Here are the winners of the contests that closed this week. As usual the winners will also be notified by email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize before another winner is chosen. Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Winner of $25 Sam’s Club Gift Card for the “Finding a Good Deal” Contest

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Winner of the $25 Gift-Card for the “Kickstarting the Holidays” contest

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Finally, the four winners who will each receive a $100 Gift Membership/Card. The first three were chosen at random and the last was chosen by me based on their response to the question “what was the best gift you’ve ever received?”

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Thanks to everyone who took the time to write about their gift-receiving experiences. There were some really great stories and I did read all of them. It’s a lot easier to just choose random winners than it is to decide on a winner myself. In the end, there were three stories that I was considering “finalists”. I chose the one below for three reasons; first – it reminds me of the type of goofy thing that my mom would do, second – I like the fact that her best gift was really about giving something to someone else and third, it is about the winner’s three kids and everyone having a good time at Christmas. I have a brother and sister and we’ve always been together for the holidays, but there is a good chance my brother will be in either Iraq or Afghanistan next Christmas. So with that in mind, I like that fact that Diane’s point is that the best gift is having the chance to be together with the people you care about. You take it for granted, until the point that they aren’t there.
diane roscoe November 5th, 2009 (#):

no doubt this is going to seem strange to some of you, but THE BEST GIFT I EVER RECEIVED was the outcome of a gift that I gave to each of my 3 daughters for Christmas a few years ago.
I am a holiday fanatic…love the lights, the decorations, the baking, the wrapping–and the movies! Ever since it first came out, “A Christmas Story” has always been one of my favorite movies to watch every December. and every year, like the one before, one of my girls would make the comment that they wished they could get a “cool” present like the bunny suit that Ralphie got from his aunt Clara……it sort of became a tradition to hear them saying that each year! Anyway, three years ago I was feeling somewhat sad that all 3 of my girls were going to be in college and growing into young women, and like a lot of moms, I started getting emotional at the thought of “losing” them for Christmas one day. On a whim, I headed off to the fabric store and for several weeks before Christmas I surrounded myself in pink fur and white bunny tails while the girls were out of the house.
In our home, we have a tradition of opening gifts to one another on Christmas eve, and Santa brings the other stuff for Christmas morning, so on that Christmas eve, we had our usual neighborhood gathering, and when it was finally just my husband, the girls and me, we had our exchange. After the gifts were opened and we were enjoying the company of one another, I approached my girls and told them to each go to her bedroom as I had a little something special for them that I didn’t want them to open in front of dad. Needless to say, they each imagined a Victoria’s Secret or Bath&Body bag on their bed. As I heard each door close and the rips being made into the plain brown grocery bags on their bed, I hurried to get the camera~~~~~the out-and-out laughter that was heard when each girl opened her bag was priceless! Needless to say, within minutes each girls door was opened and out came three “bunnies” hopping down the hallway. And the funny thing is–the movie was playing on the tv and it was exaxtly at the part where Ralphie comes walking down the steps looking line “a pink nightmare”.
It probably doesn’t sound much like a great gift that was received….but to me it was, and always will be because it brought SO much fun and laughter to our Christmas that year–and ever since. I have priceless photos of all three of my girls–and we’re talking college-age girls, in those outfits–big Ralphie glasses and all, standing by the tree, and of their boyfriends wearing them the next day…and of several other family and friends sporting them that holiday season. and they’ve been worn to several costume parties by different people and shown off to many!
So the best gift I ever got—it was the gift of a memory that will live on for a lot of us, and one that will be talked about for many Christmases to come….because after all, that’s what it’s all about~celebrating the moments that make us family, friends, neighbors and people who care about one another.
A gift of a such a wonderful memory was not only given to me that day, but to the many people who have shared in that Christmas with all of us.

….now off to tell your wife’s site what gift I want!