Today we’re going to hear from Mandy. Mandy’s life has changed drastically over the last few years because of her husband’s illness and she coupons and deal-shops as a way to continue to provide for her family during these hard times. I have to tell you what I told Mandy when she first emailed me – stories like hers make all this time I sit in front of my keyboard totally worth it!! She has the most wonderful outlook and I am so proud that she chooses to focus on the postive.

A little over two years ago my life was good.  In fact, I would say it was fabulous! My husband and I had recently started a family – God blessed us with twins in October 2007, and we were further blessed that I was able to stay home with them for the first year of their lives. I went back to work a few months before they turned 1.
In July 2009 my husband was laid off of his job that he worked at for 11 years. We were devastated! But more devastating news would come in a few weeks, when I encouraged him to go to the doctor because I had noticed a drastic change in him. He began looking unhealthy, losing weight, and had bruises everywhere. We eventually found out he had a genetic disease called Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which had caused his liver to fail. The doctors told us he would need a liver transplant in the near future. He is now on the liver transplant list at MUSC in Charleston, SC.
Because of my husband’s illness and his unemployment, we obviously had to drastically change our spending habits. I will be honest – I wondered a few times where the money would come from to pay the bills and if we would lose our house. God never let us do without, though.
My life is often chaotic with 3 kids and a sick husband but I wouldn’t want it any other way. My family is the reason I do what I do and why I work so hard at saving money. Thank you, thank you, Michelle, for allowing me to do this for my family. My family means the world to me and they are the reason I do what I do everyday! God Bless You!
In July 2009 we also gained another son, though not biologically. God had always placed on our hearts to have another child, I just didn’t know it would be a teenager! Most people probably thought we were crazy taking in another child during such an unsure time of our lives but it has been an amazing experience. We gained official custody in March. We are now a family of 5!
Our friends and family have supported us through it all. We have had three fundraisers to raise money for my husband’s transplant. We have been prayed for and God has been good to us. Our neighbors have done amazingly nice things for us, people at work have been incredible and our friends have all pitched in to help out.
Like so many others, I started couponing about the time my husband lost his job. I have learned so much from this website about couponing and it has helped my family save so much money! We rarely ever spend more than $50 a week on groceries for a family of 5 thanks to this website and stockpiling. There are things I would never buy before because they were too expensive that I now stockpile thanks to good deals.We rarely eat out. I shop for Christmas and great bargains all year so that our family is able to have a good Christmas.
Because of everything that has happened, I have become accustomed to a different lifestyle but to be honest we have never done without anything that we needed, and I have this website to thank for that! I could not afford all of the groceries we get every week without Michelle’s website and coupon matchups.

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Mandy! I am so touched by your story and your kind words, and I am so glad to know that what I do has such a positive impact! I know I speak for all my readers when I say that we will keep your husband in our thoughts and hope that a liver becomes available for him very soon!
My little ‘stockpile’ of Reader Spotlight stories is getting low so I’d like to ask for YOUR submissions! Your post can be about almost anything to do with couponing. You can tell us about a particularly good or bad situation you’ve dealt with as a couponer, about how you got into couponing or how couponing has impacted the rest of your life; you can make a list of things every new couponer should know…just about anything, really! If you think it’s interesting and it has to do with couponing, email me with your idea at contactiheartpublix @ gmail.com!