Money, money, money.

We all need it. Or at least most of us do.

One of my guilty pleasures is catching episodes of Bravo's "Real Housewives." Many of the women on these shows seem to have money to burn; one show featured a "real housewife" (and they're hardly either) picking out a $16,000 purse for a birthday present.

Even as I type that, some of my grey matter freezes, unable to wrap around that tidbit. I am so bourgeoise, I had no idea you could spend $16,000 on a purse.

I have hesitated to spend 99 cents on a reusable grocery bag.

I regularly hit white elephant sales (scored five Tupperware spice containers for $1 last weekend) and keep hoping to have that one big idea that will make me and mine forever comfortable.

We'd have to be awfully comfortable for me to justifying buying a $16,000 purse. Perhaps this was for theatrics; the women in this show also support elaborate charity events.

Fish for bucks for yourself or a favorite endeavor by trying a food-related contest. Here are a few:

• If you're a mom who has done something to improve the nutrition of your child and others at his or her school, you may be named one of five Moms of the Revolution. Revolution Foods, makers of organic foods for children, has joined with Kiwi magazine, the EcoMom Alliance and myhealthyschool.com to honor "hometown activists."

Winners will be featured in Kiwi and receive a year's subscription, a year's supply of organic snacks and $3,000 for their healthy school lunch initiative. Go to kiwimagonline.com/momsoftherevolution for details. Deadline: May 30.

• Guess Mrs. Butterworth's first name and win $500. (Why would she need one? Pink doesn't.) Go to mrsbutterworthsyrup.com/namecontest to enter. Deadline is July 17.

• The Three Rivers Vegan Society offers $25 for a logo embodying "vegan values and vegan living in the Greater Pittsburgh area." Go to veganpittsburgh.org to enter and for details. Deadline is June 1.

• The New England Confectionary Co. (NECCO) is seeking 80 new expressions for its 2010 Valentine's Day Sweethearts. If you're 13 or older, you can enter at mysweethearts.com. Prizes include an $8,000 run of Sweethearts for your very own. That's 1.6 million, or 3,500 pounds, of Sweethearts, customized with your sayings. (It's true.) Ten second-prize winners get $100 gift baskets with NECCO candies.

• No money here, but bragging rights: American Farmland Trust wants to name America's Favorite Farmers Market. Market managers can register at farmland.org/marketmanager to join; shoppers can vote beginning in June at farmland.org/vote. Learn more about American Farmland Trust at the site as well.

Results will be announced during Farmers Market Week Aug. 2-8. One large, medium and small market will win a title and a shipment of No Farms, No Food tote bags to distribute.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church will hold its spring festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Thursday through May 30, 302 W. North Ave., North Side. Express fax orders only from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. next Thursday and May 29. The form is at holytrinitypgh.org. Menu is everything from grilled lamb shish-kabob to stuffed grape leaves, fried calamari, salads and luscious Greek pastries.

The Priory, 614 Pressley St., North Side (in Deutschtown), will hold a series of summer wine tastings in its courtyard. The first is 6 to 8 p.m. tonight featuring Joe Barsotti of Barsotti Wines, "A Taste of Southern Italy." Tickets are $45. Call 412-323-9394 for more information.

Palate Partners/Dreadnought Wines, 2013 Penn Ave., continues its spring classes with a "Saturday Quickie" class from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. May 30. Expert Mike Gonze will lead a tasting of four wines paired with a cheese selection from "Dear Heart" at Pennsylvania Macaroni. $20, prepay. Call 412-391-8502.

Rosemary Traill, natural food counselor and cooking instructor, will give a tour of Whole Foods at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday with an eye for whole grains, beans, soybeans and leafy greens and sea vegetables. Call Kim at 412-441-7960 to register.

• Uno Chicago Grill will support the American Celiac Disease Alliance with a Dough Rai$er Monday through May 31. Go to unos.com/acda for a voucher to present when ordering and 20 percent of your bill total will go to the Alliance. The restaurant has had a gluten-free menu since 2006. For Celiac Awareness Month it has added a gluten-free veggie pizza.

• Palate Partners, Vin Fatales, Dreadnought Wines, Patricia Boutique and Dress for Success will hold a Women, Wine & Wardrobe fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m. next Thursday at the boutique, 115 Center Ave., Aspinwall. The wine tasting/fashion show benefits Dress for Success, which assists women in need with wardrobes and job retention services. $10 for Vin Fatales members; $15 for other women; the boutique will donate 10 percent of sales that evening to the program. Call Palate Partners, 412-391-8502 or go to palatepartners.com. Reservations are required.

• Alan and Susan Citron, son and daughter-in-law of the late cooking instructor/writer Jane Citron, say that the third Cooking Up a Cure event raised $240,000. The funds go toward the $2 million Jane and Carl Citron Endowed Chair in colon cancer research at the University of Pittsburgh. Alan and Susan noted, "We are extremely close to meeting our goal."