About "Fun Frugal Mom"
And the Family that Inspires Her

Home >> About Fun Frugal Mom

Welcome to this page :)

My name is Alicia. I am the owner, designer, editor, and most importantly; the Mom behind Fun-Frugal-Mom.com, and this is my fun frugal family; from left to right, Emi, Zac and Marselina.

Fun-Frugal-Mom.com was created because I wish there had been a site like it when I really needed it. So once I had the tools to do it, I wanted to put it out there for other moms like me.

This website also enables me to be a work-at-home-mom; always available for my family first. I also hope that it will serve as an inspiration for other moms who may want the same for themselves and their familes.

After a heart wrenching split from their Dad, my kids and I experienced not only emotional hardships, but the stress that comes with real financial hardship as well.

When we split.... Well...my ex actually left me. Crazy right??? I know.

When he left, our son was 1 month old. I was still healing from his birth. My girls were very young. I had no job and a stack of past due household bills.

I was overwhelmed emotionally and physically.

Then there was the money...or lack thereof.

Discretionary spending cash disappeared, and it was all about survival. Pay the mortgage. Pay for groceries. Keep the lights on. But I couldn't do it all.

I needed help.

The women closest to me circled the wagons. I was pretty much a basket case but this is what I remember:

• My sister would send money to keep our electricity on.
• My mom would take my kids so I could be alone to cry it out and heal.
• My mother-in-law never took sides. She gave me wisdom to help me navigate the awful situation I was in.
• During the worst days my sister-in-law would take me to the "big box" store and throw mega-sizes of everything in the cart so we'd have groceries for a month. She'd spend hundreds without batting an eye.
• My two best girlfriends brought me household, laundry, and even feminine products (only your best friends would even think of that) just so I could take care of my home and myself without worrying about the expense.

The nurturing energy from a girlfriend, a sister....a mom...is amazing, powerful and healing.

So that's what I did. The emotional upheaval of the broken marriage had settled and the kids and I got into a routine. I found a great little part time job.

I was starting to feel in control of my own destiny again, and I liked earning my own money again.

We were making it, but just....Money was still really tight.

I found myself still having to say “No” to the kids every time they asked for something.

“No” to movies. “No” to eating out. "No" to amusement parks in the summer.

Not that I'd want to buy them everything they ask for, but having to say "No" all the time was a drag...for them and me.

Whatever I bought had to be a necessity because there just wasn’t money for the “extras”.

Or at least...that's how it seemed to me.

The situation took it's toll and over time we became even more stressed out and cranky. (OK-- "...more stressed out and cranky" was mostly me.) The walls started to close in and I started to feel like I wasn't being the kind of mom I wanted to be.

We needed a vacation. We needed to just have some fun, as a family.

Plus, I wanted to say "Yes!" to something that was just for fun.

So...I scraped together as much money as I could, and by being as frugal as possible, we were able to have a weekend getaway at the beach. It was only two nights at a very modest hotel about an hours drive from our home.

I had to bring juice packs, snacks, and sandwich fixings to keep in the mini-fridge in our room. Our sand toys came from the Dollar store and there were no store bought souvenirs. (Except for Zac's COOL sunglasses!)

I checked for deals; gathered some coupons, and while we were there, I negotiated some compromises with the kids. -- One giant funnel cake to be shared, instead of one for each of them that they wouldn't be able to finish anyway.

I asked about any deals on our accomodations and found out I qualified for an unadvertised discount, simply because I thought to ask.

Every penny was pinched.

We also had free breakfast each morning. We played Putt-Putt golf for half price by waiting until after 6pm to start. We had pizza one night for free! We got discounted amusement ride tickets, and even got some free ice cream cones!

Even with all the scrimping, we had a fantastic time! The priceless part? We were able to relax, and reconnect as a family. --Actually, that was the priceless part for me. The kids were really jazzed about the free ice cream.

That simple beach weekend was a turning point for me.

I had learned the hard way that being able to afford activities where the kids and I could unwind and laugh together was just as important to our continued healing and well being as being able to afford food and shelter.

So I decided we needed more fun, more often. Even if it was just a local outing, or some different, fun activity we did right at home.

I decided to shift my mindset from "survive" to "thrive".

But I wasn't in a position to boost my income overnight. -- Really, who is? And since my plan to win a gazillion dollars in the lottery to finance our recreational activities wasn't panning out, I had to work with what we had.

I reflected back on my own childhood and the things my mom (the original "fun frugal mom" in my life), used to do with us, and for us. Having been a stay-at-home mom, who was widowed in her forties, our mom was always on very tight budget.

My sister and I had a blast growing up. Going, and seeing, and doing lots of different things.

In order for me to afford activities and outings for my family on a regular basis like in our pre-divorce life, I had to learn short cuts, tricks, and money-saving "secrets". I had to learn where to look to find the deals, perks and freebies. A page straight out of my mom's book.

I also learned to tap into our creativity, in the kitchen; in art; and in nature to keep every day things fresh, new and exciting.

I learned that even simple, silly things, like carrying a camera in your purse at all times, can create, and capture spontaneous fun where you'd least expect it.

Yes...that is the grocery store cart corral.

Even though those truly lean times are history for us now, I've learned that being a frugal mom is not only fun.... it's SMART, regardless of your financial situation.

Living this "rich" lifestyle also teaches my kids how to be fun frugal people too!

Eventually I got a full time job working as an administrative assistant at a local non-profit. However, the fact that I was gone from 8 am until 6 pm or sometimes later, was a hard adjustment.

The daycare costs were a FORTUNE, and each weeknight we barely had time for dinner and baths before it was bedtime for the kids.

But we were having regular fun as a family on the weekends, and I even got back into my hobby of jewelry designing. A creative outlet that I love.

Money was still tight. The kids were a little frazzled. I was always tired, but at least I had a paycheck.

Then......my Mom was diagnosed with cancer.

Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Talk about something coming out of left field.

The prognosis wasn't good, but my sister and I rallied. We moved our mom in with me and the kids. She was glad to be with us.

I stopped working so I could take care of everyone full time.

Mom was given 6 months and survived a year. I would have to say that was a "good" year for all of us.

We laughed a lot...and when we asked where she wanted to spend that summer vacation, she said she wanted to go to Disney World with the kids, so we did that. We did it in the most frugal way possible.

That's Mom in the wheelchair. Marselina and Amy (my sister) up top, and Zac and Emi all in front of Cinderella's castle. I'm in my usual spot...behind the camera.

We did that trip "on the cheap" and it was priceless.

Financially we planned well so that I could be at home full time during that time. We all knew this was temporary...but in spite of the difficult circumstance, my family was thriving with me at home.

I knew it was a long shot, but I started using some of this time to see if I could make it a permanent situation. We were a frugal family so I didn't need tons of money; just enough to take care of us and have some to save. Other people work from home right?

But I had no degree and I had no particular skill....or so I thought.

Which is basically what my sister said to me. (But, you know....with love.) It seemed like a no-brainer. I'd already sold a few pieces just by word-of-mouth.

But I had no idea how to have a home jewelry business, so I looked online.

If found this awesome website that gave me every bit of information I would ever need to know about starting my own home jewelry business ....for free.

Except......

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE designing and creating jewelry. And I think it's incredible when someone is willing to pay for a piece that I've made.

But....the idea of tracking inventory and pricing, bead by bead didn't float my boat.

Traveling to do shows wasn't very feasible for me.

And I really didn't have the up front cash it would have taken for the inventory of finished pieces, packaging, and supplies I would have needed for just one show.

A home jewelry business wasn't going to cut it, at least not at that point. But I was still spending a lot of time on that website because I just really enjoyed it.

I decided to check out the "About Me" page one day (once I could pry myself away from the jewelry photos and articles), and in the site owner's story I found something that would once again change my life's direction.

She was a single mom, who needed to be home with her son. She built the web site to replace the income from the jewelry shows she was no longer able to do.

Wait....What!?! Her site was earning her income??

So I kept reading and was introduced to Site Build It!

According to what I was reading...

So I emailed the site owner. I knew just from the ginormous size of her site she must get tons of email every day.

But she wrote me back.

Of course, we talked about jewelry, but then I asked about the site being able to earn her a "real" income. Did it really?

And yes, the site was earning her a full time income. She explained that the site had "more than one income stream".

Back then I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it sounded good to me.

She went on to explain that the site was actually earning money from several different sources.

Oh, and the full-time income was from just ONE of those income streams!

I didn't doubt my new friends word, but I just knew there had to be something about this that would prevent me from being successful with it.

As much as I fancied myself a computer geek, I knew NOTHING about website ownership or creation.

But then I remembered something my "big box" shopping sister-in-law said to me once.

Back when I was in the throes of being wrenched out of holy matrimony she said, "Alicia, you should write a book and try to help other women who may be going through it too."

Everyone in my family knows I love words. I've been the family proof reader for years, but a book?

So maybe instead of a book, I could write for a website....?

To be able to do that would be wonderful....but could it REALLY make me a work-at-home-mom?

So my jewelry making friend sent me this Video to watch.

-- It was actually fun to watch! No boring techie talk.

Maybe this was my answer.

The last months of 2006 were spent with my Mom. She passed that December and then began intense research into creating my own web based business.

Could I really do this?

Ready....Set...

I started by pouring over SBI!'s list of sites in the top 1% of the most successful sites on the web. There are sites that cover every kind of topic you can imagine, not all written by techies or gurus, but by people from every walk of life. There are plenty of successful sites written by other moms too!

But...I didn't want to just see the end results. I wanted an understanding of how the successful sites got there in the first place.

So next I checked out some SBI case studies. These case studies actually follow the progress of some successful sites from the start. (There is one from a WAHM.)

It seemed SBI! really did provide all the tools and instruction I would need to build a sucessful online business if I was willing to put in the time and do the work.

See....SBI is an online business building....education. So, I had to open my mind to the idea that I was going to learn how to build an online business, not just write some articles and "put up" a website.

This was WAY more than that.

It wasn't going to be built overnight and at times it might not be "easy".

But it was going to be doable. And totally worth it.

That's all I needed.

....GO!

Like so many other SBI online business owners, I decided to take a chance on myself....and I've never looked back.

You're looking at the result.

Fun-Frugal-Mom.com, my online business. The resource I wish had been available when I needed it; I was able to create for other moms instead.

There were no promises of quick money or an overnight website, but rather step-by-step instructions - and all the tools I'd ever need - to choose a niche, create, and grow a real internet business from a topic that I'm passionate about.

But here's the best part.....

Fun-Frugal-Mom.com is out there on the net, helping moms, and "working" for me even when I'm...

... at a PTA meeting ...volunteering at school ....at the park with my kids ....vegging on the couch with them watching 'Finding Nemo' for the 89th time. :) ....on vacation. Which, we can now actually afford to go awaaaaay for.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that I'd own my own business (with another in the works); be working from home, and be writing my story for other Moms to read and hopefully draw something positive from, I would have told them they were crazy.

But I'm a very real mom, living this very real...fun frugal life because I decided to take a chance on myself.

See...That's me. :)

Do you have a skill, a hobby, or a passion that you want to share with other moms in a meaningful, impactful way that will also help your families bottom line?

If you find yourself at a crossroads, or if you just want something....more, take a chance on yourself, for yourself and your family...No matter what dream YOU want to follow.