For this week’s Twitter Tuesday Profile we head to Southern California for a look inside the life of Christine, also known as @MoneyFunk. She’s a clinical research associate for a large cancer hospital, a wife and a mother of two. She’s also a personal finance blogger at MoneyFunk.net.

OODC: How did you get started blogging and tweeting?

@MoneyFunk: In 2007, I actually started a food blog called Sookie’s Kitchen. But then I woke up one day to declare I was tired of paying my bills and being in debt. So, in 2008 I started to blog about my journey to get out of debt. The tweeting didn’t start until a few months ago. I actually wasn’t too gung ho about it in the beginning, but it is actually a great social media tool for me. With tweeting you gain a vast wealth of great information (and for an information junkie, its great!), feel more connected with many bloggers out there, and it helps me gain exposure for my blog, too.

OODC:You say you paid off your credit cards at one point, only to rack up more debt. What habits did you have a hard time breaking so that wouldn’t happen again?

@MoneyFunk:Oh, my husband and I did a doozy on this one. We were free of credit card debt by securing a HELOC, but we didn’t kill the bad spending habits associated with it. That was the habit hard to break – a credit card with a $0 balance. You tell yourself, I will just charge it up a little and pay it off. But then those small charges start adding up to one big charge and then BAM! – you’re back into even further debt (HELOC + CC = BAD).

Thankfully, I literally woke up one day to tell myself, “I am sick of paying all my money to debt. I am going to take charge of my money this day forward”. And that is just what we did. It has been no easy road forward. We have our ups and downs, but we are still moving forward. And as more money is freed up to throw on our snowball payments, I can start tasting sweet success. One just has to be careful to maintain financial discipline and tame those starry eyes.

OODC:What are some of your favorite ways to save money?

@MoneyFunk:Some of my favorite ways to save money include:
* make a grocery list for shopping and gear it towards the weekly sales ad.
* shop online – I can compare prices, take a time out to figure if the item is really necessary, take time to find free shipping and discounts through RetailmeNot.com
* Food is one of the big culprits to breaking a budget. So, combining a bunch of food saving tips helps to keep our budget in tact. These tips include baking and freezing my own muffins to bring to work in the morning, brewing my own coffee, and bringing a ‘brown bag’ lunch (actually I use a reusable cloth bag).
* And we like to have friends over, so we save by making it a potluck. It is always tastier that way, too!
Blog about your actions, because it holds you accountable for your financial actions.

OODC:What do you hope readers get out of your tweets and blog posts?

@MoneyFunk:It is my hope that my readers get a real picture of our journey to become debt free; to understand that it takes the whole family to make this one important goal work. To realize there are highs, but also lows when we fall back a little. But to also realize that with perseverance and some sacrifice, we are going to make it to DEBT FREE. Plus, I am an information junkie (my work proves that). I hope to pass on valuable information here and there, too.

OODC:Who are some of your favorite money tweeters?

@MoneyFunk:Oh, there are so many good ones. I can’t pick them all! If I had to narrow it down:
@enemyofdebt because he is so supportive of everyone’s financial journey to become debt-free. Because of that, my family had a wonderful debt-free Christmas just past. It feels so good not to carry an after holiday debt!
@deliverawaydebt because his family is working so hard to get out of debt. He puts in time to deliver pizzas to climb out of debt, taking responsibility for his past financial decisions.
@financialsamura because I love his writing style and the vast wealth of information he provides. His topics make me think outside the box and widen my horizons. I think in due time, this information will make me a wealthier person.

Thanks again to @MoneyFunk for being a part of this week’s Twitter Tuesday Profile! If you’d like to be considered for an upcoming Twitter Tuesday Profile, just tweet me!