I don’t really know “how” to avoid it, but a new year always seems to bring about a personal need for change.  Maybe it’s the idea of a clean white page on the calendar, (heck, it’s an entirely different calendar, unless you got one of those 18-month things going) or the idea of getting a whole.  entire.  year.  to accomplish those needs!  And then in December you can just say things like, “Well, it was a busy year.  Didn’t get everything checked off the list.  There’s always next year though!” and settle back into complacency.  😉

I know I personally detest having some date on a calendar being the bully for my progress (how many “Monday Resolutions” have failed in your lifetime?! *sigh*), but this year just felt different.  I have felt the need to start some sort of personal evolution and get some things to where I’d hoped they’d be, like five years ago already.  I’m advancing in age (the 4th decade is nuts!), my life is totally not where I planned it would be even 10 years ago (but I know now planning is a “God” thing, not a “me” thing”), and I want to feel a little more settled in where I am going.   So, I set off to get things done, and by golly it is not even mid-January and I am nearly done with one of my New Year’s, um, ideas.  I don’t think that has ever happened in my life!  😀

One of my loooong-time ago goals was to change the course of my blogging.  You see, I started “Krazy Coupon Mamas” back in June of 2011 at the height of all that “crazy couponing”.  It was, at first, just a platform for a small group of local mamas in a playgroup to share tips and bargains, to teach others how to coupon, and to have a place to vent when things didn’t go like they did on TV!  The small mama groups at the playground led to a bigger Facebook group, which in turn led to a Facebook page, and then before I could even breathe I was running a blog!  Oh my word what a challenge I had set up for myself!  I was a stay-at-home parent with a little one (and apparently not enough on my plate already) and that little blog somehow took off and became my life!  Krazy Coupon Mamas was a full-time, working like crazy, not earning me a nickel or even a pat on the back, J.O.B.!

The couponing, and even the “deal” blogging, was a lot of fun at the outset.  But, what many did not know, was that I was doing this to keep my family afloat.  I was not chasing coupon inserts and “crazy couponing” and stockpile hoarding and going psycho at the register at Walgreens for the adrenaline rush.  No, I was doing it to feed my family. I was laid off from teaching when my son was an infant (got the pink slip over the Christmas break while I was on maternity leave and dealing with undiagnosed PPD – but that’s another story), and then a year later my husband lost his job with the state. This season of our lives was extremely difficult, as our unemployment benefits did little more than pay our mortgage and some other small bills.  I struggled to maintain a household budget of, well, there really wasn’t a budget!  The money that was pinched went to food and other necessities.  I guess my job was to make sure those already pinched off pennies were stretched even further!  I figured out this new-fangled “extreme couponing” and gladly took on the challenge!

Through my couponing efforts, I was able to keep the fridge and pantry stocked with everything from dental floss to mustard!  No, not 453 bottles worth, but we had plenty and all varieties too!  😉  I was able to get some alone time early in the morning before The Boy woke up and clip coupons, search for deals, plan my lists, and then take him to shop.  It was amazing the things I was accomplishing at the stores.  We were saving incredible amounts of money.  I had to share the deals.   I had to show others how to do it.  I had to just keep doing it!

But, I slowly started to realize that my personal identity (through my blogging) was somehow being origami folded in coupons!  I can remember several years ago attending a smallish social gathering (you know, not big enough to be lost in a crowd or mingle freely, but just small enough that every conversation is overheard and awkward to get in and out of?).  A gal that I had previously been friendly with approached me and we began to sputter around a conversation.  She looked painfully uncomfortable trying to talk to me (which was odd to me as we knew each other and got on well) and finally she said “So, um, how are your coupons?”  Oh my goodness, is that all she could come up with?  How are my coupons?!  “What?  My coupons?” I replied.   Not even some mindless drivel like “Boy, sure is hot out today!”  or “How ’bout them (insert random sports team)?!”  No, I was being asked about coupons.  At a social, be away from your kiddos, drink some wine, use cuss words if ya want, gathering.  She went on to say “Sorry, I don’t read your blog because my kids are older.  You just talk about diapers and wipes and stuff.”  I had never felt so deflated.  And discouraged.  And awkward.  And, just, ugh.  This “blog thing” that I was creating for virtual strangers to read and learn from (something that real life people in my community inspired me to start), was now the very thing that was alienating me from actual. real. life. people!

It was at that very moment that I knew the blog had taken over.  I was no longer Jaime, or The Boy’s mama.  Much to my dismay, I had become The Krazy Coupon Mama.  So, not knowing what else to do, I embraced it.  I changed the blog’s name.  I bought the domain www.TheKrazyCouponMama.com.  I figured out how to earn commissions.  I started to network with other bloggers. I continued to coupon. And I just sort of got over it.  I detached from a lot of old social circles.  I was going to branch out and find a place where my square peg fit, before I burned out. This worked well for a while, that is, until the bottom fell out of “extreme couponing”.  Newspapers were being gobbled up by insert brokers.  The store deals were not as good.  The manufacturer’s coupons had so many usage restrictions now.  Store policies were being changed – what seemed like weekly.  The shelves were always, always empty.  Coupon shopping just was not worth the effort anymore.  And so many of my favorite “deal” bloggers were throwing in the towel as well.  Facebook was making it difficult to interact with readers.  Readers were not interacting with bloggers.  The blogosphere was just a mess.

But, fortunately, by this time, my husband had been rehired by the state, our shelves were fully stocked, and we were beginning to rebuild our savings.  And I was glad for the change, because I was so spent on it all.  I was tired of the rat race of couponing.  I was tired of being called a “crazy couponer”.  I was tired of writing about coupons.  I was tired of reading about coupon hauls.  I had not had a newspaper subscription in ages.  I had not been to Walgreens since the start of the new Balance Rewards program (and still haven’t been!).  I would print coupons out, and clip them, and set them in neat little piles, and then find them again weeks later after they had all expired.  I was tired of scrolling through Craigslist and Facebook yard sale groups and seeing massive stockpile sales.  People that had converted their garages into mini drug stores and were selling items they got for free for a few pennies less than retail!  Good grief, no wonder the shelves were always empty!  I just really hated couponing!  :/  I did love the blog though.  Or I guess I should clarify, I loved blogging.  That is what had me hooked.  I wanted to write.  I wanted to share aspects of my life other than couponing.  I wanted people to see me beyond coupons.  I wanted to keep doing all that but needed a fresh outlet, where nobody would think to ever ask me again “How are your coupons?!“

So, I started Bloom Where He Plants You!  A space where I could write about what I know best – ME!  MY life!  MY dreams!  MY family!  MY faith!  MY travels!  MY teaching!  Anything I wanted!  And I would not be trapped with a “coupon crazy” blog title!  Finally, I would get to express myself and get back to the blogging that I loved.

But, the coupon and deal blogging were what was profitable in terms of commissions.  Not huge profitable like “I’m fixing to retire on this fat stack of cash right here!” or even “I’m paying my mortgage with this coupon blog money“, but more like, “I worked 492 hours this month and I just made some extra grocery money!“.  So, I put Bloom on the back burner like some red-headed step child and kept on.  And as you can imagine, I was completely miserable. Well, for whatever reason, 2015 has brought about that personal need for change again.  And that little voice that had been urging me to grow and bloom ( <– see how catchy that is?   ) had all of a sudden learned to ROAR!  I had never been so motivated to move!  I had already been reading “How to Blog” blogs over the last couple of years, and I had picked up Ruth Soukup’s How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul but never even opened it up!  Well, I started to read through it (another one of my New Year’s ideas was to read more) and one of the first few tips was to basically get more serious about your blog – buy the domain (check), get self hosted (check), get a fresh WordPress design (check), and merge social platforms (Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter check!  Facebook merge is all that’s left!).

I spent the first 7 days of 2015 revamping Bloom and trying to figure things out (WordPress is not for the weak spirited!).  I took my first ever sabbatical from blogging and social media and it. was.  amazing.  I could not believe how much of a blogger’s life was taken by, well, blogging. The website.  The hosting.  The merging.  The hair being pulled out over the website, hosting, and merging!  No wonder all those “big time” bloggers hire out for this kind of thing!  OYE.  But the transformation is nearly complete and I feel so…..fresh and excited and ready and relieved and a million other things!  Kind of like I felt when I had The Boy!  😉

So, there you have it.  If you were a fan of The Krazy Coupon Mama in recent years, the change will not be too drastic I don’t think.  I am still the same Mama.  I am still ranting about life and parenting and being frustrated at the checkout.  I am still frugal and will still post some money-saving deals and coupon offers (maybe not every single deal that pops up, but I will still be posting!).  I will share all of the new ways I am saving with my new love for thrift stores, and rebate apps, and clearance sales!  I am just sharing more of, well, me!  I will be writing more about my Pinterest flops (okay, in all self-deprecating fairness, they have not all been flops!), about our homeschooling and unschooling adventures, about my faith and my family, and about this big move we have planned!

If you are a long-time KCM reader, I really hope you will stick around.  If you are a new reader, I hope you find something that encourages or inspires you to make the same kind of leaps I am taking this year.  Out of your “comfort zone”. Out of your “normal”.  Out of your “safe”.  And that you begin to Bloom Where He Plants You.  Much love to y’all.