Crafty Frugal Mom – Parenting, Budgeting, Crafts, & More

Today we have an interesting interview from Amanda Matheny from Crafty Frugal Mom. Amanda blogs about being a single mom to a 5 year old boy, parenting, being frugal, her fitness journey, budgeting, and so much more. She loves being creative and sharing her journey with you!

What do you blog about at Crafty Frugal Mom?

I blog primarily about parenting, but also cover topics on budgeting, frugality, health, and fitness; as they are also relevant to my target audience of mostly American women between the ages of 18 and 45 with kids of varying ages. I am very frugal and I am on a personal fitness journey. I enjoy sharing my experiences to help my readers. I am also very opinionated, and have even wrote on a few controversial topics from time to time.

How long have you been blogging? What motivated you to start?

I’ve been blogging for almost two years. Before that I had dabbled with blogging a few times on free platforms, but I never stuck with it for more than a few months. I think that having my son provided a lot of my motivation, because being a parent provides an steady flow of post ideas for me.

What is your favorite part of blogging?

I love to put my thoughts out there, and share my ideas with others. It’s great to hear when something I’ve shared has helped or entertained someone, and it makes me feel great. After all, if I was only writing for myself, I’d just keep a diary.

What is the hardest part about blogging for you?

Traffic generation… no matter what I do, or how much I promote, it’s taken what seems like forever to get to where I am now. I want to encourage more commenting. Even though I have a lot of readers and I’ve been contacted privately on many occasions, unfortunately I do not get many public comments.

Who is your favorite blogger and why?

That’s a tough call. There are so many great bloggers out there, and I don’t think I could pick just one. They all have their own unique flare, and style. I enjoy reading a variety of blogs when I can.

What do you do for fun when you aren’t blogging?

I play with my son, try to take him to fun places, and have recently undertaken making my son a large parking garage for his Hot Wheels and Matchbox style cars. I also make handmade needlepoint crafts, tissue boxes, coasters, placemats, and more.

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

I am visually impaired, and my vision has slowly gotten worse over the years, but I have a photographic memory. For example, I went to England 10 years ago (my vision has gotten a good deal worse since then), but I still can vividly visualize most of what I did there in as much detail as I could see it back then.

What did you do before you began blogging? What skills do you have?

I’ve studied education in college and worked in a number of part time, substitute, and volunteer jobs with kids.

Have you been published anywhere else either online or in print?

I’ve done a few guest posts, and prior to my blogging I wrote for Associated Content.

What do you hope to achieve with your blog and online presence?

My primary goal is to reach a vast readership that will benefit from my insights or find my stories entertaining or informative. I would love to pull in a nice side income as well, and am working toward these goals.

Thank you Amanda for being a part of the IBA, and giving us some insight into your blog and life! Readers take a look at Amanda’s blog Crafty Frugal Mom below. It’s pretty bold, if I do say so myself! Till next time, Haley