Courtney Cutright covers K-12 education out of our Roanoke newsroom. But she’s also an aspiring coupon queen who recently discovered online coupons (couponmom.com is her favorite).

Rebecca Holland is the calendars editor and an editorial assistant in the Roanoke newsroom. She calls herself a “reformed tomboy” who learned her bargain-hunting skills from her mom.

Learn more about Courtney and Rebecca.

The Shoptimist blog’s first year was written mostly by Hollie Wingate, a full-time working mom who lives in Southwest Roanoke city resident with my her husband and son. She’s taking a leave. Here’s what she wrote back then by way of introducing herself:

I like finding deals so you don’t have to, and just because it’s fun. I’m a life-long marathon shopper, make-up enthusiast and big bag carrier; I have a love/hate relationship with bangs, stilettos and pop music.

As a native of Dickenson County (where the nearest mall was a two-hour drive), the world of online shopping and researching became a quickly learned skill. I give all deal-seeking and shopaholic credit to my mother, the woman who would enthusiastically and untiringly drive six hours in one day simply to shop with nothing necessarily in mind to buy.