About Me

Hmmm, where to begin...

My name is Laura (Cronenwett) Webber, I am a thirty-one year old wife and mother of one overly adorable 20 month old son Boaz. I am happily a stay at home wife and mother in the suburbs of Detroit.

My husband Dave and I were married in June 2006. When we married, Dave was working in the health care field as a computer programmer, and I was employed by our church (242community.com) as the Director of Early Childhood. We decided to expand our family and our son Bo joined us in December of 2007.

Previous to being married, I had been wise with the money that I had earned. I lived on my own and I owned my own home, so every dollar that I earned was earmarked for something important.

When Dave and I joined our incomes we spent what we wanted to spend, and we saved what we wanted to save... but really we did so without thinking too much about it. I regret some of our early marriage spending, but it was a learning experience. We chose to make a lot of home improvements (thank you Home Depot) and we enjoyed eating out quite a bit as well.

When we found out that we were pregnant we decided to reign in our spending. I attribute our current level of savvy spending habits to hinging on the birth of our son. The weight of caring for someone outside of ourselves sat heavy on our hearts, and we needed to practice being wise parents before our son arrived.

I began practicing my frugal spending skills when I began purchasing maternity clothes off of the clearance rack. We also purchased our son's nursery furniture on Craigslist, we decided to use BumGenius cloth diapers and we planned to breastfeed. OK, that last one was my plan!

Mid-way through my pregnancy I discovered Mom2Mom sales. A Mom2Mom sale is like a glorified yard sale where tables are rented and childhood goodies are available for great prices. I began purchasing clothing, books and toys for my soon to be born child. I was willing to sift through tables of kid stuff at several sales, and my patience paid off by finding great items for unbelievable prices!

I have transitioned myself into a savvy shopper through the encouragement I feel in finding the items that we wanted/needed for less than full price. It really is exciting to feel like I have gotten a sweet deal, and I enjoy knowing that I am able to spend less so that we can do more with our finances.

I began spending coupons just after my son was born... but I'll share more on that later in the week!