Frugal Blogger Interview: Heather Sokol of JustHeather.com & Inexpensively

Every now and then, we’ll be interviewing our favourite bloggers. You’ll get inside perspective from everyone from frugalistas to shopaholics.

Today, we’re featuring Heather Sokol, creator of JustHeather.com and founder of Inexpensively, a network of frugal bloggers from all over the United States. If you’re not already following her on Twitter, find her @JustHeather and @Inexpensively. She’s fabulous to chat with!

So without further ado… let’s begin the interview!

1. What’s your name? What do you enjoy? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Heather Sokol, and I’m a married mother of 3 beautiful girls. A year ago, this would have been a difficult question for me to answer, but since tackling my 40×40 list and alphabet dating the hubby, I’m finally learning who I  really am. I love my job, and I love my girls, but its nice to finally be Just Heather now and then.

2. What triggered your move to living frugal? How long ago was this?

I’ve always been frugal, really – from getting the most with my back to school clothing allowance to saving my lunch money to go to the movies, but I really stepped it up 12 years ago, when I found myself married with children (okay, just the 1 at the time) in college. Diapers are expensive!

3. How did you get started blogging?

The hubby had been blogging for a few months and decided I would like it. He setup my 1st blog 7 years ago – now I have 8, including Inexpensively, which started as a small, local site 6 years ago and has grown into a frugal blog network across the country.

4. What do you enjoy most about being a frugal blogger?

I love to hear the stories of how our tips have helped a family through a difficult time or the cool things people were able to do with the money they saved.

5. What are some of your favorite blogs to read?

I love to read the blogs from Team Inexpensively – in fact, many of them joined our network because I enjoyed their blogs so much that I personally invited them to write for us.

6. What’s one thing you love to splurge on or have a hard time budgeting?

I have a lot of vises – chocolate, Sunkist, salty snacks – and I have trouble eliminating them, even though I know it would have a big impact on our grocery budget.

7. How much on average would you say you save on a (weekly, monthly, or yearly) basis?

I tracked my grocery savings one year – it was eye opening. We saved literally thousands of dollars through coupons & grocery sales.

8. What’s one thing someone can do every day to save money?

Plan ahead – almost all of my money saving tips can really be boiled down to planning ahead. What’s coming next week, next month, next year so you could start watching out for sales or working the extras into your budget?

Category: Savings