Comments on: Ask DSM Readers: How Did You Get Your Money-Saving Start?

By: Keisa

Keisa — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:29:10 +0000

I feel the same way about Southern Savers. She marks stockpile deals with an acorn symbol. It cracks me up because my kids now look for the little acorns and say "there's a good one mom." :)

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:30:51 +0000

Yes, you are guilty again. It was dealseekingmom.com for me too. My SIL got going from her sister and the snowball is still rolling. Some say its silly, some say its a waste but in the end it helps my OCD need to shop and I am spending WAY less than I was before and still getting my fix. Thank you Tara for all your hard work and ty to all those who contribute deals. A wonderful network of paying it forward in much needed times.

By: Ashlee

Ashlee — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:29:27 +0000

I grew up with all of my needs taken care of, but we didn't have a lot extra money. My Mom always clipped coupons and matched them with items on sale when possible. When I first moved out on my own our Meijer would have super double coupons every few months and I would stock up on personal care items for pennies a piece or even free. That was about my extent to saving until this year. My husband and I were each making a pretty good salary and had plenty of extra money to spare, so we didn't take the time to clip coupons until last year. Now I am a stay at home mom to my infant and my husband is not working either since he just started law school. We are now living on about a third of what we used to with an extra mouth to feed. Sites like this one have really helped us cut our spending WAY down without having to forgo some of the name brand items we would rather buy.

By: Karyn

Karyn — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:51:37 +0000

My Mom used to coupon when we were young but I don't remember much about it. In college I started doing ebay to make some cash and my husband and I are always "wheeling and dealing" but never for food. So while out on maternity with my first child I saw a news segment about the Grocery Game and started checking that out which led me to afullcup.com and here! I am totally hooked and have been doing this for about 2 years, which really helps with two young children. I even started helping a few fellow teachers at school and they're wishing they would have started when their kids were young. THere are so many great resources out there, but I definitely check in here daily!

By: Missy

Missy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:08:56 +0000

I have used coupons in the past here and there. I was never consistent or strategic. I came across an article online this past September that mentioned a few blogs. Honestly, I can't remember which ones I looked at first. But after checking out alot of them, I have about 6-7 that I keep up with. DSM and Hip2Save are the two I check several times a day.

I'm not a shopper, so some weeks it's hard to get motivated to go to 3 or more stores to get the deals. But reading blogs like this keeps me motivated. What a blessing to my family! Thanks, Tara!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:45:55 +0000

I have always loved a great deal, but about a year ago I caught Ashley from Frugal Coupon Living on the Dr. Phil show. My husband and I were trying to figure out how to lower our monthly out of pocket so we could attempt to start getting out of debt. A year later we are by no means out of debt, but we are making progress and have built a huge stockpile that everybody makes fun of, but they have no problems shopping from it!

By: Gloria Brown

Gloria Brown — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:43:27 +0000

We had tow ladies in our church expecting twins. So I started searching for baby freebies and found freebies4mom. I signed up for them all so I'd have lots of things to give them at their showers. On some of her posts she'd thank so and so for the tip so I followed those links and started with the CVS challenges. Then added Wags and then coupons for everything. This has really helped since my husband and I just started out get out of debt program, complete with envelopes and budgets!

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:38:35 +0000

I've always been a bargain shopper, but a couple years ago my husband and I really started to kick it up a notch as we tried to get out of debt. One of the first blogs I found was MoneySavingMom...but I quickly found others (including you) and once I discovered Google Reader for keeping track of all my fave frugal blogs it was on!! During my pregnancy and just after I really didn't do a lot of deals...but now that I have a cute and very active almost-eight-month-old, we are exploring the stores and getting deals together!!

By: Rainey

Rainey — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:52:13 +0000

Somehow I found Coupon Gal and thats when I started finding out about these coupon and moneysaving blogs and that was about 6 months ago. Now I can't even shop without consulting the blogs LOL

By: Ginger

Ginger — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:32:49 +0000

Thanks so much for linking over to Michelle's guest post. I was delighted to have her post about her journey to frugality.

Ginger

By: Haila

Haila — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:16:53 +0000

I had used coupons before, but not strategically - so they didn't really help that much. Then, last year, I was home with my second baby during maternity leave, wondering how we were going to afford child care! I had heard something vaguely about The Grocery Game so went to check it out. In the process, I read something about Money Saving Mom -- and just branched out from there. Sitting in my chair, nursing my baby and getting increasingly enthused about all the awesome deals. I did a great Walgreens deal on Huggies first, and was completely hooked.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:18:32 +0000

My mom!!!!!

I can remember always shopping the clearance racks, and not only because we HAD to, but because we got 3 times the amount of clothing compared to full price! And we realized the value and gains we were getting at 7, 8 yrs old!!

And now in this day and age we have AWESOME resources to help each other out, and share the wealth!

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:39:46 +0000

I started my frugal journey when I became a stay at home mom in 1998. I discovered Amy Dacyzyn's books and read all I could about the subject. I was not raised to budget, so it was all new to me. While I've always been good at hunting deals, and buying my kids' clothes on clearance, this all kicked into high gear after doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University with my husband. We have paid off all debt except our house and have a fully funded emergency fund. Last year, I discovered iMommies, which led me to many other sites, including DSM, Hip2Save, Bargain Briana, etc. My husband is still in awe at the bargains I am able to get now. When I print coupons, we joke that it's like printing money! He recently accompanied me on my rounds, and kept asking, "So which store are we going to rob next?" It's wonderful to have his support because he understands that it takes time to organize the deals. We have a huge stockpile of food and toiletry items, and donate LOTS of personal care items to a local women's shelter through our church.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:53:40 +0000

I love great deals and always have; in the past I mostly looked for sales and used coupons where I easily acquired them. Last year my fiancé last his job. We were in the middle of selling both of our houses, buying a newer/bigger house, and planning a wedding. My friend turned me on to Savingwithshellie.com and I was hooked right away. I quickly picked up the art of the match ups and checking multiple sites. He was unemployed for over nine months, but he got a job last month!! Because of sites like Dealseekingmom (and adjusting our budget) we have been able to keep the new house and have fun experimenting with different products. I now have a huge storage closet full of stuff that I basically got free that would have broken the budget. Thank you deal seeking mom!!

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:59:23 +0000

My mom was always a couponer. I did some, kept a price book, etc. when I was younger. Then, when I had children, it got harder. I wanted to spend as little time as possible on shopping. Then, I came across Money Saving Mom and then slowly more and more blogs became part of my daily reading. I found that it was really easy to still save money if you prepared well.

By: Amanda Y.

Amanda Y. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:29 +0000

Joanne, I wish I was from Colorado Springs or that other bloggers would use the rating system! That's a GREAT idea!

By: Amanda Y.

Amanda Y. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:57:50 +0000

I actually started as a cashier in high school, when I saw how much awesome couponers like you saved, I HAD to do it! So I expanded my knowledge with blogs, but I had the starts early from my first job!

By: Virginia

Virginia — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:14:24 +0000

I have been clipping coupons and comparison shopping long before most of you were born. I am 76 years old. My husband and I have six children, and coupons helped us feed them.

By: Mary - The Deal Detector

Mary - The Deal Detector — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:04:05 +0000

I have always enjoyed saving money but didn't realize the amount of money I could save by really "couponing". I sat down with Crystal's (Money Saving Mom) sister when she visited over Christmas (she is married to my BIL) and we were talking about grocery budgets. When she told me their budget I felt ashamed and decided it was time to do something about it! I really dove in, found a host of blogs (this one included!) and forums, and now I have my own blog to help others do the same!
It is such a blessing to be able to help others do the same thing I am doing!!

By: Amanda Parks

Amanda Parks — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:36:02 +0000

Life in Africa and lots of student loan debt... Last year I started reading momsbyheart.net, which led to following a few others. The blog community has added a whole new element to frugality!