One of the awesome things about the blogging community is that people look to support each other. Today, I chatted with Tiffany Thomas from Saving Talents. Tiffany Thomas is a chocoholic former math teacher and homeschooling mom with Crohn’s Disease. She and her husband Phillip (who is an engineer) work together on the blog Saving Talents. They enjoy spending time with their family, geeking out over sci-fi together, and saving money.
Be sure to check out our conversation with Tiffany about blogging, parenthood and so much more!
How did you get started blogging?
It’s a funny story, actually. I used to coupon a lot, and after my second child was born I spent a lot of time at home sitting on my bed holding him (he only slept if held). I could only binge-watch Netflix for so long, so I began to come up with really elaborate coupon shopping trips. I wanted to share them with other friends who couponed, and a blog was the easiest setup. To my surprise, it actually became quite popular and turned into a full-time thing.
However, after a couple of years I found myself wanting to write more than coupon deals (which were becoming a bit monotonous). So I sold my coupon blog and started Saving Talents.
How long have you been doing it?
I began my coupon blog four four years ago and sold it about 18 months ago. Saving Talents is about two years old.
What is your inspiration for your posts?
My everyday life! I choose the recipes from homemade cookbooks passed down in my family. When I look for an idea for a holiday, like a Christmas craft for my kids to do, I’ll put my findings up on the blog. Or if something inspires me from my scripture study, I will turn it into a blog post so that it can be shared with others.
What are some of the challenges you face blogging?
Kids! Haha, my kids are 7, 4, and 3 months. So the last few months I have had to cut back a lot of what I used to do. We also homeschool and just started 2ndgrade for my oldest, which has a lot more work than 1st grade did. Finding a balance is a challenge on a daily basis.
You talk a lot about frugal living. What is the biggest tip you have for 20 somethings like myself?
Learn to tell the difference between wants and needs. Many of us who are reading blogs live in first-world countries. I constantly see comparisons between current events and difficulties of the past. In all honesty, many of the rising generations have no idea what true needs really are.
I’ve been in a missionary in some very impoverished places in the world, and I wish that every first-world citizen could spend 6 months as a teenager in one of those places to learn the real difference between wants and needs. I think we’d be much more frugal in how we spend our money. We’d realize we could live with a whole lot less than we think we can, and we’d hesitate before spending what we currently do on “needs.”
How do you balance being a mom and blogging?
Who says I do?! Haha, I’m only partly joking. Some days I spend a lot less time blogging than I planned, and other days I’m afraid I lose track of how much TV the kids have watched (all educational, at least) because I get caught up in writing.
I find, however, that when I put my kids and their needs first, the rest fills itself in. I plan out my day with the kids’ stuff as the priority. Then I fill in the empty time slots with projects related to blogging.
What advice do you have for bloggers that just are starting out?
Don’t be discouraged. Blogging is really hard work and it takes a lot of time. Results are slow; sometimes it’s almost impossible to feel like you’re making any growth. Do research into what works. There are a lot of free tutorials out there that have a lot of valuable information – take advantage of those resources.
Be sure to follow Tiffany as well on Instagram, Twitter, and like her blog’s Facebook Page.
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