Hi! I’m Susan, and I blog here at CravingTheSavings.com. I live in Dallas, Texas.

I started this blog on January 1, 2009, approximately ten months after I discovered how much money I could save by changing the way I shop for groceries, personal care items, activities, clothing, etc.

In January 2010, I took a blogging break for several months as I focused on getting to the bottom of my daughter’s chronic health issues. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which was the latest in a 4 1/2 year medical journey that started when she was 15 months old. That journey has included diagnoses of food allergies, asthma, seasonal allergies, juvenile arthritis and uveitis (eye inflammation).

We suspected food might be an issue early on and had eliminated soy, dairy and wheat/gluten from our diet but did not see any improvement. Once we had the ulcerative colitis diagnosis, I did some research and found the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). We started on the SCD in May 2010, which has given us a lot of hope. My daughter feels so much better, as do I. We hope her medical tests will show improvements too.

Being on the SCD means I have had to change how I shop for food and how I use coupons. I no longer go after all the great grocery deals. I no longer try to keep all the coupons (which is sort of nice because organizing large quantities of coupons can get overwhelming sometimes!). I am still trying to figure out the best way to keep up a healthier way of eating (and living in general) without going broke. But the hope is to eventually eliminate some of the very expensive medications and regular doctor visits that cost a small fortune each year.

I also now have to cook everything we eat. I have never been very comfortable in the kitchen, so this is a new adventure for me. I blog about my time in the kitchen and will share tips and gadgets that have helped me along the way.

And because my daughter is six and in the first grade, I occasionally blog about things related to her age group – toys, activities, etc.

I work full-time, although “full-time” means until my daughter gets out of school and then resuming again after she goes to bed, so if I am busy with work, blogging takes a backseat. I do not blog to make money, but any money I make from advertising on this blog will be donated to Children and Arthritis this year.

Children and Arthritis organizes Jambalaya Jubilee, an annual weekend camp and conference in Shreveport, Louisiana for kids with arthritis and their families. We have attended the past three summers and it is an amazing program! The children get to meet other children who know what they are going through with the illness, and parents get to hear from medical specialists and each other.

The Children and Arthritis team makes sure the program costs very little for the families that attend, and they fund it directly from their pockets when they aren’t able to secure enough sponsorship money. Any money that I can earn from advertising on this blog will be given to Children and Arthritis in June 2011 when we attend the next Jambalaya Jubilee. So please visit the sponsors in the right column if you see something interesting. The money will go to a great cause!

Thank you for stopping by to learn more about this blog and me!