Hi Everyone-

For all you doubting Thomas’s out there, I really am a Grandma. I am the Mother of 5 children and the Grandmother of 10, Great-Grandmother of 1. I am not going to tell you my age, use your imagination.

Being a Military wife for many, many years it was an absolute necessity to pinch pennies. The Military does not make very much and if you are in the Military or the wife/husband of a Military person, you know I am not telling any stories out of school.

Now I do it because we are retired and live on a fixed income. But, I also enjoy it.

I love going to thrift shops and finding bargains. The one thrill is finding an outfit I love and it fits, but it is also brand new, at a very reduced price. Some people I know think I spend a lot of money for my clothes, if they only knew!!

I also love antiques and spending a day browsing through an Antique Shop is my idea of time well spent. I keep in mind the cost of articles and once in a while I even buy. But finding a good piece of furniture in a thrift shop that can be refinished is a real delight.

One thing I do not do is to go shopping at the Mall, I hate it. I am a seamstress and looking at the price of clothing frankly makes me ill. I look at an item and say to myself, I can make it for a fraction of the cost. I really do this, I go to the fabric store and either find the exact match or something I like better. I even make my own patterns if I can. I have borrowed a garment and copied it.

I love crafts, and usually have two or three going at the same time. Drives my other half nuts, but, oh well. It makes me happy.

I spend a lot of time sewing, quilting and crocheting. Cannot stand sitting in front of the television without being busy. I have been known to fall asleep in the chair if I don’t have my mind and fingers doing something besides watching the program.

I say to you, try some of my suggestions and if you don’t like them or feel they are worthwhile, let me know. I am always open to criticism. I have a very thick skin. So you aren’t going to make me cry.

I would love for all of you out there to send me your ideas and suggestions. Let us all share with the world.

So now let me tell you how this website came about. I told you we are retired, and my darling other half was driving me crazy. He spent most of his time either surfing the web or playing games. That is, when he finished his "Honey Dos". He never learned how to play golf.

So I had a brainstorm and told him to do some research and find a way to help people and maybe make a little money. He found the way to build the website and I came up with the idea of Pennypinching-Grandma.

I do the writing and he does the rest of the work. I know some about a computer, but he is the expert.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading what we have come up with and just maybe you will put some of my ideas in practice.

Published - September, 27, 2006  Pensacola News Journal

Grandma sets up Web site for frugal

Pamela Corcoran
Santa Rosa Extra correspondent

As Gulf Breeze resident Grandma puts it: "Penny-pinching, frugal, tight-fisted, miserly, money-saving, cheap -- call it whatever you want. Try raising five children on military pay. I call it survival."

Now, Grandma has taken what she preaches to a new level: establishing a Web site, pennypinching-grandma.com, devoted to maintaining a thrifty, healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Grandma recently started the site as a way to keep her retired, technologically savvy husband busy and to supplement their fixed income. What she discovered was a large group of consumers who love a good bargain.

"There are lots of people out there who are on a fixed income who want to save money and go for more healthful options," she said.

Already, she's received positive feedback from all over the world, including Argentina, New Zealand, Russia and Lithuania.

Grandma provides readers with a variety of homespun wisdom based on years of experience in penny pinching, first as the daughter of a Depression-bred mother, and later as a military wife with a gaggle of children.

"My thriftiness comes from the Depression," Grandma said. "It was something I was brought up to do."

Her easy-to-understand narrative style offers tips for pinching pennies in a variety of realms, from gardening to cooking to crafts.

One section, "Did You Know?" offers free stuff.

Grandma also offers advice on becoming environmentally aware, one of her pet causes.

"The landfills around here are getting a little full," she said. "Maybe this Web site will bring awareness to the way things used to be or the way things should be."

Recently, Grandma expanded her Web site to include an e-book consisting of 151 recipes called (what else?) "The Penny Pincher Cookbook," available to download for $4.99. All the recipes included are entrees that can be prepared for $2.50 or less, but Grandma cautions that these dishes are not for impulse buyers.

"In order to do this, you have to watch your prices and sales," Grandma said. "But you can put together good meals for next to nothing."

Included recipes come from friends and readers, along with serving suggestions from Grandma herself. But Grandma makes the biggest imprint in the recipes' variety, using the knowledge she gained from feeding a large family on a low budget while keeping good health in mind.

Although frugality sometimes carries a negative connotation in today's shopaholic society, Grandma insists it's not something she practices just because it helps pay the bills.

"It's fun and challenging," she said.

On her Web site, she adds, "Sometimes I think it's the thrill of the hunt."

However, Grandma understands that thrifty living is not for everyone.

"This is not a shortcut," she said. "But if people have a concern for their health, the environment and their pocketbook, then I think my ideas are useful."

From Grandpa (still not sure about being called grandpa; even though we do have quite a few grandchildren),

She says I’m the expert, actually I’m no expert. I know a lot about computers, how they work, why they work and how to use a lot of the programs on them. But I don’t know how to build a web site. Yeah, I know you’re on our website now. But I still don’t know how to:

Actually I’ve got the easy part (but she doesn’t know it yet), she provides all of the content, all I have to do is put it on the web, well, me and Site BuildIt! (SBI), that is.

Before I/we decided to make a web site I looked at a lot of things on the web for work at home businesses. What I found was a lot of "Get Rich Schemes" or GRQ’s as a lot of people call them. Needless to say most don’t work. I did run across one site that was touting the fact that you could make money being an affiliate. That is advertising or pre-selling other peoples products on your web site. Ok, well I don’t have a website but the idea still intrigued me. Then one day I stumbled across the SBI Affiliate Masters Course and it’s free. Free is good, so I down loaded it and I was told in no uncertain terms that I won't get rich quick! Ok, well they were at least honest about what they offered.

Reading through that, I became more interested and I downloaded the SBI Action Guide. That is the instruction manual that SBIers use when building their websites, and it’s also free for whoever wishes to download it. Now I could see more of what they were talking about, and I could see that this would work... if I was willing to work. It’s not an overnight sensation.

In the action guide they invite you to look at existing SBI sites, first sites that are featured in the case studies, then many others. SBI is the only company with a proven track record like that: you can see a lot of very successful SBI sites here, they definitely show what you can do.

If you will look, you’ll see everything from, juggling, golf or country music... horses or dogs, cats or parrots... cooking or weight loss... hair style or hair loss... weddings, divorce or speeding tickets... There is a staggering variety of topics that people have turned into profitable websites with SBI.

So what is it all this about, it’s a product called Site BuildIt! (SBI) and it’s an affordable, risk-free, all in one solution that will show you how to turn your hobby, passion or skill into a viable online business.

Ok, so I was sold, I figured if they can do it, so I can. How could I possibly go wrong, considering they also offer a full, no questions asked, money back guarantee?

We are not really making much money with it yet, but with time, the income from the site will grow, it might take a few months, or for people who have very little time it might take a year or two... but if it's what you want you could eventually resign from your day job, like many SBIers have.

This is not a GRQ, it really works, and I’ve seen the proof. You can too by clicking on some of the links above, you’ve got nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. Don’t believe me; here is more proof.

By the way if you are interested in SBI and have any questions, you can ask them here. If you want to know more about our experiences with SBI, you are more than welcome to Ask Grandma.