The Thrifty Divas

Hi, Jennifer!  Welcome to The Thrifty Divas “Blogger Spotlight”.  Econobusters is such a great website.  Can you tell me how it got started?

Thanks for having me in the “Blogger Spotlight”!

Econobusters’ parent company is The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the leading publication for homeschoolersaround the world. In the past couple of years homeschooling has grown by leaps and bounds at a time when most family budgets are shrinking. Our goal was to form a positive, informative community for all homemakers who were new to frugality—not just homeschoolers. We believe that this economic downturn is an opportunity for just about everyone to do things in a new way. We want to enjoy learning how to stretch our budgets and create healthy, happy, nurturing homes.

 I love the fun aspect of the site and the character Molly Green.  Is there really a Molly Green who writes?

Good question! You can read a more detailed explanation by clicking on the Contact tab at our Econobusterswebsite. A (very) small team of women put together the Econobusters blog, the free weekly newsletter, and the monthly Digests. The Digests also feature guest writers and contributors.

From the beginning we wanted to make Econobusters an upbeat, cheerful community, headed up by an “icon” that represented all homemakers, and who projected a positive, can-do attitude. No hand-wringing allowed here! We were fortunate to find a talented illustrator who has captured “Molly Green” exactly as we envisioned her!

In our upcoming Digests, beginning with January 2010, we’ll be introducing the women who contribute, or have contributed to Molly’s voice.

With Christmas just around the corner, what things does Econobusters have in store for its readers?

We’ll be sharing lots of links and tips for low cost ways to enjoy the holidays . . . along with a giveaway or two! Our December Digest is now available for $4.95, and as a bonus we’re giving away 2 free E-Books with every purchase, making this an incredible deal. One E-Book is about making homemade gift mixes (over 200 pages of inspiration) and the other deals with Holiday Hospitality—lots of thrifty but tasty menu and recipe ideas—frugal but festive, too!

What other things is Ecocnobusters known for?

 At Econobusters, we share recipes, tips, resources, links, deals and freebies. Each week we also send out a free E-Newsletter to thousands of our readers—and they love it! Past issues are cataloged, and can be accessed by a link in our right sidebar. Anyone who subscribes to our free E-Newsletter can download a free menu-planning E-Book.

We also produce a Molly’s Money-Saving Digesteach month—an E-Book version of a lifestyle magazine. Each Digest includes a weekly menu plan including shopping list, ideas for upcycling and repurposing objects, a “begin with the basics” column (December’s is candymaking, and January’s will be piemaking) frugal decorating ideas, activity pages for teaching kids of all ages about money, a featured topic (December’s is Comfort and Joy for Christmas and January’s is all about Organization for busy families.) There’s lots more too! You can read descriptions of all the monthly Digests we’ve produced so far here.

AND . . . It’s still under wraps, but we have some very exciting plans in place for 2010 that will cut the $4.95 Digest price, and provide more freebies and resources for monthly subscribers. Getting more for less—it’s what Molly Green is all about! It’s going to be great! We’ll be posting the details later this month on our Econobusters blog.