Mashup Mom in 2017 -- and beyond
Please take a few minutes to read about changes to Mashup Mom, now and into the New Year -- I'd like to take a moment to explain why I'm making these changes, and what to expect. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for being a part of the Mashup Mom community! I truly do feel thankful, grateful, and blessed for all of you.
Mashup Mom turns 8 in January 2017
Call this a belated seven year itch...
It's been a crazy 8 years, and those of you who have stuck around since 2009 have been through some pretty significant changes in the art of couponing since then. While we still see the occasional great deal, these are fewer and further between -- and they're not, by and large, deals I'm picking up myself any longer.
The changes you'll see on Mashup Mom over this coming year largely reflect the changes in my own shopping patterns and interests. Where 5 years ago I might have trekked to three different Walgreens to clean up on a Register Rewards deal, now I'm more likely just to keep us stocked with toothpaste and toiletries by visiting CVS every 2-3 weeks to roll ECB. Where 5 years ago it was fun to play the grocery game between Jewel and Dominick's, now I'm more likely to hit ALDI and Pete's Market without coupons and call it a day. Where 5 years ago I'd stockpile with high value coupons and cyclical sales + promos, now I'm more likely to stock up on household basics with Amazon's subscribe & save and be grateful for deliveries to my door at decent prices.
When I'm more excited about $.59 avocados at ALDI than free toothpaste at CVS, I'm not necessarily the right person to keep telling you about free toothpaste. It's making less sense to keep talking about chasing after an ever shrinking number of deals, and moving to talking about how to shop and live frugally as an overall lifestyle is much more interesting to me. There's an opportunity cost to anything we do, and all that time spent chasing deals is time we no longer have available to spend with our families, with friends, on hobbies.
I hope you stick around on the journey towards reclaiming some of that time.
You've probably already noticed some changes lately
Sorry about that...
I apologize for starting the changeover and moving around menu items before writing up an explanation and announcement. I know that resulted in Who Moved my Cheese moments for some of you, and that wasn't my intention. Please be aware that you will be seeing more changes to the menus and sidebar as these evolve to reflect the shift in content on the site.
Hope you're enjoying the newer features
The weekly ALDI meal plan, Work-at-Home Saturday, and other newer features will continue into 2017. Older features, such as Frugal Homemade, will also be making a more regular comeback.
What you will see on Mashup Mom in the New Year
Moving forward, Mashup Mom will focus on frugal living rather than strictly couponing and deals
What does that mean? Here's what you'll see more of:
- Meal planning
- Frugal homemade how-tos
- Make it or buy it?
- Recipes
- Healthier eating on a budget
- Frugal living tips
- Fitting frugality into a busy lifestyle
- Chickens and bees and gardening and organizing
- Thrifting
- Book reviews
With a sprinkling of Amazon deals, because I enjoy them so, as well as a roundup of some of the day's best deals each morning. 😉 Overall: You'll see more longer posts, more reflection, and more "evergreen" tips and topics as opposed to one time deals.
Time to evolve or fade away
I was recently going through some old PowerPoint slides from talks I use to give to librarians... way back in a different lifetime... 🙂 I ran across this "Perfect is the enemy of the good" slide, and it pretty much sums up the last year of this site. I've been waiting to make changes until I could get everything "just right," but life doesn't work that way. The evolution of Mashup Mom in the New Year will be a process, and I don't expect it will look exactly the same by the end of 2017 as it will at the beginning. I look forward to making this journey with you!
What you won't see on Mashup Mom in the New Year
Matchups are going away
The biggest change here: This is the last day for matchups on Mashup Mom.
Where can I find matchups now?
- Find CVS matchups at Hip 2 Save.
- Find Jewel matchups on Jill Cataldo's site.
- Find Meijer matchups at The Shopper's Apprentice.
- Find Menards matchups at Jill Cataldo or The Shopper's Apprentice (see above).
- Find Target matchups at Totally Target.
- Find Walgreens matchups at Wild for Wags.
One shot deal posts are largely going away
One shot deals are by their nature ephemeral, and Mashup Mom will be focusing more on evergreen topics in the new year.
Where can I find deals now?
- You'll find a little roundup of some of the best deals in the Morning Mashup post every day.
- You'll find additional deals, including some of the one shot deals that used to appear here as separate posts, in the Hot Deals group on Facebook.
I understand that some of you are not Facebook fans, and I respect that. This is the easiest way, however, for me to continue providing some deal content (and for you to share deals and photos) as we move into the New Year, and to build on the nascent community in the group. I hope to see more of you over there to continue the community that's grown up around Mashup Mom.
Yes, this is a shift in direction
Time to face the strange ch-ch-changes...
I truly do hope that many of you stick around through these changes -- I'm excited about bringing you new content and features in the New Year, and I treasure the community you've helped build over at Mashup Mom. Thanks for listening, and now: Onward!
I'll still be here! Thank you for all you do. I'm with you - I don't have time/interest to run all over town trying to catch a deal. I like to stick with CVS and Aldi to get the best prices, without all the hassle. Love your recipes:)
Congrats Rachel, and my life sounds similar with the shift in couponing. I am looking forward to your new changes and blessings on that in the New Year! I love your recipes so I am glad those are sticking around! HAPPY 2017!
Rachel.
I think the changes you have made are wonderful and achieve greater efficiency, and I absolutely LOVE your topics. You are still delivering the matchups, plus a whole lot more valuable content because let's face it: It's all about saving money, wherever and whenever you can, not just on groceries. Like today: I saw your post on the storage boxes from Target. That was absolutely on point because I have a whole Christmas mother lode of things to store, and a $40 Target giftcard I got for Christmas allowed me to buy 10 of those 20 gallon boxes for like $6 +change after my giftcard! It was a great article because I come to your blog to check out what deals I could get by searching, and that deal is what came up when I checked storage! Lots of the couponing matchups are not as lucrative as they used to be thanks to Extreme Couponers and the subsequent tightening by P & G and others. Old school couponers will brag that they could find stuff, yeah, yeah, ok but it's not what it used to be. The deals are getting more an more electronic. Anyway. very refreshing and cool that you bring alternative ways to make and save money in ALL areas. Keep up the great work, Rachel!
Thank you for what you do and for what you will do with the new changes.
Looking forward to the new and improved Mashup Mom!
Hi Rachel, I have been around since the early mashup days and I think the new direction is great! Like you, my shopping habits switched several years back and chasing that one or two deals all over town just stopped making sense. I am excited to see what 2017 brings!
Hi Rachel - another thank you for what you do. The changes you are making here are already what I've made IRL. I could hit as many stores/deals as I wanted to during the evenings in 2007/2008 with no kids and/or a newborn, but now evenings and weekends are full of their activities and my shopping has to be primarily whole foods due to the allergies they have. I've been coming back now that you've had the Aldi meal match-ups and I'm looking forward to the remaining changes. Everyone may not be happy, but you may find new followers looking for exactly what you are offering. Here's to 2017!
I feel bad now about the changes , not knowing what to expect after all these years! Especially being one of the older couponers ! its kind of taking the joy out of lets look and see whats going on new on MUM every few hours !
you made it fun and so easy for me to understand the best ways to make purchases . You practically drove me to the store and put everything in my cart (:
If it wasn't for Jill in the beginning that taught me all about this super way of shopping ,and then I found your column right after she also made a major changes ! which I disliked ,and then somehow I found a silly coupon club named called mashupmom !!
Was thrilled you even made it bigger & better ,all this came from a radio station that my daughter heard one day years ago and Jill was doing her sales pitch on coupons !If this allows you more time with family ,great reason for modifying ,being 80 and no grand kids makes you wish you could have slowed the time down . so good luck in your new vision . hope it still keeps me moving don't want my brain to start slowing down . Thanks for the excitement Joan
If I may say, YOU are an amazing 80 year old !!! I have enjoyed your input on this site and find you quick as a whip !!! May you keep sharing on this site....
Thanks Don ,didn't know anyone was paying attention to me (:
Joan is the best. I love her stories too. I hope I'm as active as her 30 years from now when I'm 80. I too really miss Jill's old message boards, but you can blame that squarely on Google & smart devices for ruining things. I'm not going to bash anything, cause we don't know what the new vision is for this site. It's always been ever evolving...
-Mark
Yes Mark I missed that the most too,we were all so anxious to help each other out ,or tell stories on our experiences we had doing something brand new to us ! We were like Little kids getting free candy (: those were the good old days .
Did you ever make it to our first coupon picnic with Jill ?
I've gone to a several of hers over the years & dragged my wife along this year, since she's almost as cheap... I mean frugal, as I am... Actually, I finally made it to Jill's part 2 class earlier this year for the 1st time.
Many of my stalker friends on facebook want me to do another financial class. I cover couponing, not as well as Jill in hers, but I go into saving on everything else, not just shopping, but everything from utilities, insurance, how to buy gas & when to gas up, gift cards, thrifting, vacationing, car rentals & airfare, etc... I guess I need to do another since I haven't done one in over a year.
-Mark
Thanks for last several years of fun. You'll still be on my 'favorites' list.
For some reason I feel like I am loosing a home. Upset.
I agree!
ITA. I love the matchups for Walgreens and CVS. However, I appreciate the fact that Rachel has given me links to other sources for that information.
As far as changing direction for the site, I have to respect that. Nothing stays the same forever..... and I understand the need to take the site in the direction that better reflects Rachel's own life.
But, for some of us, it will take awhile to adjust.
Find joy in what you have achieved and in what you will do. Life changes and I look forward to seeing how MUM will evolve. Your blog has helped me become a better shopper and I am grateful for that and am sure that the new format will continue to be helpful.