Am I a frugal mom?

I'm only a frugal mom when it comes to budgeting. Not a penny escapes my notice! It's all accounted for.

But I'm not a frugal mom anymore when it comes to spending.

You may have been wondering, "Who built this site? What qualifies him or her to teach on budgeting?"

Let me introduce myself.

My name is Cate Brizzell. I live in upstate New York with my husband and three kids, a son and two daughters, ages 9 through 6. I currently work part-time as a virtual assistant. I've had my online business since March 2003 (click here to learn more about how I started my business and what I do, exactly).

That's a picture of me in my home office (also known as my kitchen table), below.

What qualifies me to teach on budgeting?

You could say it's my bachelor's degree in Business Management, with a concentration in accounting.

You could say it's because I worked as an auditor, a financial analyst and then finally as finance manager for a mid-sized corporation.

But really, it just boils down to real-life experience.

I started married life determined to be frugal. I never bought (and still never buy) any meat other than ground turkey, ground beef (on sale), boneless chicken (on sale) and stew beef (on sale).

When I had kids, I became a "frugal mom". I bought generic cereal and diapers. I visited all the frugal mom websites. I clipped coupons and kept a price book.

I also created a budgeting system that allowed my husband and I to pay off over $14,000 in debt. (Our debt elimination plan came from my friend Leo's program, which you can find here).

Being a frugal mom paid off. :-)

Things were going ok, and our budgeting system was smooth sailing. The majority of it was automated. Life was sweet.

Then, disaster struck. My husband was laid off from his high-tech job in fall of 2002.

Suddenly, our budget didn't work, because there was no way our income could come close to our necessary spending, let alone discretionary items like shoes and clothing.

Being a frugal mom was now impossible. You can't budget what doesn't exist!

And I suddenly realized that all those years of never eating roast beef, never buying brand-name goods, rarely going to the movies or the amusement park and hardly ever buying something luxurious for my husband hadn't prevented us from hitting rock-bottom.

There had to be a better way.

It's called "balance".

Three-and-a-half years later, we're getting back on track. The budgeting system is in place and we're slowly regaining ground.

But now we have categories for fun, living life and enjoying it. We're not spending like crazy; we've just decided that we need to enjoy our life, and our children, at the same time we're being disciplined and good stewards of the funds under our control.

I am a much happier person as a result. I suspect my family feels the same way.

I've dropped the "frugal mom" label and decided that I'd much rather be a money-savvy mom.

The point of all this is to let you know that I'm just like you. I don't have any fancy certifications or financial advisor credentials. All I can tell you is what works, and what doesn't, because I've tried it all.

I've shared my budgeting system with friends and family over the last 10 years, helping them get organized and on track. I've taught classes at my church and counseled people one-on-one.

And now I'm sharing my systems with you.

So, thanks for taking the time to get to know more about me, the (non) "frugal mom". And thanks for visiting! I hope you find exactly what it is you're looking for.

And if you don't, drop me a line.

To your joyful prosperity,

:-) Cate

P.S. I do still pride myself on having a frugal mom grocery strategy. My friend Lana Dorazio wrote an e-book on how to do it right; I love her strategies and still use them every time I shop.