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The stay at home mum who is raking it in thanks to life on a $50 a week grocery budget has now revealed that her blog is so profitable that her husband has quit his job to jump on board.
Since establishing her blog 'Stay At Home Mum' in 2011, Queensland mum Jody Allen caught the eye of publisher Penguin who offered her a three-book deal.
Her successful site, which currently reaches over 6 million readers a month, is making enough money for her husband Brendan to quit his job as a carpenter and become General Manager of the online community.
'I am in awe of Jody and the Stay at Home Mum team on a daily basis. The whole thing was built around the basis of the $50 shopping list and all that it stands for,' Mr Allen told Daily Mail Australia.
Jody Allen (second from left) and her husband Brendan Allen (second from right) w ith their two sons
Mr Allen, a former carpenter features on the site to offer readers handy tips in a series of do-it-yourself videos
As well as being the General Manager, Mr Allen, also features on the site to offer readers handy tips in a series of do-it-yourself videos.
The pair, from Gympie, now employ over 20 people to help run the online community and they attribute the site's success to their frugal lifestyle.
As Daily Mail Australia reported earlier this year, it all started when Jody Allen was pregnant with her second child and in the middle of building her dream home when she was suddenly made redundant from her job.
'I had been a minutes clerk for the local council for nearly 15 years, but then I had my babies close together and requested a second year of maternity leave and they just paid me a redundanc y instead,' she said.
'I was shocked but now in hindsight it's been a good thing. I've found thousands of ways to save.'
The $50 budget shopping list includes meat, vegetables, bread, milk and other staple foods
Inside the Stay At Home Mum's kitchen: What $50 worth of groceries looks like in the Allen home
But after her initial disappointment, Ms Allen said she started to see being frugal as a fun challenge.
'I went to the supermarket and tried to stick to the budget but it was difficult and frustrating. I started off spending $90 a week and then progressively it went down to $50,' she said.
Ms Allen, who lives in Gympie, said she started to enjoy grocery shopping when she discovered that she could successfully live on a $50 a week budget and she did so for fours years straight.
Stay at home mum, Jody Allen, says leaving on a $50 weekly budget changed her life
Receipts displaying Ms Allen's tight budget for groceries. Ms Allen said she would bulk buy meat to freeze
She said she learnt to 'make do', collecting fruit and vegetables from her mother's farm, starting her own veggie patch and bulk buying meat to freeze.
'It was a great feeling when we eventually managed to feed ourselves with just $50 and we were eating much healthier because I was cooking meals from scratch and cooking like my grandmother was.
'We managed to live like that four years and it got us out of debt. It changed our lives,' said Ms Allen.
Ms Allen in the kitchen with her two sons, the mother-of-two from Gympie runs a lucrative lifestyle blog
Jody and Brendan Allen are now business partners after Brendan quit his job to help with Jody's blog
The Allen family say they ate more healthy food when they stuck to a low budget
In 2011, Ms Allen had a falling out with a close friend who was upset by her frugal ways.
'We used to go over a friend's house for dinner and she would cook these really fancy dinners for us and when she would come over we would stick to our budget.
'She was upset by this. I tried to explain that gatherings should be about the company and not the food. But she didn't understand. I tried to teacher her how to be frugal but she shut me out that's when I started blogging,' said Ms Allen.
Jody Allen shares money-saving tips and dessert recipes on her popular blog
In search for like-minded people, Ms Allen started her blog cal led 'Stay At Home Mum' - the online space became her virtual sanctuary. A place she could share her money-saving tips and connect with other mothers.
Ms Allen shares recipes on her blog and even provides visitors to her site with video cooking demonstrations
Stay At Home Mum budget 'Watermelon Bombe' Ice-cream RecipeINGREDIENTS
1000 ml Vanilla Ice Cream, 400 ml Cream whipped, 500 ml Strawberry Ice Cream, 1 tsp Peppermint Essence, 1 tsp Green Food Colouring and 50 grams Chocolate Buttons
Read more at: Stay At Home Mum
'The $50 grocery budget was born out of necessity so I didn't have a choice,' Brendan told Daily Mail Australia. 'But it had many benefits, we have been able to put together savings for Christmas, holidays and we were able to build our own house.'
Ms Allen, who is now Australia's most popular online stay at home mum, also looks back at their more frugal days fondly.
'There's more coffee and chocolate in the house now but living on our $50 budget taught us a lot.
'We really learnt the value of money and I would recommend it to anyone going through financial hardship. It can be done and it'll change your life,' she said.
Jody Allen's food ideas: A Bacon and Egg Pie (pictured) is ideal for those on a tight budget, said Ms Allen
Source: Mother forced to feed her family with $50 a week after she lost her job now runs a frugal food empire - and her husband's quit his job to manage her blog which has 6 MILLION ...
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