This week we are going to hear from Jaimee who blogs over at The Spend Yourself Challenge. I loved reading her story and I think you all will enjoy it too!  It is always wonderful to see how other happen into the world of couponing and how a simple lifestyle change often morphs into so much more. 

I love challenges, don’t you? There’s something of an adventure about them. A stretch. A dare. I’m a sucker for a good dare. Especially those which invite impossibility. All my friends know it and take full advantage of it. My desire to conquer challenges has gotten me in trouble a few times (applying mascara while driving, for instance, is NEVER a worthy challenge) but many times has encouraged great growth and an open space for God to make possible the impossible.I think we are being offered that kind of challenge now.
Some Background
About a year ago, I almost nonchalantly applied to volunteer at The Haven Homeless Shelter for Families and Women. I’m not even really sure now why I did it. I think I was bored. I figured I could empty trash cans,sweep floors… do something good to help out a couple hours each week. So when I was told I’d be teaching a class on frugal living, I was pretty shocked to say the least! I began speaking to the class once a week, choosing topics like Bread-baking, Homemade Cleaning Supplies, Shopping on a Shoestring… It was going fairly well. I used lessons we had learned in our own struggles with finances, shared resources that had helped us avoid bankruptcy many years ago and tips that made our lives simpler and better. As much as I did not really care for speaking in front of a group of people, I LOVED connecting with them. We had so much in common. I considered them my friends.
You Want Me to What?!?
November 2009, my husband told me of his plans to go back to school for Nursing. In order to have a schedule which would support that, he would have to take a significant pay cut. And so began the number crunching. There was nothing really left to cut. No cable or car payments, no gym memberships or date nights… So we found ourselves looking at the grocery budget.
The USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan (considered the least amount of money a family should spend per week to maintain a nutritious diet) for our family of 6 is about $175. Now we were already spending only $100. I admit it was tough. I shopped solely at Aldi and cooked everything from scratch, made all our bread, ate bean based meals every day and made our own cleaning supplies. With careful planning, I was able to purchase everything I needed for the week in the exact quantity we would use. Friday there was nothing left. Not toilet paper, not flour, not peanut butter, not a single apple. Nothing. So the thought of cutting my grocery budget even further mortified me. We already just barely had what we needed. We began to talk about me getting a job. And along with that came conversations about childcare, wardrobe, and ultimately the cost of not being at home.
An Unlikely Answer
That’s when I heard about couponing. I have a confession to make. Packs of women make me nervous. Perhaps it is a subconscious return to junior high cliques and my non-involvement in them (not by choice, but because I was the shy, brainy, clarinet-playing side-ponytail girl). I’m not sure exactly, but whatever the reasoning maybe, I have an inherent aversion to activities that large groups of women get excited about: Tupperware, Mary Kay, scrapbooking, PTO, Beth Moore Bible studies… to name a few! Couponing had that “women traveling in packs” feel to it. But I was desperate. So when I heard some crazy reports of how well people were doing, I reluctantly agreed to give it a 1 month trial. The first week I bought a newspaper, I saved 50% off my total shelf cost. I spent slightly more than my usual budget the first 2-3 weeks, but after that my totals started dropping. For the first time in 8 years I could go to my cupboards, open the freezer, take note of what things I had on hand, and plan a meal from what I had. Whata freeing thing! I am not ashamed to admit there have been many times I have opened the freezer and cried for joy at the quantity of food located therein. Soon I was developing my own system… getting into a groove. It came easier to me over time, and with some added intensity and strategic planning, I am now saving at a nearly constant rate of 85%. My weekly budget is $75. That’s all household spending. Food and non-food. I could spend less. But I have been issued a challenge.
With a Little Help From Your Friends
Well I just had to share what was taking place in my financial situation with my friends at The Haven. The knowledge I had acquired was changing my life, and you can’t keep that kind of knowledge a secret. The power to provide for one’s family is ofttimes taken for granted, but not by those who have been without a home, without resources, without necessities, without friends. I knew that if anybody needed to hear a bit about the impossible made possible it was them. So we’ve changed up the class a little! Now, instead of talking about making our own laundry detergent, we talk about buying it for pennies. Instead of shopping from an intricate meal plan, we talk about planning from the deals we’ve acquired that now fill our cabinets. Instead of scrimping, we talk about giving. I know from experience what it is to be unable to give. My husband and I are Christians, Jesus-followers. And it is my belief that as people created in God’s image, we are hardwired with the need to GIVE. Poverty robs people of that expression. I love that the people at The Haven have a chance to get some of that back.
The Challenge
I told you I felt we had been offered a challenge.I read a book recently called Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt. There was a line in the book I hope I never forget. It is “What are you going to do with what I have given you? How are you going to use your influence, your leadership, and your resources in the world around you?” So I’m answering that to the best of my ability. What would happen if groups of people from Spartanburg (my city) or your city learned how to coupon, to shop mindfully, to stockpile for their families… and then gave of their excess to people in need? Can I give you an example of what a great impact such a plan could have? A while back there was an excellent deal at Food Lion. Using store coupons alone, which could be used once per day per person, a grand total of $1.20 purchased 1 pound of pasta, 1 dozen eggs, an 8oz block of cheese and a bottle of laundry detergent. I recently discovered that there are more than 200 churches with a Spartanburg, SC address. What if 10 people from each church went one day to Food Lion, spent $1.20 and made that purchase? Here’s what that looks like:
2,000 pounds of pasta
24,000 eggs
1,000 pounds of cheese
2,000 bottles of laundry detergent
What if each of those 10 people told 1 other person in their life, “Hey, run by Food Lion today and pick up this
deal!” Now what if all those items purchased for $1.20, what many of us are accustomed to spending on a cup of coffee or a hamburger, were donated to a local shelter or food pantry? Isaiah 58:10 says “and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
I don’t know about you, but I think the hungry and the needy in our city could use a little “light” and a little “noonday.” The Spend Yourself Challenge is set up as a resource for those who have decided that even if they cannot spend their money, they will “spend themselves” in an effort to eliminate hunger. Alerts for stock up and share prices, like that I mentioned from Food Lion. Some basic instruction in couponing. A directory of shelters and food pantries. And some of those churches I’d like to see involved. Visit the site. Contact me if you’re in the Spartanburg, SC area and want to host a free class, or if you’d like help getting something started in your area.
So I challenge you…
No, I DARE you to spend more of yourself,
inviting God to make possible the impossible in your city.

Thanks so much Jaimee. Remember I am always looking for more of you to jump in the spotlight!! If you would like to share something I’d love for you to email me at contactiheartpublix@gmail.com. You can write about anything that you would like to share…stockpiling, budgeting, coupon highs and lows, your best shop–anything! We all love to read others experiences so c’mon and share yours!