Today’s guest poster is a newer blogger, whose blog I found through Mom Bloggers. Crystal has a fun blog filled with great information on how you can be a mom and still save money. Who doesn’t like saving money. How she finds time to share all the great tips she does chasing around an active little boy, while being 7+ months pregnant I have no clue, but I will sure be asking her for tips when we decide to add on to our family.
Tell me about yourself and your family.
I have been married to my wonderful husband Zach for five years. We have a 14 month old son, and another baby boy due at the end of October. We also have two mutts we rescued from the Humane Society: a basenji mix named Scout, and a corgi mix named Thumper. I love my family and spending time with them is my favorite thing in the world.
What is your blog about?
My blog is called Mom for Less, and my goal is to help moms find great deals and save money. Rather than just post deals and reviews, I like to give my blog a personal touch and write about my life experiences as frugal mom. I currently work outside of the home full time, and my goal is to become a stay-at-home mom within the next two years. My blog chronicles that journey and my successes and failures. I really want to connect with other moms who are trying their hardest to make it work! My hope is that we can share our struggles and triumphs.
I also just LOVE the feeling I get from finding a great deal; such a sense of accomplishment! So I also want my blog to help other moms have that same feeling.
What are your top three tips for saving money?
My first tip would be, take advantage of the internet! There are entire websites dedicated to freebies, giveaways, coupons, and deals. Don’t make any major purchases without first going online and looking for the best deal.
My second tip is an extension of the first – ask people where the deals are! You can do this both with your “real life” friends and over the internet. If I am looking for a good deal on a specific item, I’ll send out a Tweet: “I’m looking for XXXXX, anyone know where I can find a good deal?” I have friends who work at certain stores tell me when my favorite items are going on sale. And I get at least ten text message a week from my shopping buddies: “Diapers are on sale at Target!” or something like that.
My third tip, especially for moms, is don’t be afraid of buying generics or getting things second hand. Literally all of the furniture in my son’s room came from other people, from his crib to his changing table. The majority of his clothes are from mom friend’s with older boys. That was such a blessing when he was going through a growth spurt! His stroller was purchased at a children’s resale store, and was like new when we got it. We have saved so much just by being frugal and being willing to take hand-me-downs from our friends. And our friends were happy to get things they no longer needed out of their houses!
We use store brand diapers, wipes, medications, baby wash, diaper cream, etc. and have been happy with how well they work. This is another place where I have connected with other moms to find out which store brands are as good as the name brand. I even stopped a mom in Sam’s Club once to ask what she thought of their brand of diapers! I understand that some mom’s have hesitations with second hand or generic things, and that is absolutely ok, but for us it has been a huge key to saving money.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I love to sing. I started college as a music major, but ended up switching to English. My singing today is pretty much limited to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Five Little Ducks,” but I still love it!
IF you had a super power what would you like it to be?
I don’t know if it counts as a superpower, but I wish I only needed a couple hours of sleep every night. There is so much I want and need to do, and so little time!
If you had a bucket list what are the top two things on there?
One of my favorite shows is Iron Chef America, and I dream of being a judge so I can taste all that delicious food. I would also really love to make it to one of the big blogging conferences! It’s hard to do things like that when you have little ones, but hopefully when my kids are older I will be able to attend one.
You can find Crystal (Mom for Less) on Twitter as well as her blog, Mom 4 Less. Please head over and give her some Family and Life in Las Vegas Love!
Don’t forget to head over and follow her (or any of our Vegas Headliners), leave a comment and get 2 extra entries in to any giveaway!
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I'm all about secondhand clothing and store bran items. It works just as well in my opinion! As for the clothing, kids grow through it so quickly it doesn't get a chance to get worn!