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So I read a blog post earlier today that inspired me to write one of my own. The topic was “Why start a deal blog”
So here it goes. I have been a stay at home mom for over 3 years now and my hubby would joke around about me becoming a mommy blogger. I kept refusing to do so. He thought it would be a great outlet for me and have a little time away from the kids.
Well last March 2010, I became heavily interested in coupons and online deals. My firstt introduction was Swagbucks and I was really scared to give my information because I didn’t like the idea of sharing my personal information on the internet. It took me over two months to get enough Swagbucks to redeem for a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Once I recieved it I was still not sure that it would actually work, but it did. To this day I have redeemed for over 20 $5 Amazon Gift Cards. Most of it was used to pay for Christmas and birthday gifts.
Just after my daughters first birthday in June I realized that what if I shared with everyone how to save on themed birthday parties. I had done about 4 parties already for all under $50. So I originally posted on my personal facebook page but then decided to make a Fan Page.
As I got more understanding how coupons work and matching them up to sales ads and our finances became tighter and tighter while still wanting to meet our goal of paying off our credit card debt, I figured the only way to keep me acountable with coupons was to start a Facebook Fan page. I thought that if I posted my great finds that just maybe others would want to learn how to save as well.
I was a little discouraged ok a lot discouraged at first. My fan page was still under 25 after two months of posting. Then I learned about blog hops and noticed that in order to participate you had to have a blog. Well the first ones I entered. So I decided to create Moms Saving Money blog but because this was a hobby I wasn’t willing to put any money in it since the whole point was to save money and get out of credit card debt. So I started on Blogger even though I did create a word press. I saw a blogger and I can’t remember who posted it but GoDaddy.com was offering domain names for 99 cents for a year. So I jumped on the deal but was disappointed that momssavingmoney.com was already taken so it took me a couple days to finally decide on www.momssaving.com which is where we are today. I spent less then $4 to certify and have the domain for the year.
That today is still the only money I have spent out of my own pocket. After blogging for a month I learned how to make money off my blog so I started signing up for affiliate programs and today I have about 15 affiliates. Everything I have made thus far has gone back into paying for shipping on prizes, a new domain name and renewel of momssaving.com plus custom design to WordPress which we will be making the move soon. I also learned about companies that offer product for review and for giveaways.
I recently opened an etsy shop so you can see all my pretty Character invites and purchase if you’d like and this makes it more secure for the both of us. I published my Coupon 101 guide on Amazon Kindle cost only 99 cents and have sold more of those than the book I went through a publisher to print! MSM fan page has grown to close to 1600 fans most of which have been recently. I was approached by another blogger who essentially was the found of “Bargain Network” in which us bloggers all offer a Store coupon match-up for each other as well as advertising. If you are interested in joining we are always looking for more bloggers just email me at momssaving1@gmail.com. We have grown to 11 bloggers of right now with a couple more potentially joining in the next week. I was able to interview Nathan Engels founder of WeUseCoupons.com
From the time I got serious about blogging I also got really serious about coupons and was able to have a 3 month stockpile which my family almost went through its entirety when we had a death in the family. We were able to stay above water and still be able to finish the rest of our credit card debt as well as get a newer vehicle our old van cost more to repair then its worth. We are happy with our new one.With using coupons in 2010 I estimated we save nearly $8,000 and so far in 5 short weeks of 2011 we have saved over $1,100. So here we are today growing and offering more. Because of you I am able to sustain this website and it has become more than a hobby and I hope that it will become a way of life.
I get so excited when I hear how people have saved even if it is just a few dollars. I like sharing with my hubby all your stories. I know he really doesn’t understand but he does now that are family is able to do more things and we have freedom now to get a cell phone. If you don’t know the story of why we don’t have a cell phone here is a short version. We don’t want to stand in front of a judge some day and say we can’t afford to pay our debt but have a cell phone in our pockets.
It has taken us a little over two years of getting serious of paying it all off that our way to celebrate is getting our first cell phone. We like to take our time so it has been over two weeks now and we still have not gotten a cell phone because we are still trying to figure out what the best one will be for us. If you think we are crazy it took us 4 days to sign the papers on our van. We have learned better to sleep on the idea of a big purchase as well as seeking God for guidance. We don’t make any sudden purchases that are large costs. This really has freed us.
Thank you for reading how Moms Saving Money got started.