Today we’re going to hear from Susan , who has a great and very unique story to tell about how couponing has impacted her life. Take it away, Susan!

I have been couponing for about a year and it has made a tremendous difference in our family budget. Since I have started couponing and stockpiling our family has been able to save about $400 a month off our grocery bill. My couponing also gave me an opportunity to experience a special memory that I will always cherish. This past spring when Publix put their Kellogg’s cereal 50% off plus coupons, I purchased 12 boxes of cereal for $18.00. I had no idea that purchase of cereal would give me the experience of a lifetime.
For the last 7 years, my husband and I have made the 14 hour drive from Alabama to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We don’t have family there – we go because we love the area, the food is unbelieveable, and the scenery is like no other I have ever seen.

I have always had a fondness for the Amish and have read everything I can on the internet or in print about them. I have Amish pictures in my house, an Amish quilt on my bed, even my screen saver is Amish scenery.  I am so amazed at how they live their lives. Talk about saving money – no car payment, gas, insurance, car repairs, electricity, cable, computers, internet, cell phones,etc.

Anyone who knows anything about the Amish knows they really keep to themselves. They are not unfriendly, but they do stay close to home and family. On one of our trips to the Lancaster area we met a very nice Amish family. The husband does woodworking and we purchased a piece of furniture from him. We met his wife and 6 children and exchanged addresses so that Rebecca and I could write to each other. I was so excited to have an Amish friend! They told us on our next trip to Pennsylvania to come by and see them again.
On the next trip, I took the cereal and a lot of other items from my stockpile to this family. We arrived at their home and the kids met us as we drove up the lane and helped us carry the boxes in their house.  They were so excited and could not wait to open the boxes to see what we had brought. I was could not believe I was inside an Amish house! Now, this is not a poor family, but one with 6 children so they are trying to make ends meet. The family was very thankful and happy to see what all we had brought them (even Beggin Strips for the dog). Rebecca and Ike tried to pay us for the groceries but we wouldn’t let them, so they insisted that we eat every meal with them during our stay. It is a memory that is forever in my heart. To be able to go into their home and watch Rebecca cook without electricity, to see their children do homework by a lantern, and hold their newborn baby was a dream come true for me. The meals were delicious and the hospitality was so real and moving. I also left there with some great recipes too!
One of my favorites is Rebecca’s Whoopie Pie recipe – she sent us home with a big bag of them for the road. Rebecca doesn’t have a freezer at home; instead she rents a locker in the community freezer down the road. This last trip we took our bag of Whoopie Pies and froze them and then ate them frozen on the trip home..yummy! They’re so good I just have to share the recipe:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup sour milk
Mix all the above ingredients together.
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water
Dissolve the soda in the boiling water, then add:
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup cocoa
4 1/2 cup all purpose flour
After mixing all the above ingredients together, drop the dough on a cookie sheet using a cookie scoop (looks like an ice cream scoop, but smaller). Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 min. Rebecca just uses Betty Crocker white icing for the filling. These freeze really well for 6 months, if you can make them last that long!
Those boxes of cereal I bought at Publix brought me the experience of being with people who have a life built on faith and family with a strong sense of who they are and what they believe. A family who knows difficulty and faces challenges, but are the happiest people I have ever met. They experience a oneness with their community, church, and family that I can only imagine…AND they do it all without air conditioning!

Thank you so much for sharing, Susan! Your story is fascinating and really heartwarming. Isn’t it amazing how couponing can bring people together in such unusual ways?
 
In order to keep this new feature going, you all are going to have to volunteer to tell us all about something YOU do when you are couponing!! 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!