This is a guest post by Heather over at Clipping For A Cause. When she emailed me about her new blog I thought it might be nice to bring the concept of giving back to the forefront. I know many people are struggling to make ends meet. I have seen numerous news reports about the great need at food banks and shelters! Many of you have emailed me about where to donate so I thought this post might be a great way to share some info. I get emails regularly asking me where to take the Diabetes meters, Bayer Aspirin, and Phazyme that have been plentiful lately. So feel free to share ideas and even contact info of local drop off spot that you might use. I bet there are a lot of you out there who may have a lot to give but are unsure how or where to start!!
Just days ago, I began my own blog called “Clipping for a Cause.” You all can relate to the feeling of being overjoyed at the sight of all your good deals as you quickly dump out the bags of groceries on the countertops once you get home. It seriously makes me want to do a cartwheel in the middle of the kitchen! I don’t know about you, but as a stay-at-home mom, the entire clipping/shopping process has given me a sense of purpose; something to look forward to each week. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my children and family, but if you think about it, couponing and saving as much as we all can at the grocery store is EARNED INCOME for our families. This is my job and duty now.
Having said that, each week that goes by, more and more “money-maker” and “overage” items have piled up on our shelves and in our freezer at home. Weeks ago, I started feeling little taps on my shoulder and began to get the feeling that this wasn’t the only thing that I was supposed to be doing. Why are these items stockpiling on our shelves? Something suddenly came over me: do we really need 20 packages of Yakisoba noodles, 15 bottles of vitamins, 7 bottles of French’s mustard, and 25 bags of Chex mix? Absolutely not…but so many others do.Do not get me wrong…I firmly believe in providing for our own families. As we face each day amongst a spiraling economy, it’s important now more than ever to have food on the table for our families. However, perhaps our acquired couponing skills can not only provide for our own families, but it can help others too.
I truly feel like I have been blessed by people like Michelle who have taken their time to share with others how just a few changes can keep those precious dollars in our bank accounts. Now..my hope is that we can all feel inspired to give back. “Clipping for a Cause” says it all in the name. It has been created so that those extra items we have piling up on the shelves can be donated to food banks in your area or directly to the homeless themselves. Just Google “Food Banks” next time you have an opportunity. Unfortunately, what you will find is that food banks everywhere are bare due to the significant increase in requests for assistance. People who “had it all” so to speak, have become jobless and have had to start asking for handouts. That is by far the last thing they ever thought they would be doing. It’s almost as though what we have learned to do at the grocery store with coupons goes hand in hand with helping those in need.
I would love for you to visit my blog Clipping For A Cause if you have a chance. Together, we can stock the shelves of various food banks and feed the homeless who may not know where their next meal is coming from.
Thank you to Michelle for allowing me to post this article on her website and thanks to all of you who took the time to read it!
Great post! I also agree with “clipping for a cause”. The past few months I’ve been able to feed my family and a couple other friends families that are struggling due to loss of jobs or other reasons without increasing my monthly budget. Thank you to Michelle and everyone else with the matchups that help make this possible. I’m so thankful to have found this site!
With some extras like the diabetes monitors and meds, you could list them on craigslist.org or freecycle.org for someone that needs them.
I love this idea. I am not even a super stockpiler (but I do pretty well) and I have been able to donate items much more frequently than ever before. I love that I can make a difference to not only my family, but others, as well.
I have been WAITING for something like this! I have a HUGE bag of stuff that I’d like to give away, but only to people who really need it. I do know that at least the Alachua Co. Libraries accept food for the foodbanks (I’ve given them a lot of the cereal and baby food that’s been a good deal). I’m going to ask them about taking things like the monitors and vitamins. There is nothing wrong with saving money and helping the world at the same time! 🙂
Wow, KelliH, I’m in Alachua County, too. 🙂
Yes, I would like to help and also I give expired coupons to military families who – a lot of the time – can use them for an additional 6 months beyond the expiration date when I can’t. This has interested my co-workers who bring me their coupons, unclipped. I clip them for them and then donate as appropriate.
Hey, I see you clip coupons for military families. The source I was sending mine to has never responded when I sent them so I have no idea if they are even getting to her or being used. Would love to be able to send them to someone who truly wants/needs them. E-mail me at atlswan@hotmail.com and maybe I can help you with this.
I so agree, I just started couponing majorly in Nov and I have saved so much money its not even funny. I school everyone on my deals etc… I love helping others with my coupons… I am teaching my daughter who is 9 how to use coupons and showing her how to save money!! I use coupons to help out our food bank here in Pensacola as well. There is a pregnancy center that I am taking some things to..
However if you ever have time Michelle please post about contacting companies… Over the last few weeks I have contacted alot of companies telling them how much I love using their products and guess what I have gotten free product coupons yes a coupon for an item for free!!!
and of course for high dollar ones too
hugs for this site for sure
cant wait to see the ad for next week!!!!
oh 25 cents pop tarts at winn dixie lol
LOVE it! Thanks for sharing.
Since we started couponing over a year ago, I have been truly amazed at all the things you can get for free. I also started a new website called Easy to Give that highlights only the free items you can get with a printable coupon. I have pitched this to several local churches to publish in their newsletters as an “easy” way for just about anyone to get free items that we can then donate to our local food bank. There are several out there. When I set up the site, I simply did an internet search for food bank northern georgia and had MANY to choose from. It’s such a simple thing we can do to help others. I love this idea and applaud everyone who does it!
Excellent post and a good reminder to us all!
Great article and glad to hear so many other folks are doing the same with all of our savings! I had a closet built in my garage (under some steps) so that I can stockpile food for donation purposes (usually for co-workers, neighbors, family, church). Typically it has more food than my own pantry!
I love this idea!! I too share tons of my overage with families and organizations that need it! Everyone should consider this idea! Thanks for sharing!!