Frequently Asked Questions About Once Upon a Coupon
This post contains answers to a few questions I’m often asked about Once Upon a Coupon.
If you have any others for me, feel free to comment or e-mail me.
How long has Once Upon a Coupon been around?
Since March 2009.
Who made your website?
My husband – he’s a computer programmer.
Who created your logo?
Again, my husband. He’s the artsy fartsy one in our house, if you can’t tell. And thankfully, my daughter inherited that gene from him.
When do you blog?
Generally, at night after my children go to bed.
When I first started Once Upon a Coupon I wrote throughout the day – now that my kids don’t take naps anymore, that has become more difficult. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that my children are much more well-behaved if I’m mentally “present” with them – i.e. not on the computer or checking e-mail. And, it seems, my house is also more organized and clean, too.
Although I would like to write more, keeping things sane is a priority.
What made you decide to start Once Upon a Coupon?
Once Upon a Coupon became a way for me to share with others what I learned as my family became more financially responsible. My goal was also for Once Upon a Coupon to become a resource for people to learn how to coupon if they had never done it before.
Ok, really what happened to make you decide to start Once Upon a Coupon? This is usually the question asked by people who know me, who won’t accept the puff piece answer I listed above.
In January 2009, the company I was working for went through a corporate downsizing – and I, along with 4,000 other people, found myself unemployed. I had worked there for almost a decade and thought I would retire with them. The Lord had other plans.
While I was home, I became intrigued with the websites my husband was building. I had some extra time on my hands, and I suddenly found myself wanting one as an “outlet” for sharing all the frugal tips I was learning. I figured that even if just one person learned from my mistakes and changed their habits, I would consider the site a success.
Are the “winds of change” you mention on your home page story a reference to the corporate downsizing?
Uh, no. I wish. In the year prior to the corporate layoff, my husband started losing some of his clients due to industry changes. He owns his own business in computer programming and had grown a residual client base in two major fields – real estate and motorcycles. We all know what happened to real estate, but in case you weren’t aware, the motorcycle industry took a big hit, too. (A major distributer went out of business and the allure created from American Chopper started to wane.)
One by one, businesses were closing their doors. We watched the income dwindle to an amount insufficient to make a car payment. (Nevermind, we still had fixed business expenses to pay.) This was when I started couponing – I wanted to make up for lost income. I cut our grocery bills in half and was overjoyed. The more I saved, the more excited I became.
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I can honestly say I am truly grateful for the lessons that I have learned in the past year. Sometimes whenever things are going well (whether it’s concerning our finances, our health, or our relationships with others) we get comfortable and complacent. We don’t change ourselves for the better because we don’t have to. If anything I have learned that there’s always room for improvement – and improving always seems to lead to a positive change. If you’re looking for ways to save money YOU CAN DO IT. (If I can, you can, too.)