It all began when I became pregnant with my first child. No, wait, it began when my DH decided to quit engineering and go back to school to become a teacher. No, I suppose it started when we were saving for the down payment for our first house. Or maybe when we were saving for our wedding. I guess it's hard to pinpoint when I began making conscious choices about reducing spending and doing more with less. It was a gradual process, and has resulted in our family living comfortably and happily on one income.
Never have I been ashamed to spend less or buy less, but as I became more adept at stretching our dollars, I started to walk proud and tall, wearing my super-frugalness as a cape of sorts. (Of course it wasn't a real cape, that would be pretty silly looking, although my 3-year-old son would love it.) A close friend and former co-worker was an excellent mentor and cheerleader. I don't know if I would be as inspired or successful, were it not for her.
After joining a local mom's group in Hamilton, I found that I wanted to share with others ways to save money, spend less, and simplify. A lot of moms are on maternity leave or living on one income for the first time. The forum threads I started were very popular and I was thrilled with the wonderful and useful ideas that were flowing back and forth. It's great to share information about thriftiness with other moms in the area because I've learned of so many local businesses and parks that were new to me. I've come to rely on the support that we give to each other in any endeavor. Never before have I been a part of such a positive and loving community.
One day, Monica, our Social Mamas founder, declared that she was pitching a tv show based on our group. In no time at all filming for the pilot began. I was scared and thrilled when she asked me to do a regular "Frugalista" segment on every show. I've never liked the spotlight, but when I realised that this was a way to get a very important message out to so many moms, I jumped at the chance. My mind began to buzz (and honestly hasn't stopped since) with ideas for segments and tie-in blogs for the Social Mamas website. I've been researching my heart out and stumbled upon some fantastic blogs. I then realised that all my fervor might be too much for just one audience (the other Mamas might begin to resent me if every day I'm suggesting yet another way to pare down and save up).
All of this led me to this blog. I relish the opportunity to share ideas and learn from others. I feel like a sponge ready to soak up the wisdom of other simplifiers and do-more-with-lessers, kitchen-gardeners and cook-from-scratchers. I can't wait to get that first comment on a blog...
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