Quitting a job of 14 years? Check. Moving to a new state? Check. Deciding to take on a brand new career while raising two young children? Check. Lisa O’Driscoll had about as eventful a 2014 as one could imagine. Now, she is thriving in her new home and relishing every minute of her job as the founder of funmoneymom.com.
What started nearly a year ago as a blog dedicated to finding bargains around her new hometown in Florida has quickly turned into a lifestyle website with quality content about parenting, meal planning, remodeling projects and even tips on personal finance. And yes, of course, she still mixes in some good old fashioned posts about a few great deals she’s found while shopping.
Wondering how she’s been able to do so well, so fast, in her new environment? We were too, so we asked her! Read the Q&A below:
A: I love writing about a variety of topics but one of my favorites is anything to do with parenting. When moms get together, we love to have a glass of wine and talk about our kids. We usually start with all the awesome things our kids are doing but then end up venting about the little things that are driving us crazy. Of course we love our kids dearly but if we can’t vent to our mom friends, who can we vent to? Our husbands are usually too busy watching football!
A: I started my blog in October of 2014 as Fun Money Finds. It basically began as a site for finding shopping deals in my hometown but after a few months I realized that there was so much more that I wanted to write about. I started do more actual writing and changed the name to Fun Money Mom to better reflect what it had become, a fun blog for moms that covers everything from parenting to saving money (and any other topic that crosses my mind in the meantime).
A: We moved to Florida in August of 2014 and I quit my teaching job of 14 years. My husband and I decided that I would be a stay at home mom until my youngest starts school, something that I’d always wanted!
I had a lot more free time and one night when I was online looking for local shopping deals, I just decided on a whim to start my own blog. The thought of blogging had never even crossed my mind before that night and I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into!
It originally started as a hobby (partly to keep me from binge watching too many Neflix shows) but it quickly became something that I’m really passionate about!
A: This is hard to answer because I truly love everything about blogging! It’s so much fun to just sit down and write about whatever crosses my mind, from silly things like my crazy fantasy football strategies and trying to take my husband shopping to more serious topics like saving money or dealing with 3-year-old temper tantrums.
I’ve also loved the connections that I’ve made with fellow bloggers. It’s a very welcoming and supportive community!
A: I would probably recommend not starting on a whim like I did…LOL! Do some research, figure out what direction you really want to go in and really plan it out. I had to make a lot of big changes six months into my blog because I put zero thought into what I was doing when I started. It would have made things a lot easier if I knew what I was doing before I actually went live with my blog, rather than winging it and learning as I went.
A: I think the post that I had the most fun writing was What NOT To Do When Shoe Shopping. It may not be my best post ever but it was the first real post that I wrote. For the first few months of my blog, I was just listing shopping deals but not actually writing about anything. I decided to give it a try and found that I really enjoyed the writing aspect. This post was what started the whole transition from shopping site to an actual blog.
A: My biggest challenge is just finding the time to do everything that needs to be done so I can continue growing my blog. Non-bloggers would be amazed at everything that goes into it. It’s so much more than just writing posts and there just aren’t enough hours in the day (which is why I usually stay up half the night).
I think the fact that I tend to be a perfectionist (that’s the Virgo in me) makes it even harder because I can spend too much time on the little things. Sometimes I’ll go back and re-edit pictures because there’s one little thing that I don’t like, when in reality I’m probably the only one that would even notice.
A: I’m a big fan of Becky Mansfield from Your Modern Family. She has an amazing blog and has become a huge success in a very short time. I’m inspired by the fact that she is a SAHM with four kids and still has time to grow a successful blog in addition to writing books on the side.
I’m also inspired by Sarah Titus. She went from being homeless after her divorce to being a very successful blogger in just a few years. She didn’t listen to all the people that told her to give it up … she kept at it because believed in herself, even when nobody else did. I find that very inspiring!
A: If you would have told me a year ago that I was going to be a blogger, I would have asked you what you’d been drinking! I didn’t even like keeping up with my simple web page when I was a teacher. However, it’s something I truly enjoy and hope to continue doing as long as my readers continue reading! It’s even rubbing off on the rest of my family because my 7 year old wants to start her own blog now … watch out!
