references throughout. That’s perfectly fine and Canadians can still use a lot of the common sense information here. I am unsure that prayer and money belong together in a book.

I received a free copy of this book to review. This, in no way impact my honest opinion.

Bite Me: Not Your Granny’s Betty Crocker Cookbook Review and Giveaway

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My copy of Bite Me. Keep Your Hands Off. It’s Mine, All Mine
This is not your Grandma’s or your Mama’s Betty Crocker Cookbook. It is so much more. Need proof?
1. The title: Bite Me: A Stomach Satisfying, Visually Gratifying, Fresh-Mouthed Cookbook.
2. The hysterical drawings:
Like this one which tells a little about the sisters that created the book, Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. One brings the funny and the other brings the palate. (No that’s not them in the picture)



And this one. Which prefaces the appetizers section of the book.

3. And the incredible recipes. (From traditional with a twist – Rustic Meatballs in Marinara Sauce to oddball unique – like Julie’s Tabbouleh – (I made the meatballs on our snow day here last Wednesday and I’ve got to say they are the yummiest meatballs I’ve ever made. My whole family agreed)
4. I am no foodie, but I can make these recipes. They are easy to follow and delicious. They make me laugh and they make me feel competent in the kitchen (which can be a stretch some days)
5. Smart tips that I tested and tried here. Luckily I had some very hard brown sugar rehabilitated thanks to the sister’s tip about bread.
 

 Tonight I made my fourth recipe from this amazing new cookbook and I am in culinary love with this extremely funny and irreverrent collection. The style of this cookbook reminded me a wee bit of that runaway success Looney Spoons by the sisters from Ontario that created a mini empire based on their funny cookbook and savvy sense of style that caught the eye of finance guru David Chilton. Bite Me is a funnier cookbook that makes you chuckle while tossing ingredients together. Frankly anything that helps me view cooking as less of a chore is a great investment for my whole family. The white chocolate chunk cookies in Bite Me, were the two sisters’ signature item, Chunky White Chocolate and Cranberry. Easy to bake and delicious. There’s nothing my kids and I love to make more than scrumptious cookies. The Balsamic chicken with sweet peppers will be a new staple in my regular rotation of dishes. This one will be a great gift book for pretty much any occasion.
Bite Me is by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat, 2009, Pinky Swear Press Inc. Canada, $29.95, 272 pages can be purchased at http://www.bitemecookbook.com/
or http://www.pinkyswearpress.com/ and this one gets a $$$$$ out of $$$$$.
I was provided with a copy of this cookbook for free to review. The opinions on this blog are all my own. Bite Me!
My copy of Bite Me is mine I am not sharing. But the lovely authors will.
TO WIN: You can win a signed copy of Bite Me, a reusable Bite Me shopping bag and a Bite Me hat (you can enter until Feb. 15th)

1. Follow thriftymommasbrainfood on Google Friend Connect (it’s right there on the side of my blog) or tell me that you already do.
2. Follow @inkscrblr on twitter, or tell me that you already do.
3. Visit one of the sites above either http://www.bitemecookbook.com/ or http://www.pinkyswearpress.com/
and tell me something you learned from either site.

Extra entry (Not mandatory at all, but gives you more chances to win)
1. (1 extra entry) Follow one of my other blogs: http://www.thriftymommastips.blogspot.com/
or http://www.thriftymommagogo.blogspot.com/
2. (I extra entry for each tweet. Comment each time.)Tweet this or something like it:  “I just entered to win a copy of Bite Me cookbook with http://www.thriftymommasbrainfood.com/ ”
3. Blog about the giveaway once and earn 5 extra entries. Leave me the link.
I will draw for the winner with random.org and announce the winner Feb. 16th at 9 a.m. Please remember to leave your email address.

Twelve Pearls of Christmas: Guest Series and Giveaway: Grief and Loss Near Christmas

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Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas! Enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom” Please follow along through Christmas day as each post shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year. AND BEST OF ALL … there’s also a giveaway! Fill out the quick form at the link located at the bottom of this post to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS!  Pearls – a tangible reminder of God’s grace to us all.

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Hurting Near Christmas? 10 Tips to Hope Again
by Stacie Ruth Stoelting

Feel sad this Christmas? Hey, I know the feeling. In fact, many programs have interviewed me to share about it! Last year, I tried particularly hard to share stories and tips on how to cope with grief during the holidays: I wrote a feature for CBN.com, Coping with Grief at Christmas, visited and counseled grieving people, etc. Then irony hit: Near Christmas, two people I loved died within two days (December 15-16, 2009).

Before I continue with tips, let me share this: If you feel suicidal, contact an emergency counseling service like the New Life Call Center at 1-800-NEW-LIFE(639-5433).
10 Tips for Hurting Hearts to Hope and Cope at Christmastime
1.    Realize and internalize it: God still loves you and wants to hear from you. He wants you to know that there is a Way out of your pit of despair. The Way is Jesus.

2.    Sometimes, our suffering causes us to forget His. Understand He understands you. He suffered more than any of us when we bore the weight of every sin and pain on the cross! In fact, Is. 53:3 describes Jesus: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” Think of it: He took your punishment and pain on the cross. He was your capital punishment Substitute! And your Deliverer -your Rescuer- wants to hear from you. His heart hurts with yours. Will you pour your heart out to Him now? He’ll pour His love in where the fear previously resided. Let Jesus inside. Do you know Jesus on a personal, one-to-One basis?  Visit here to learn why Jesus was born to die and how to be born again. (Hey, Jesus said it: “You must be born again.”)

3.    Rather than mere gifts, make a Christmas prayer list of other hurting people. Then pray for them and request prayer for yourself, too. Contact your church. Tap into ministries (including CBN.com) that offer extra prayer support. And feel free to join my prayer e-group at www.PrayingPals.org or on Facebook by clicking here.

4.    End the Christmas comparison game. Don’t compare your Christmas to your neighbor’s. Don’t compare your Christmas to past celebrations.

5.    Center on the Savior! This year, trade a superficial Christmas for a real one. Deepen your appreciation for the true Christmas: the arrival of Jesus Christ to banish the effects of sin and death!

6.    Whatever your loss or pain, open up and let God be your Gain. Maybe your pain comes from another cause: a divorce, a devastating diagnosis, a job loss…the list extends. God offers to be your Counselor, your Father, your Healer, your Provider. Let Him answer your heart’s cry.

7.    Love on people. Even if you don’t “feel” like it, prayerfully do something for someone else who is hurting.

8.    Remember: Feelings change. God doesn’t. Loved ones’ deaths never kill His love for you. God’s immeasurable, unconditional love still flows to you! When you know Jesus, you know eternal love and security. Nothing separates you from His love! “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV).

9.    Realize the reality of the sudden reunion. Holidays exacerbate the feeling of long separation from our loved ones in Heaven. Does it feel like it will take forever for you to see your loved one in Heaven? Be encouraged: Jesus IS coming again and it will be a time you don’t expect! So the fact that you feel like it won’t happen soon is a good thing!  Once reunited, it will feel like no time transpired. All sadness will be entirely removed!

10.    When Jesus comes back to earth, it will be a celebration greater than any previous Christmas you’ve ever experienced!

For believers, losses hurt but never win. We will celebrate Jesus together -and it will be glorious “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (I John 5:4, NIV). In that Day, all believers will be able to jubilantly say, “Merry Christmas to all and to all the true Light! Additional Help: Ready for some practical tips for coping with grief at Christmastime? Here’s one: Rearrange furniture to reduce absence reminders. To read this tip and others found in another of my CBN.com’s articles: “Coping with Grief at Christmas”, visit http://www.cbn.com/.
Going thru a rough time? Join Stacie Ruth’s prayer group at http://www.prayingpals.org/.

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About Stacie: Stacie Ruth knows pain, but she also knows Jesus! After Stacie Ruth met Jesus, her life blossomed with true joy and purpose. Life’s blows hurt her, but Jesus heals and strengthens her. Now an author, actress, and recording artist, she laughs at the irony and praises God, who uses unlikely people…like herself.  Discover why she’s written a book at age 15, sung/spoken for the 43rd President, been pictured in major media (i.e. The New York Times, USA Today), and keynoted conferences since she was a teenager. To watch video clips, worship Jesus with music from her album, or get in touch with her ministry for women, visit http://www.brightlightministries.com/.

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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year’s Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. One entry per person, per day. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/) on New Years Day!12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit http://www.pearlgirls.info/