6-16-2011

It's been awhile since I've made a post but we've kept pretty busy. Here is a list of the items we will take to Church in Mission tomorrow morning. This time, I also kept a mental note (that is pretty accurate) of how much we spent out of pocket - and how much we saved. It's amazing how much stuff we have purchased!

Ronzoni Fettuccine - 20 boxes (FREE)
Ronzoni Penne Rigate - 10 boxes (FREE)
Ronzoni Rotini - 9 boxes (FREE)
Suddenly Pasta Salad - 4 boxes (Paid $1.00 per box)
Mini "Heinz" Ketchup - 10 bottles (FREE)
Ragu Spaghetti sauce - 2 bottles (Paid $2.36 total)
3 types of salad dressing - (Paid $0.67 total)
Hungry Jack Hashbrowns - 4 boxes (Paid $1.98 total)
Hungry Jack AuGratin Potatoes - 6 boxes (Paid $3.72 total)
Hungry Jack Scalloped Potatoes - 6 boxes (Paid $3.72 total)
Right Guard Body Wash - 6 bottles (FREE)
Dial Body Wash - 4 bottles (Paid $4.80)
Dry Idea Deodorant - 25 tubes (FREE)
Right Guard Deodorant - 47 tubes (FREE)
Carefree Panty Liners - 106 packages (FREE)

Total Spent - $20.58
Total Savings - 97%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And here is a picture of Emma with all of our goodies!

Today was our first "group" coupon day. We had a few girls come by and help cut and sort the hundreds of inserts we still had to organize. We worked for about 4 hours (of course, stopping to eat and get snacks for Jack) and got almost all of the coupons we thought we could use for donations.

While we were socializing, we decided that it was probably a good idea to keep track of all of the items, including value, of everything that we donate to Churches in Mission. It would be interesting to know, in a year's time, how much we can contribute to help our community! I took a picture of all of the items I had ready as of a certain date, but I know our first donation had way more items thatn what was in that picture. We've decided to say it was approximately $500 worth of items - but I'd say it was more than that.

We went to Kroger after our "coupon session" at Suni's and I purchased 10 Carefree panty liners, 4 Butterfinger candy bars, 4 Right Guard deodorants, 2 boxes of baby cereal, 3 boxes of breakfast bars and a Cottonelle wet wipe (had a coupon for FREE) and spent $8.41 - a savings of 80%!!

God Bless

Getting pretty good at this...

Friday, Suni and I made our first donation trip to the Churches in Mission in Mooresville. Alice, the director, is very excited about what we plan to do. We had a shopping cart full of donations - including pasta, deodarant, body wash, razors, panty liners, toothpaste and toothbrushes, candy bars, rice cakes, etc.  I am very excited about the amount that two people can do - and anxious to see what a group of people can do.

Here is our idea:
We currently have a "coupon dealer". We are able to get a large number of inserts each week. In fact, we have been extremely blessed by the number of inserts we've received. I have been able to purchase, so far, over 200 packages of panty liners...for free. (with just as many, if not more coupons to use before 6-12)I am so thankful for the person who has been able to donate them to our cause. These inserts are not guaranteed so we wanted to have a back up plan. If you - or someone you know - receives coupons and do not use them, please donate them to us! They do not have to be cut or organized - we'll take care of that!

We have quite a few ideas and have started to spend some time organizing and planning ways to make better use of our time. As soon as we have more information about getting together, I'll make another post. If you are interested in helping, please let me know. We will need people to volunteer to help cut and organize coupons (probably once a week) and also people to help go to the store and shop.

God Bless :)

Do for One...

Do for one what you wish you could do for EVERYONE.

This is a quote from a sermon by Andy Stanley that I caught on ITunes a few months ago. I wrote it on a post-it note and left it on my desk. I've asked myself many times over the last few years, "What is my purpose in life?".

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a devoted Christian to an amazing husband and two wonderful kids. But I also knew that at the end of the day, God had not intended for me to JUST exist in this big world - especially when you take into account that I am an American who has way more opportunities and luxuries than most people in the world. This got me thinking...

I saw one episode of one of the newest reality TV Shows highlighting people who use coupons in order to get hundreds, if not thousands, of dollards worth of food, cleaning products and personal care items for very cheap - or FREE. This got me thinking, too....

I started clipping the coupons from the mail I received on Thursday, along with the coupons from the Sunday Indianapolis Star. I went shopping and saved a few dollars, got a few things pretty cheap. I started to learn a little bit more about how to shop, how to save and when to buy certain items. I started buying things that were cheap, even if it wasn't something that my family could use - with the intent of donating it to the Mooresville Church in Mission. It snowballed from here!

Here's the idea. If I can donate items each week to the Church in Mission - and make it a priority to get items to them - I can help do my part. I can do for one, what I wish that I could do for EVERYONE.

Here is a picture of the things I have gotten together so far to donate. I've been doing this for about 4-6 weeks. I hope that I can continue to make this much of a difference on a weekly basis - and I hope that YOU can help, too! Please feel free to leave a comment and ask about ways that you can help.

Items to donate as of 5-15-11
105 panty liners
18 boxes of pasta
30 tubes of men's deodorant
13 bottles of body wash
7 packages of pads
6 tooth brushes
5 tubes of toothpaste
6 men's razors
4 packages of women's razors
2 shave gels
3 boxes of band-aids