Pocket Your Dollars founder Carrie Rocha sells money-saving website

Pocket Your Dollars, a deals website that made its Maple Grove founder a national figure among coupon clippers and bargain hunters, has been sold.

Carrie Rocha, who started Pocket Your Dollars in 2009 after she and her husband successfully eliminated $50,000 in credit card debt, sold it to a 24-year-old tech entrepreneur in Phoenix named Josh Elizetxe.

Though the deal was completed on July 1, Rocha's picture was still on the site Tuesday.

Since its start, Pocket Your Dollars grabbed 57 million viewed web pages and 8.5 million visitors. Rocha did not disclose the sale price, but she said the business provided "full-time support for my family for almost the entire run."

Rocha, 41, used Quiet Light Brokerage in Inver Grove Heights to market the business. Within two days, Rocha had nine cash offers at or above her asking price.

Mark Daoust, chief executive of Quiet Light, said Rocha's site had several factors in its favor: an accessible price point below the average of mid- to high six figures; really good traffic with lots of ability to grow; and a semi-passive income with only a few hours of weekly work required.

"Carrie built up a brand locally," he said. "Once you capture an audience, it can be lucrative."

Once the site became self-sustaining, she found the minor tweaks and maintenance to be less energizing. "I realized that I didn't want to do this anymore," she said. "My heart is with the community, not the content."

Rocha said the most rewarding part of the sale was hearing about the difference that Pocket Your Dollars made to consumers.

Sally Kuether of St. Paul wrote on Rocha's site that it had saved her hundreds if not thousands of dollars and also changed her life. "Not only did you teach me about couponing, but also changed the way I think about money/shopping/budgeting," she wrote. "I have taught my children and grandchildren all that I know about shopping and research."

Stephanie Nelson, whose national site CouponMom.com has 7 million members, said she knew immediately that Rocha wasn't in it just for the monetary reward. Nelson discovered that Rocha had produced a video showing people how to use the CouponMom website to save money. "She's authentically frugal and unselfish," Nelson said. "She'll direct people to someone else's site to save them money."

In 2012, Rocha published a book, "Pocket Your Dollars: 5 Attitude Changes That Will Help You Pay Down Debt, Avoid Financial Stress, and Keep More of What You Make," that sold about 40,000 copies.

Daoust said the site's new owner will have to move cautiously about ending its public association with Rocha. "I wouldn't advise changing the site too soon," he said. "You want to add new personalities slowly."