AnchorMommy

Carrie Kirby: Writer, Blogger, Shoplifter

May 16, 2009 by Shannon

Carrie Kirby is a Wise Bread contributor and blogger whose money-saving ideas are included in 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. She’s also a self-described shoplifter.

Well, she does it legally. Her blog, Shoplifting With Permission, details how to walk into a store with a handful of coupons and walk out with bags of free stuff. 

As if all that writing and shopping weren’t enough to keep her busy, Carrie made a little time to talk to me about her money-saving ways from her home in Chicago. Within just a few minutes of sitting down for our “face-to-face” interview (via the Internet), I could tell she’s a super cool, down-to-earth mom. She even swung the camera down so I could take a peek at her baby belly — she’s due in about a month!

Carrie and I talked about what it was like for her to leave her profession as a newspaper reporter and move across the country for a new beginning as a stay-at-home mom. We talked about how she keeps her grocery budget to $80 a week (I spend anywhere from $80 to $120, and I have one less mouth to feed in my household). We talked about her number one “Mom Hack” — how she lets herself off the hook regarding one motherly duty many moms take too seriously. We talked about so much, that I had to break our talk down into three parts.

Here’s the first installment of our interview. Parts two and three will be posted later this week, so stay tuned!