Friday Feature| Chicago Newborn, Wedding Photographer

As a goal to help others in my local community, I plan on having Friday Features! A blog post about a company, small business,or as in the case of today's feature a blogger! (if interested in being featured, always feel free to shoot me a note or email at jamillayipp@hotmail.com )

OK everyone, today's exciting feature is the Frugalista herself :) Otherwise known as Carrie. I met Carrie at Parenthesis, a local group we both attend with our children, and it was there she filled me in on what she is about.

I did a informal interview with her, so that she could better describe what she is about, sit back people, and get ready for an interesting read!!

(Jyipp): Hi Carrie tell us a little about yourself?

(Carrie):
I'm an Oak Park mom of three and a freelance writer. When I first became a mom, my husband Erik and I were living in San Francisco and I was working as a business reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle. I thought moving to the comparatively inexpensive Chicago area would make it easy for us to go down to one income and add another kid or two. Turns out it took more than just a location change to get our outgo in line with our new income.

I discovered "extreme couponing" and "the drugstore game," both lynchpins of the Frugalista lifestyle, as well as frugal living tactics like setting and sticking to a grocery budget and making more things from scratch.

I had already been blogging about being a mom at My Funny, Funny Family, and when I realized that my readers were getting a little tired of my brags about bringing home 15 boxes of cereal for $10, Frugalista was born.

(Jyipp): When did you start the Frugalista?

(Carrie):
Actually, I first started a blog called "Shoplifting With Permission," and I wrote for frugal lifestyle blog Wise Bread as well (still do). But last year the Chicago Tribune started a blog network, ChicagoNow.com, and they asked me to become one of their launch bloggers. So I started fresh with Frugalista for them.

I try to share baby steps toward a more cost-conscious lifestyle with my more "mainstream" friends. Not everyone will want to take couponing and cost-cutting as seriously as I do! However, I am sure that nearly every family could cut 20% from their grocery budget without hardship.

(Jyipp): Is this a lifestyle easy for other mom’s or families?

(Carrie):
On Frugalista I help people who are just getting started by letting them know exactly where to find a coupon for an item that is on sale, or how many items they need to by to get a special deal at Jewel or Dominick's.
A lot of people try out couponing thinking it's going to be a chore, but end up having fun with it, which is exactly what I do.

(Jyipp): How can people find out about the frugalista?

(Carrie):
Please come check out the blog at www.chicagonow.com/frugalista. I've been doing giveaways every week, so not only will you learn something, but you might also win something!

To me Carrie is a wonderful person to meet, and she truly believes in what she does! You can't help but want to learn more, if given a chance to speak with her. So enough of me talking about her go check her out for yourself. The Frugalista