Jen Smith

Contributor

Jen Smith, Personal Finance Expert and Writer at DollarSprout

With nearly a decade of experience as a personal finance writer and author, Jen Smith is passionate about empowering individuals to achieve financial freedom through practical strategies and simple living. She’s the founder of Modern Frugality, a resource for debt management and frugal living, and co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast, part of the iHeart Podcast Network.

Jen began her personal finance journey by paying off $78,000 of debt in just two years without a six-figure income. She has since written three personal finance books, including the Amazon best-seller The No-Spend Challenge Guide, and her expertise has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Woman’s Day, and more.

Jen has also written for several prominent platforms, including Investopedia, The Penny Hoarder, and The Balance, covering topics such as retirement, investing, and frugal living.

Outside of her professional work, Jen enjoys life as a mom and continues to embrace creative and frugal ways to enrich her family’s life.

Education

  • Florida College of Integrative Medicine: M.S. in Integrative Medicine, B.S. in Health Sciences
  • University of Central Florida: A.A.

Media Mentions

Connect with Jen on LinkedIn to learn more or check out her latest articles on DollarSprout.

DoorDash Driver Review: How It Works, Tips & Is It Worth It?

Launched in 2013, DoorDash has quickly grown to become the largest food delivery company in the United States. In 2022, more than 6 million “Dashers” fulfilled 1.7 billion orders worldwide.[4] Still growing year-over-year demand for food delivery suggests there will be high driver demand for years to come. But just because DoorDash is the largest…

Jen Smith 03 Oct

How to Start a Personal Trainer Side Hustle (Up to $75,000 per Year)

I took my first CrossFit class in 2013. Before that, you wouldn’t have thought I was capable of anything athletic, much less the intense workouts CrossFit is known for. The gym and I weren’t (and still aren’t) friends. I’d walk in, look at the equipment, and immediately become overwhelmed by all the possibilities and how…

Jen Smith 22 Dec

20 Business Ideas for Women Entrepreneurs

Women. We earn more undergraduate and graduate degrees than our male peers, start an average of 1,821 businesses every day, and own 36% of all businesses in the U.S. Yet our companies are smaller, employ fewer people, and we still earn only 80 cents to every dollar a man makes. While we’ve made great strides…

Jen Smith 01 Dec

How to Make Money Selling eBooks Online: 12-Step Guide

A year into starting my first blog I knew two things: I loved writing and I’d made approximately zero dollars from it. So I decided to self-publish a book. But I didn’t just compile old blog posts into a book to sell on my website. I took the time to learn the ins and out…

Jen Smith 24 Nov

Fetch Rewards Review 2025: Pros, Cons & How It Works

With countless rewards apps promising to save money on everyday purchases, finding one that’s truly worth your time can be tough. That’s where Fetch Rewards may come into play. In this review, we’ll provide an objective evaluation based on our thorough testing of the app. You’ll learn how the Fetch app works, its benefits, and…

Jen Smith 17 Nov

21 Low-Cost or Free Small Business Marketing Ideas

As a small business owner, I’ve spent years looking for fresh and authentic ways to bring what I offer to those who need it. I’ve tried many small business marketing ideas and learned from countless mistakes. And what I’ve found is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a successful…

Jen Smith 21 Oct

How to Make Money Managing Facebook Ads for Local Small Businesses

There’s this amazing coffee shop in my city just off the beaten path. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d never find it. But somehow it always has just enough people inside to keep the place feeling lively without being crowded. That’s not an accident. I see its Facebook ads all the time. It’s like…

Jen Smith 14 Oct

6 Easy Ways to Get Paid to Advertise for Companies

Have you ever attended a conference and gone home with 20 different logo T-shirts in your suitcase? Or eaten company-branded cookies during session breaks? You may be excited about the free items, but those companies are excited about something else: free advertising. And although some people are fine promoting a company for free, many others…

Jen Smith 08 Oct

7 Instacart Tips from a Shopper Earning $3,000 per Month

From mattresses to cars, many of the industries we once thought could only be done in person are now seeing great success online. One of the most notable is grocery shopping. In 2019, only 3% to 4% of grocery shopping in the US was done online. According to a recent CNBC study, that number soared…

Jen Smith 01 Oct

19 “Odd” Jobs That Pay Surprisingly Well

You’ve probably read a lot about side gigs you can do online, apps that help you make money, and even weird ways to make money. But what about the good old fashioned odd job? Odd jobs usually refer to casual or isolated jobs that may be seasonal, manual, or domestic-related. Luckily for you, less competition…

Jen Smith 29 Sep