by Pennie on September 26, 2012
It seems like the job was meant for me, but it was pure coincidence!
I am a southerner, born and bred. Then I moved to and lived in New England for most of my adult life, but now have returned to the land of sweet tea and hush puppies. I am the mother of one daughter and grandmother of one grandson and we all (along with my son-in-law) live together in North Carolina with my 2 sweet dogs and my daughter’s 2 sort-of sweet cats.
By trade, I am a techie, by spirit I am a DIYer. Thanks to channels like HGTV, I cannot look at a scrap of anything without seeing it transition into something new and wonderful. I have built things as mundane as bookcases and as serious as a handicap ramp. I have installed flooring, and tiles and even built walls. I will paint anything. While I am willing to admit that some wallpaper is attractive, I cannot look at it without assessing how much work it is to remove!
I sew – still waiting for a granddaughter so I can make some of those cute little pillowcase dresses! I’ve crocheted my whole life, from shawls to Christmas ornaments. And I knit, but I’m a beginner…for about 10 years now. In all this time I’ve never made anything that isn’t flat. Well, there is this one hat:
Which looks round but is really flat, just a rectangle that is crocheted together at the ends and gathered together at the top. But it’s a step in the right direction.
So those are the basics about me. You will continue to see posts by me on a regular basis. I hope you enjoy the new direction the site is going and I hope you will give us feedback on our posts and what you like or would like to see on the site.
Pennie
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by Nicole on September 25, 2012
When I started Nicole’s Nickels in February of 2009 (3 1/2 years ago!) there were not that many deal bloggers and I posted 3 times per day. Since I work full time outside the house the 3 times per day was all I could do. Even then I sometimes felt like I was missing a great deal if it happened during the day, but my readers were loyal and I stayed with the 3 posts per day for a long time.
As the economy worsened and Extreme Couponing became everyday verbiage the deal blogging world exploded and I felt like I needed to post 10, 15, even 20 times per day to keep up. I hired an assistant, then two, and felt like I was never caught up. The funny thing is that I recently realized that you, the readers, didn’t seem to care if I posted 3 times per day or 20. You stayed loyal and came back to see what I had to say. And I thank you for that.
So it’s time for Nicole’s Nickels to change. I’m moving away from posting coupons and deals and towards posting brand info, reviews, giveaways, recipes, travel info, and the occasional great deal. You’ll read more stories about my family and my experiences. These are the posts you all comment on anyway and I have the most traffic on. I’ll probably be posting 3 times per day and you’ll get to know my assistant Pennie as well. Pennie will introduce herself in a post this week – I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading what she has to say!
If you’re looking for a deal/coupon blog with 20 posts per day Nicole’s Nickels is no longer the place for you. If you send me an email I’m happy to refer you to some of my blogging friends who fit the bill for that. You’ll notice my tagline has now changed to “Always giving you more than my 2 cents” which is a play off the Nickels in my blog name. My navigation bar is updated to show you the kinds of things I will be blogging about. If you’re looking for older posts they can be found under the “deals” tab. You can still expect a review or giveaway every day and I’ll continue my brand work as ambassador for several companies. I’ll also give you some recipes, Top 10 Giveaways, Friday Freebies, a Pin of the Week post and much more! I’m open to suggestions so please comment or send me an email if you want me to consider something.
I hope you’ll stick around to check out the new and improved Nicole’s Nickels!
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by Nicole on September 26, 2011
Tonight we’re installing a new design for Nicole’s Nickels! Please pardon the dust – there may be periods where things don’t look right. Don’t worry – it’ll all be fixed soon! I hope you’ll enjoy the new design, I think it’ll make the site easier to navigate and read. Let me know what you think!
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by Nicole on March 6, 2010
My new design is now up and running. If you read my blog in a reader or via an email subscription, click on over to take a look!
You should recognize the colors but that’s about it! The navigation bar at the top is extensive and there are more categories that should hopefully be more helpful to you all.
Please let me know what you think or if you have any questions about where things are located now.
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by Nicole on March 6, 2010
Please be advised that I am changing the design of the site today. If you access the site and it looks funny or isn’t working properly, it should be fixed soon!
I am excited about the changes and think it will be easier for you to navigate the site. Let me know what you think!
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by Nicole on February 14, 2010
Today is the 1 year anniversary of the start of Nicole’s Nickels! My very first post was February 8, 2009 but it wasn’t until February 14, 2009 that I posted something more substantial and started spreading the word that I had started a blog. I have learned so much in a year and truly love helping you all save and make money!
So, 1,340 posts later…thank you for reading and supporting this blog!
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by Nicole on January 20, 2010
As part of my participation on the Bumble Bee Bee Squad, I receive periodic emails from Bumble Bee. My participation doesn’t require me to post anything but I did find the most recent email fromt hem very interesting and definitely worth sharing. Bumble Bee’s public relations people conducted a poll in August of 2009 with a representative consumer sample to ask about spending habits.
The results don’t surprise me at all – do they surprise you? 
- 81% of consumers are spending more or the same on groceries as they were 2 years ago
- 50% plan their meals in advance
- almost 25% throw away 10% or more of items due to spoilage
- respondents spend on average $120 per week on groceries
- 65% are using coupons to reduce costs
Bumbel Bee did this survey as a measure to see if more people are using canned proteins in their meals because of the recession. It would seem likely that they are but only 25% of the respondents answered that way. Canned proteins are less expensive than their fresh counterparts and offer just as healthy of an alternative if purchased packed in water.
The bottom line to me is that people aren’t changing their habits they way they should be. I was in line at Walmart behind a woman using a food stamp card. Her cart was full of non-sale brand name items and made me cringe. I gave her my card and can only hope she will check out Nicole’s Nickels. With just a little planning she could have had twice as many items in her cart and made her assistance stretch even further, which I am sure she would have appreciated. So ma’am, I hope you’re reading!
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by Nicole on January 15, 2010
I have seen how the devastating earthquake in Haiti has touched the lives of those around me. The area where I live has a large Haitian community and I have Haitian co-workers and clients who have lost loved ones. My heart is so heavy for them and for the people of Haiti. The scope of the tragedy is hard to grasp and I have felt the need to help and take action since I first heard about it minutes after it happened.
The blogging community is a large one with a collective sense of giving and responsibility. Bloggers today are banding together to support Haiti in their critical time of need. I am pledging to donate $2.00 for every blogger who links to a post describing what they personally did to help Haiti by the end of the day tomorrow, Saturday, January 16, 2010 (up to $250).
If you don’t have a blog, I will also donate $.25 for every comment left on this post by the end of the day tomorrow, Saturday, January 16, 2010 (up to $250).
I am choosing to donate to Missionary Flights International, a group based out of Fort Pierce, Florida (where I live) that flies every week to Haiti. They have increased their flights in the wake of the tragedy and are looking for toiletries and light food (i.e. not canned) as well as money for the fuel costs. One flight is 1,000 gallons of fuel at $5 per gallon. If you live locally, you can take items and donations directly to the hangar at the St Lucie Airport in Fort Pierce. There are also drop-off points throughout the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County. I would also recommend the Red Cross or Yele as organizations you could donate to. If you don’t have money to donate, please consider donating items from your pantry or your closet.
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I started Nicole's Nickels in February 2009 to bring all of the great deals I was finding to my friends and family and then it took off! Since then I've continued my full-time day job as an attorney while blogging in the evenings and on weekends. Nicole's Nickels has evolved into a site that lets you know about great new products and services! I help my clients during the days at the non-profit I work for and then my Nicole's Nickels readers learn about the best new products for their families! I live in south/central Florida and have 2 cute dogs (see their picture under "mascots") and an amazing husband who has a spunky 6 year old we get to spend a lot of time with. I hope you'll take the time to
