Hello!

My name is Melissa, I live in Connecticut, and I have 3 great kids. My husband seems to think I'd be great at this blogging thing so I though I'd give it a try. Though I'm not really sure what I'll be blogging about, or if I'll even have anything to say, so bear with me as I figure this all out!

I'm a frugal mom, at this point I'm addicted to coupons. I get so excited to get my paper every Sunday morning and get clippin'. I've gotten so many free things thanks to coupons, and I enjoy every second of the rush I get when I see my 'saved' total at the bottom on my receipt. The bigger the better! My best receipt so far as been where I paid $47, but my saved total was around $102. I scanned it into my computer so I would always have it! My mother took it to work with her to show all the ladies she works with, because some do not believe that I can shop like that to feed 5 people, pay so little, and save so much. But I can! And I do. Last week my bill read a payment of $45, with a savings of around $76. Yes it can be done. And yes you can do it too! Its not hard, just takes a little bit of organization and determination.

I have to give credit where credit is due, and name my all time favorite money saving site, which is Mommysavers.com. I remember finding that site quite by accident 4 years ago. My husband was in an car accident that put him out of work for about 3 months. I didn't know what we were going to do, at one point the workman's comp was taking about 6 weeks to get to us, and we were living on my $150 paychecks. I could barely buy groceries, never mind pay the mortgage. I was looking for any fix and I joined some program called 'Stayin' home and Loving it', it turned out to be a referral type program and they 'recommended' I spam my link on message boards. One of the sites they suggested was Mommysavers.com. I typed in the link, and when I got there, I just couldn't bring myself to do it! I started reading, and here were all these moms, just like me, just trying to make ends meet week after week. I decided I would be better off joining them, and learning how to live with less money, rather than spam them and run, and not learn anything. Four years later, I still visit daily, and I have since become a moderator on the site. Kim Danger is an inspiration to all of us, her idea to create a site that combines sales with coupons and living frugally has literally saved so many of us learning to live on less. Mommysavers mission statement: Helping Moms live well on less. And it has worked for us. Yes I have met Kim in person, and she is just the sweetest, most down to earth person I have met, and has become a great friend. And yes, I dropped 'Staying home and loving it' very soon after. I couldn't afford to buy groceries, I couldn't pay to be in their program.

I have named this blog 'Savings and Loss', the Savings part is due to my frugality and coupon clipping, but the Loss part is hopefully for my weight loss. When I was 21 years old, my father died due to a stroke caused by hypertension. My mother was diagnosed with hypertension shortly thereafter, and last year the Dr found an aneurysm as well as a leaky valve in her heart. She underwent a major valve replacement surgery. I also stopped working full time about a year and a half ago and it seems that all I've done is balloon in my weight. My Dr is concerned about the amount of weight I have gained, and my blood pressure was a bit on the high side at my last appointment. At this point he does not want to put me on bp meds, BUT he has challenged me to try and get some of this weight off. He thinks that is probably the cure and I agree, I'd love to try and lose some weight anyhow. So whoever is in the weight loss journey as well, please join me and help keep me going!

Have a great day!