Blogger Q&A with Julia Young of Couponing to be Debt Free

Dealspotr’s network of influencers includes notable bloggers and social media personalities across a wide range of topics and interests, but all with a focus on frugal living and saving money. In our weekly Influencer Spotlight, we invite one influencer to share their experiences and success stories with the rest of our community. If you’d like to be featured, send me a message via Dealspotr. 

Seven years ago, Julia Young started a website to keep track of her coupons, deals, and savings. Since then, the site has grown into a successful blog, Couponing to be Debt Free, and guides readers on the path to saving money and finding their way out of debt. From a free couponing class to creating your own coupon binder, Julia shares plenty of content for the aspiring couponer. Now, she's telling us how she does it all in this week's Q&A.

INTRODUCE YOURSELF! FIRST NAME, WHERE YOU'RE FROM, YOUR "DAY JOB," AND ANY OTHER FUN FACTS YOU'D LIKE US TO KNOW.

My name is Julia and was born in Australia. I met my husband, Timmy, in Germany (he was stationed there with the US Army) when I was working as a nanny for a German family. After a whirlwind romance, we married in Denmark, traveled the world for a while and then moved to the USA. We have one daughter who is married and 2 fur babies. During the day I am a middle school math teacher and by night I run Couponing to be Debt Free.

DESCRIBE YOUR BLOG. WHAT IS ITS MAIN FOCUS?

Couponing to be Debt Free is focused on saving money, getting out of debt and finding great deals.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO BLOGGING? WHEN DID YOU START?

I started Couponing to be Debt Free in January 2010 to share the deals I find and to keep myself more accountable – I do this by using coupons, shopping wisely and finding HOT deals. My blog has grown into something I am very passionate about – helping as many people as I can spend as little as possible on every day expenses. After all, we all want to live a caviar life on a shoe string budget!  I just get so darn excited when I save money.

What was your best-performing blog post in the past year? What do you think made it successful?

My best-performing blog post would be a post about my ultimate coupon binder. Many people read this post every day. It was successful because it included lots of free printables for my readers and it included tools to help them be more organized with their coupons. I find that coupon organization is a topic that I get lots of questions about.

What's one thing you love about Dealspotr? Has Dealspotr helped your blog out in any way?

I love that Dealspotr lets users contribute and share deals that they find. It’s also extremely valuable that other users then confirm those deals. That way the deals are timely and accurate. I hate it when I go to other sites that talk about a deal and then I find out that the deal is not valid. It is really annoying and waste of time. Dealspotr eliminates that irritation for their users.

If you could identify the one thing (okay, or multiple things) responsible for your blog's success, what would that be?

Perseverance and hard work are mainly responsible for my blog’s success. It takes a lot of time and work to keep up with a deal/coupon blog. There are numerous posts every day and looking for deals takes a long time. If I wasn’t willing to put the time in, my readers wouldn’t have anything to come back to read on my site.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE LOOKING TO START A BLOG?

The best advice I could give to someone looking to start their own blog is to write about something you are passionate about. Success doesn’t come overnight – it’s a long haul. If you don’t love what you are doing, your readers will know and they won’t come back.  

Tell us about the most exhilarating moment you've experienced as a blogger.

Well, that had to be when the local news channel contacted me and asked to go shopping with me. It was exciting, nerve-wracking, scary, and exhilarating all at one time. It was a good thing I only had 2 hours notice otherwise I might have chickened out! It was fun to see myself on TV and it allowed me to gain a lot of local readers. 

Have you ever experienced a moment when you wanted to quit blogging? How did you overcome it?

This happens from time to time – when I’m tired and when I feel like I don’t have anything new to share with my readers. To overcome it, I take a few days off, refocus my efforts and get back in to it.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?

My favorite TV show is "The Amazing Race" – I love visiting places around the world (even if it’s virtually).

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SNACK?

My favorite snack is anything sweet.

If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? 

I would like to have dinner with my sister (she died when I was 10). Since she was 13 years older than me, I never had the chance to really develop a strong sisterly bond.

You can read Julia's blog at CouponingtobeDebtFree.com. You can also follow them on Dealspotr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+.

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