Winner of The Money Saving Mom's Budget

The winner of my giveaway for a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget was Tony and Heather Snyder! Thanks to all those who entered.

Review: The Money Saving Mom's Budget

With all the books and blogs out there about financial management and saving money, it’s difficult to know which ones are worth reading. When I first started trying to figure out couponing in the spring of 2010, I was reading at least six blogs on the topic. It wasn’t long before I’d unsubscribed from all of them except for one local blog and Money Saving Mom, written by blogger Crystal Paine. What set this blog apart? I began reading during the middle of a series on how Crystal and her husband paid cash for their first home. And she wasn’t even 30 yet! She knows her stuff.

I was excited to read Crystal’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, and even more excited to have the privilege of receiving an advance copy. By the end of the first chapter, I knew I would not be disappointed. This isn’t just a book of money saving tips that you’ve already heard; it’s a book that helps you discover what you want to achieve and then shows you the steps you can take to achieve it. At first glance, the second chapter, “Streamline Your Life and Cut the Clutter,” isn’t even about money at all, but it’s possibly the most important one.

Although some of the concepts will seem a little basic to those who are a little more financially stable, such as the “secret formula” of creating a budget and saving $60 a year, unless you have met all the financial goals you ever hope to achieve, you will learn something from this book. My husband and I have had a written budget since the beginning of our marriage, but I still enjoyed reading through the chapter on budgeting since our system is far from perfect. And if you’re worried this book will tell you that you have to live on beans and rice and never have any fun until you’ve achieved your financial goals, you will be happy to see chapter eight: “Going out on the Town Without Going Broke.” It’s a book for real people.

What I love most is that Crystal shares this wealth of information in a way that is like a friend cheering you on, leaving you inspired rather than discouraged. Most of the time when a book I’m reading gives some “exercise” to do, I brush it off and just keep reading. But when Crystal talks about setting financial goals, I actually thought about what financial goal we could achieve in the next six months to a year. There’s a lot of passion in this book.

Crystal Paine’s passion for helping others is truly evident in her reason for publishing this book. While originally hesitant to accept the book deal, she realized what an impact it could have if she gave all the proceeds away. And that’s what she is doing: all of her proceeds will support Compassion International. When you buy a copy of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, you will be giving money to a Child Survival Program in the Dominican Republic that offers life-saving health and medical care to expectant moms, young moms, and at-risk babies and young children.

Want to win a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget? Just leave a comment!

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Like Newlywed Trek on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you liked the page.

2. Follow Newlywed Trek on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you followed.

Be sure to leave a link to your blog or your e-mail address so I can contact you!

The giveaway will end January 18, 2012. Winner will be announced January 19.

Welcome, Money Saving Mom Readers!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll enjoy browsing around my blog. You can follow along with my journey with RSS Feed, Facebook, or Twitter.

I also invite you to check out my friend Debra's blog, Sweet Kisses and Dirty Dishes. She currently has a giveaway going on for $25 worth of products from Pampered Chef!

Meeting Money Saving Mom

Last night I got to meet one of my favorite bloggers: Crystal Paine, the Money Saving Mom!

Crystal in the light green shirt under the Starbucks sign, me in the blue shirt in front,

other awesome ladies all around whom I will not try to name. (Photo from Money Saving Mom)

Crystal was in town for a conference with a friend, so eight of her local blog readers got together for an informal meet-up. I've been reading Money Saving Mom for about a year now, so this was exciting for me. Thanks mostly to tips I've learned from Crystal's blog, the amount I spend on groceries for Nathan and myself each month is the same as I spent for just me when I was single. And she has over 134,000 Facebook fans, so she's kind of a big deal. Some of the women drove over an hour just to have coffee with her!

After meeting Crystal in person, it's clear that she doesn't think of herself as a big deal. She greeted all of us with a hug and was happy to meet us. She seems to genuinely enjoy helping and educating others, without even the tiniest bit of a know-it-all attitude. 

It was great meeting all these wonderful women and chatting about our frugal adventures. I found out I'm definitely not the only one lamenting that we don't have a Rite-Aid around here to take advantage of their great deals, despite the fact that we have about every other store! I was the only non-mom in the group, so I got to hear what shopping and couponing with kids is like. It was a lot of fun and I wish we'd had more time together.

Have you ever met any of your favorite bloggers/celebrities in person? Who would you most like to meet?