Thursday, January 3, 2019

Happy Ninth Bloggeversary and a Giveaway!



I am really excited to share that as of yesterday this blog is 9 years old, and I'm now in my tenth year straight of blogging!

Last year in June I wrote the blog post that I intended to write on January 2, but life got in the way, reflecting on the evolution of this blog, but I must say that even since then so much has changed.

I wanted to do a quick sum up of how my life and my blog evolved since I first started it. I'll talk about the stages.



Stage 1) So broke. Feeling stuck and helpless. Not making it through the month financially despite trying to cut back. 2 kids, a toddler and a baby.

Stage 2) Downsized to a tiny tiny apartment to save money and hopefully improve finances.

Stage 3) Got a writing job that helped bring in more money while still living extremely frugally. Homeschooling my two.

Stage 4) Having 1 more kid in the small apartment. Going gluten free.

Stage 5) Sending older 2 kids to school for a year.

Stage 6) One more kid born so now we're 6 people in a teeny tiny apartment.

Stage 7) Autism diagnosis number one, and sending one kid to school. Buying and moving into a new, larger house. Our finances start improving.

Stage 8) Sending the younger 2 to school. Start doing more self care, now that I have the money to do so.

Stage 9) Now. Autism diagnosis number 2. Starting divorce proceedings. Start working full time and self supporting as a single mom. Things are ridiculously hectic but manageable, somehow.

I didn't even intentionally do this, but just wrote the stages of my life since I started the blog, and it works out that there's one stage for each year of my blog, even if each stage didn't last a full year.

I wanted to thank you all for sticking around for all these years, for believing in me and my vision with this blog, for sharing your life with me via the comments section, and for making this blog what it is.



To say thank you and to celebrate, I am doing a giveaway. One lucky winner in the US or Canada via the giveaway form below, and one more giveaway that will be done via my personal Facebook page for one lucky winner living in my country. Each of you will get a copy of my adaptable cookbook, Penniless Foodie in the Wild!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below sharing which has been your favorite blog post of all times!

I'm so excited!

And thanks for celebrating with me!

Here's to many more years of this blog!


31 comments:

  1. The sumac onion post! That is one of my favorite things and I had no idea how to make them.

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  2. I love your posts on your farmers market finds. Very informative.

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  3. I love a good price comparison blog post, particularly the milk alternative ones. The more tables the better lol!

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  4. Hi Penny. I've been with you since the very beginning and have enjoyed your highs and grieved with you at your lows. Your strength and perseverance have inspired me more times than I can count. Many blessings and thanks for sharing your life with your readers.

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  5. I think my favorite post of all time is when you posted about your divorce because it shows that you're really sharing and not trying to curate your life so much that you hide big things that make huge financial changes in your life, that is where we can get lessons we couldn't find elsewhere.

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  6. I love the "We have a dog" post. You should post an update of your pup and how she is doing.

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  7. As a fellow homeschooler, I love your homeschool blogs, and you blogs about sending the kids to school and why, and how you adapt depending on the circumstances of your family and that particular kid. It's an important message!

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  8. I am not sure which article is my favourite.
    I like that you try to make things work even if it doesnt seem like things are going in the right direction (like when you ended up not liking your bathroom colors and it would have been a lot of money to redo the bathroom).

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  9. I'm also a big fan of the price comparison posts - the meat and chicken ones really helped me rethink our choices in those areas!

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  10. I don't have just one favorite, I like too many to choose. I love your frugal shopping posts and your re-purposing one also.

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  11. I love the Super Frugal Grocery Shop posts!

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  12. I cannot find the particular post after scrolling for several minutes. But, it was the post where someone made a nasty remark about the state of your hotplates being less than as clean as the poster thought they should be. I was in awe of Penny's thoughtful, kind, measured response to this person. I will never have as much grace and eloquence as Penny!

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  13. Penny,
    I have learned so much from you! Love your gluten-free and dairy free recipes, and how to make soap. Mostly, I love how you're so practical, and look at life from outside the box. Thanks for all you do. You're really a true inspiration!

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  14. It's funny -- I've had several favorites over the years; they change as my life changes. Family cloth during the caregiving years (I know people mocked it, but it is really a lifesaver when you have incontinent elders to care for and hate the briefs.) Frugal grocery shops when we were living in a very expensive area and trying to make ends meet. Your move to the new house which just made me happy. The gluten free recipes when my daughter went gluten free. Etc. A blog that has been around for so long chronicles the lives and needs of readers as well as the writer.

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  15. I love to read about frugal travel and vacationing, frugal home decorating and improvement and mental health! I am in Europe so count me out from the giveaway, I just wanted to congratulate you! Keep writing!
    Sana

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  16. It's hard to say because I've learned so much from you but the post I religiously reference and drew me to your blog to begin with is your Homemade Italian Dressing recipe. Good stuff, I make it all the time.

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  17. Hi! I love any and all your posts about your children and autism. My youngest son Ronny (14) is autistic too. (((hugs)))

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  18. I'd very much like to read your book...I've been reading your blog for years.

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  19. I have a 51 year old moderately intellectually son who is also almost non verbal I like all you write specially when you write about coking from other countries & also your trips abroad

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  20. I enjoy all of your posts, but I especially appreciate your recipe posts, and admire how you love foods from all over the world. My favorite post was the paleo post where you did a sample menu for a week--it really hit home how I could incorporate some more healthy foods into my diet in a simple way.

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  21. I have AVIDLY followed your blog over the years... but one of my favorites is the breakdown in cost per ou/gram of every possibly kind of meat. It was helpful and informative but also really fun to read!

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  22. Love your blog. Thanks for sharing your life with us.

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  23. I started reading your blog because of your family cloth post many years ago. Its funny, that post actually made me decide I could cloth diaper. I told myself if you could family cloth I could cloth diaper. I really appreciate that post!

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  24. I've been following your blog for seven years. I don't have a specific post that I liked but I made your oatmeal coconut cookies a bunch of times. That recipe is delicious.
    I also really enjoyed your overseas travel posts. Besides for the interesting places you went to, I found your money saving tips practical and useful.
    Lastly, over all these years I enjoyed reading about your frugal grocery shopping and how you used up everything efficiently and smartly.
    Well done!

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  26. The one on homemade wine. Saves tons of money. Who knew it would be so easy

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  27. Wow, 9 full years. I've been following since Day 1, have read every single blog post whose title was even remotely interestimg to me, and I've learned so much! I must say, when you first started I was skeptical about such a blog and never dreamt that 9 years later it would still be around and thriving! It's hard to pick one particular favorite . I've really enjoyed the family related posts, and love watching your family grow and develop and you grow in your role as their mother. Love hearohe about your child raring decisions/opinions, even if they are often very different from my own and I took several craft ideaa from your pages. Crafts I've done inspired by your blog: I turned a couple denim skirts into bags. Used one as a diaper bag and one as a bag I used for my work materials in the preschool setting . I've made cereal box beads as a project with my kids, seeveal years apart. Might even do it at a kids party . I've also learned from you how to make plaster molds to paint, which I did at a child's party as well. I loved learning how to reupholster chairs! I learned a lot from you about fermenting and some of the health benefits of, and terminology involved with, fermented foods. And turn your protein comparrico charts (which I seany here have mentioned) I've often referenced those and have told several others, not involved with your blog, about it.
    Wishing you many more years of continued success inraisinin your family ans with all you do.

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  28. I can't believe you've been blogging for 9 years.... I remember when I first discovered your blog in 2013 and read the back posts, thinking "wow if she can do this I can too." (I did, but not via a blog. My blog is now dead.)

    I'm torn between two favorites - the one on how this blog has evolved over the years, and the one on family cloth (which I don't use, but I found fascinating).

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  29. I love when you share your farmers market and your frugal hauls. I have also enjoyed your reviews of your family trips.

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  30. Wow! 9 years! Congrats! I have enjoyed reading about your home-birthing stories. You are very courageous.

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  31. I love the whole Extreme Frugality section, but my favourite post ever is "Visiting London on a Shoestring Budget" because it's something I'd like to do one day.

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