Motherhood is one of the best things that can happen to a you, but it’s also one of the most expensive. From diapers to dance lessons, kids can cost a lot of money.
Fortunately, you are not the first mom to encounter this problem! The “frugal mom blog” niche is slightly more specific than frugal blogs in general, since we focus on a very particular phase of life. But they’ve been an internet staple since at least 2007, and new ones pop up all the time.
We frugal moms are here to help guide new (and newly money-conscious) moms through the process of finding free diapers, free toddler activities, cheap meals for picky eaters, and more.
If we haven’t met before, hi! I’m Hillary, and I’m the frugal mom behind Homegrown Hillary. I prefer to do deep research (like logging every load of laundry I did for months to find the best, cheapest laundry detergent, or surveying 6,000 moms to create the ultimate frugal mom’s baby registry checklist) and go where no frugal mom has gone before. I also have a YouTube channel where I talk about *more* frugal living tips:
However, there’s only so much one lady can write and film about on her own, which is why I’m highlighting eleven of my other favorite frugal mom blogs so you can read about even more ways to save money!
Personal Mom Blogs about Frugality
If you’re mostly interested in getting to know an individual blogger, reading her stories of saving money, and following along her family’s journey, these are the blogs to check out.
Six Figures Under
This is a site initially created by Stephanie to track her family’s journey to getting out of $130,000 in student loan debt. She’s got plenty of great personal anecdotes from those years of penny pinching, but she continues to post about frugal living, budgeting, and making money on the side. (And now they have a new goal- saving for a house!) Her post announcing the day they became totally debt-free is a great read.
Frugalwoods
Frugalwoods is a frugal mom blog mainstay, and has been going strong for nearly ten years. Not only does Liz (aka Mrs. Frugalwoods) do budget audits for her readers, but she regularly publishes monthly expense reports on her family’s finances. She also is the author of “Meet the Frugalwoods,” an in-depth memoir about her family’s journey to financial independence (FI). You’ll definitely want to check out her post on myths about simple, rural homesteading which also includes some great photos of her family and garden.
The Frugal Girl
Here’s another long-standing frugal mom blog that thrives on personal stories. The author, Kristen, has plenty of specific tales about thrifting, utilizing her local Buy Nothing group, and refashioning things she literally swiped from the garbage. She’s also not afraid to share about her real and raw journey of motherhood, including going back to school and getting a divorce. If you really love the personal stories, I’d suggest starting with a post from her “Five Frugal Things” series.
The Prudent Homemaker
If you like vintage beauty, simple living, and hearing stories from a mom who homeschools her nine children, you have to check out Brandy’s blog. She also takes some of the most gorgeous photos I’ve ever seen to accompany her stories. Currently, she’s sticking with a weekly series on “How I saved money” you’ll want to check out.
Professional Money-Savers
If you’re more interested in getting no-nonsense advice and tips about budgeting, investing, and homemaking from a mom’s perspective, these sites are perfect.
Living Well, Spending Less
From blogging juggernaut Ruth Soukup, this is her site devoted to enjoying motherhood on a budget. There’s plenty of money-saving hacks for people who need that kind of thing (check out her article on budgeting when you hate spreadsheets), but her site also has content about cooking, homemaking, and being more productive.
The Budget Mom
Miko is the inventor of the now famous “budget by paycheck” method, owner of The Budget Mom website, a published author, AND has a YouTube channel! She is legit. You’ll definitely want to check out some of her beginner budgeting articles, like Budgeting When You’re Behind on Bills.
Smart Money Mamas
Chelsea is a former hedge fund manager, so she’s super professional. However, she’s still willing to write articles about her personal experiments (like this one comparing credit card rewards to an app). I love her approach to doing original research and finding answers to questions no one else will tackle.
Money Saving Mom
This is perhaps one of the first frugal mom blogs on the internet. What started out as a site to help aspiring couponers has exploded since 2007 into a frugal empire devoted to sharing deals, freebies, and limited time offers. Her superpowers currently lie in sharing what’s new and hot right now, so you’ll likely just want to start on her homepage.
Frugal Non-Americans
As much as some frugal habits are universal, sometimes you just need a local’s perspective. So if you’re not an American, but trying to get insights into saving money on your particularly expensive groceries or navigating other problems we Yanks don’t understand, these gals will help.
Simply Frugal
Taya from British Columbia has a fabulous smorgasbord site of Canadian frugality, with posts on topics from freebies to grocery savings. A great, quintessentially Canadian post to start with is her master list of printable, Canadian coupons.
Frugal Mum
Natalie you covered if you need tips for a cheap UK staycation (or any other kind of vacation). Seriously. She’s got frugal European travel nailed down. But she’s also got plenty of recipes, tips for affordable holiday celebrations, and even some frugal home tips.
Frugal and Thriving
This is one of my favorite frugal mom blogs ever, despite Melissa living a world away from me in Australia. She has another great “everything including the kitchen sink” kind of blog which covers pretty much anything frugality touches: celebrations on a budget, recipes, homemaking, DIY, grocery shopping, budgeting, and more. I really enjoyed her thoughts before Mother’s Day this year called Host a Delightful High Tea at Home on a Budget.
That’s all from me today! If you’d like to know the next time I post articles about parenting on a budget, be sure to subscribe to my email newsletter below.