DAPHNE, Ala. — Blame her mother. Aubrey Nix of Daphne says her mother, Michelle Huguley, is the start of it all.

“I’ve always been frugal,” said Nix, adding that her mother had a consignment store and she had learned how to stretch a dollar at an early age. She started working at 15 and really became interested in getting more for her money.

Because her friends admired her ability to “get free things in the mail” and “spend less than $50 a week on groceries,” they wanted her to share her tips with them.

Nix’s email list grew into the thousands as word of her savings skills grew. That was unwieldy, so she started a “Web page/blog,” www. easternshoremom.com. Nix was pleased to show off the results on her dining room table — weeks worth of food for her family, cosmetics and other goodies.

Now, you don’t have to be a personal friend of Nix to share her knowledge. Now, Sybil McGhee, her best friend and cousin, has her own blog on saving money on her site, and guest bloggers pop up there as well, like a travel agent who can give readers the skinny on a “phat” vacation at Disney World.

“We (her, husband Kyle Nix, and their daughter, Addison) vacationed at Disney early last December,” said Nix. “It cost less than $1,500 for five days.”

Nix says that couponing and savvy shopping allows her family to live better for less money.

Nix works full-time for a furniture company and spends a lot of time on the road, and is the mother of a 3 1/2-year-old, so time can be a problem.

A lack of time can be troublesome for someone who likes to save.

“I start with the Sunday paper and then go online,” said Nix. She estimates that she spends about two hours on Sunday gathering coupons (manufacturers often have the best coupons on their websites, she says.) and another two hours midweek organizing grocery circulars and planning her shopping strategy. More than that cuts into precious family time.

“Lots of people also exchange coupons,” Nix said, adding that mothers with young children might be asking for diaper coupons. Going to the manufacturer can result in higher-value coupons as well.

“Find out what coupons your family needs,” said Nix. She added that as a family of three, she does not need as much as someone buying for a larger family. So, extra coupons are exchanged, and sometimes extra goods find their way to local food banks.

While some go from store to store in search of bargains, Nix says that the price of gas and the time it takes to do that isn’t very economical. She says it is more efficient to shop at stores with good coupon policies, and to freeze meats and vegetables as they go on sale.

“A lot of people do one-stop shopping,” said Nix, adding that they select the store that will give them the best value that week.

Sometimes the savings enable Nix to splurge.

“Our anniversary was last night,” said Nix, “and we were able to have salmon and other things not on our list.”

Nix says because she has a small family, she buys two to four items that are on sale.

“That lasts us to the next sale cycle,” she said. And while couponing seems “cheap” to some, Nix noted that coupons are for name brand items — one rarely sees a coupon for store brand goods.

Nix offers articles on her website about converting “treasure from trash,” showing how items you might throw away can be re-purposed or even reused.

Nix shares her techniques with others offline, too. She and some of her couponing cohorts offer couponing classes for a fee in the area. The next class is June 11 in Foley. Go to easternshoremom.com for details.

“(Couponing) should not consume your life,” Nix said. “I have a full-time job and have time to coupon. You can have time for you and your family and save lots of money.”