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!
Totally on-board with your changes! I know I used to be big into couponing but I'm in a different season of life now, my kids are getting older and their schedules more demanding, my freelance business continues to be very busy, we moved to Wisconsin and live a bit further out so getting to stores takes longer, and with the deals not being what they once were, couponing has taken a back seat. I much prefer to go to one store, like Meijer, get what I need for a fair price, and move on. I still occasionally use coupons and I still like to find good deals but it's not the end-all. There is also much more to frugal living and saving money then using coupons and I'm glad to see you'll be diving into those topics. Thanks, Rachel, for all your hard work over the years! Look forward to seeing where the blog goes next.
Thanks Debbie! If you'd like to share more about your freelance business, I'm looking for people to share their stories for work-at-home Saturday, too. 🙂
http://www.mashupmom.com/work-home-bring-side-income-featured-mashup-mom/
I won't miss the coupon/match up info as I haven't done coupons in a long time, but I WILL really miss the other deals you posted. I found so many great deals on gifts and other items we needed through your posts, and I was already really sad this holiday season when it was clear you weren't going to be posting as much of that stuff. This is no criticism of you--you gotta do what you gotta do!--just a loyal reader saying what she thinks. I will try to check in more to the group on FB, though I'm actually trying to cut back on FB for my own sanity lately, and their stupid algorithms don't make seeing what you want to see as easy as it should be.
Good luck with the changes!
Facebook lets you control the notifications you see from groups -- look in the top right of the groups for options. That's the reason I'm mainly using the group instead of a page. Hope that helps! 🙂
I will continue to follow the blog and will be looking forward to the new site. My shopping habits have changed as well, and I find myself shopping more frequently at Aldi and rarely at Jewel. I hope there is one change you don't make--don't stop the Lucy posts and pictures! And I also hope you continue to post the "Reader Deals." Good luck and Happy New Year!
I knew this place was going downhill when you started featuring MLM's as "businesses." (What a slap in the face to actual women business owners.) Without the match ups, there's not much left here. "Frugal living" tips are a dime a dozen.
If you have a non-direct sales home business you'd like to talk about, I'm sure we'd all be happy to hear tips. The form is open 🙂
http://www.mashupmom.com/work-home-bring-side-income-featured-mashup-mom/
I have to agree. I loved to pop onto your site to see the Jewel & CVS matchups. I was so sad to see you feature a pyramid schemes as a way to make money. Since I became a mom 15 years ago, I have been inundated with invites to these "parties". Bugging your friends to buy things they don't need a double and triple the price is not a legit way to make money. You've lost a fan.
I'm sorry to see you both go. Direct sales is not my thing (there are bloggers who make very good money turning their sites into vehicles for these types of businesses, but that's just not me) -- however, what's also not my thing is putting down women who are working hard to support their families.
I'm hoping to feature a number of different types of work to show the variety of options available in Work-at-Home Saturday posts. The fact that these particular businesses were featured first reflects the initial responses I received and the number of people doing this type of work.
Doing something else? Why not tell us about it, and give readers here another option.
I, like so many people, have basically stopped selling on eBay (& Amazon), cause it's been ruined by Chinese dumping & USPS shipping costs had increased several years ago. I can't compete anymore with that. I am a shooting yellow star (former powerseller). Started selling in 1998. Total to date Transactions: 22,090 & Sales $322,859.35 ... Seller ID on both sites is SSMark1 ... From 2003-2004 a large majority of my side/hobby biz was reselling gift cards, video games, CDs & DVDs, & sports memorabilia... I really enjoyed it. 1/3 of my sales were to people outside of the US. My average item was about $15 that I'd sell. After costs & fees, about 30% was profit. I'd love to teach people how to make money on that Saturday series Rachel has, but now we have offer up & apps. So different than the old days. I remember Christy wrote something about selling on eBay years ago on this blog, but that's when I was still working on Coupons.Com, and there would have been a conflict of interest so I haven't really posted on this site until Rachel made some slight changes earlier this year. But I remember I really wanted to add so much to Christy's write up. eBay & Amazon are wonderful. The fees have become higher, PayPal was bought by eBay & eBay turned them more evil, etc... The money business with changes to shipping, etc. Right now, I have many items, I'd love to sell on eBay & Amazon, so maybe I'll get that going again.
So if someone is really good at CraigsListing, Facebook Garages Sales, OfferUp, or any other app, I think a cool Saturday topic would be that on how to get rid of stuff around that house & turn it into cash. I think we all would rather do that, than just have it sit there.
-Mark
I'd be very interested in it.
My mom busted her butt for 30 years supporting our family with her Tupperware business. If you don't think women are hard working at these jobs, you are ignorant. Pyramid schemes are illegal because there is no goods exhanged, just someone taking your money. MLM is completely different and you should do some research about it because that is where the shift is taking place. I'd rather pay a little more for quality and have the money go into my friends and family's pocket than into a CEO's million dollar pockets. Rachel will lose people but gain people who support other business women.
Best of luck in your new direction! I've been an avid reader since 2010 and will continue to be a MashupMom reader. I've been enjoying the new morning summary posts and have always loved hearing about your backyard chickens and trying your new recipes. Your personality and interests have always shown through on the blog, making it more interesting than just great "deals". I appreciate all the deals you've brought me over the last 6+ years, but it makes sense to change.
For me couponing is no longer a productive use of time and Causes me stress that's not justifiable.. I really enjoy your Amazon and aldi posts, and random deals for nonfood items. I know many enjoy your recipes, they're not practical for me because I try to focus on healthier options. Good luck on your new adventure, I think it's a smart move. I do hope you stay true to your self and don't try to copy the other organizing, recipe, etc. blogs I don't think it will sound like the real Rachel!! Thanks for all you've done for us!
I have mixed thoughts on this. Matchups were the main reason why I read your blog for the past four years. Our family shopping patterns also evolved during the same time span. For example, I delegated CVS shopping with CVS card and coupons to my son who will continue to have community outings on Thursdays at his school. I am very thankful to Rachel as this blog helped me develop my own shopping, price matching, and couponing strategies regarding savings on meat, bread, pasta and grains, dairy, produce, and non-food necessities. However, I am not an Amazon subscribe & save shopper. And I am not likely to work from home. It looks like I will check this blog with the proposed content less often.
I wish everyone happy New Year!
Thank you for what you've done for years!!!
Matchups were also my favorite part of your blog. I agree that couponing is not what it used to be. CVS is the only place I use them. I grocery shop at Aldi. I guess Ill just be jumping around the other sites to find what I'm looking for. I really have enjoyed your blog, thank you for all you have done. I will of course still be checking in for Amazon deals!!
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