My passion for saving money was instilled in me as a child. My father and mother taught me the value of every penny through their words and their actions. My parents lived within their means, they saved something from every paycheck, and they didn’t create debt.  Those lessons have served me well! But it wasn’t always easy; the time came when I found myself “robbing Peter to pay Paul” (one of my father’s least favorite expressions). I turned to the all too easy credit card routine, buy now-pay later. As a young, single mother I was often struggling to make ends meet. Yet, I found whenever I went back to my dad’s budget basics, I was able to navigate my way to the other side. But it wasn’t just changing my spending habits, it was changing my whole attitude towards the money I did have.

I worked hard at creative ideas to help support myself and my son, and wanted to share my strategies. In 1998 I was invited to be on a local TV station.  My very first story was based on something I had just done for my son: I put a kids’ wardrobe together for under $100 by shopping resale. That one segment led to my dream career as a consumer reporter. Over these 20 plus years, I found that the money saving lessons I learned from my father applied to every personal finance story I worked on. As an on-camera consumer and investigative reporter, I was honored with two Emmy Awards, The Edward R. Murrow Award, The Mark Twain Associated Press Award and two National Headliners. From 2000 to 2008, I was the chief consumer reporter for CBS 5 in San Francisco, where I helped start and build the Consumer Watch unit and Volunteer Hotline. My money saving and consumer protection segments became the backbone to my 30-minute consumer show, The Real Deal. This Emmy nominated show ran for seven years on CBS 5 and is the recipient of eight Press Club Awards for Best Program. Consumer Action honored me with the Award of Excellence for my work. After a three-year, in-depth investigation into the wireless industry, the Attorney General of California ordered certain carriers to pay back California consumers money owed to them as well as a large fine to the state. This story aired on "30 Minutes" created by Don Hewitt. Additionally, "Liar Loans" which predicted the housing meltdown in the Bay Area aired on "30 Minutes". After leaving CBS 5, I started bringing my stories to a larger, national audience. I was a guest expert for The Today Show, as well as other network shows. I was the money contributor for the Hallmark Channel's Home & Family Show for four years. While on the nationally syndicated "Better Show" I was the money-saving contributor for five years. As a contributing on-camera reporter and producer for USA Today and their video network, I covered The Gold Star Wives being denied benefits as a consequence of what is often referred to as The Widow’s Tax. For this two-part series, I was honored at United States House of Representatives in Washington D.C. with the 2014 Award of Excellence. Through the years I have worked with one goal in mind- empowering viewers to take control of their finances by getting back to basics. I help people, help themselves, so they can help others.

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