Transforming a Small Amount of Money into a Big Act of Kindness

 

It's Transformation Tuesday today on all your favorite social media sites. Since I can't seem to get yesterday's shopping trip off my mind, I decided to share how I "transformed" a small amount of money into a big act of kindness, and how you can, too.

I have never actually watched the extreme couponing show in TV, but I know what it is. The comments I hear most often about the extreme couponing shows are 1. It is very time consuming, and could be a full time job, 2. Who needs all of that stuff? 120 tubes of toothpaste?,  and 3. I don't eat/use the products that they buy. Well friends, I have a response to those concerns.

1.  You don't have to be an extreme couponer like those on the show, and you don't have to spend a temendous amount of time and effort on it to save on your grocery bill. I watch the grocery store sale papers and regularly check coupons.com. The trick is to match the sale items with the coupons. You quickly learn which coupons are worth the time and effort, which coupons you will definitely use, and which ones you won't. You also learn which coupons are in regular rotation and which grocery items are on sale every other week. I don't buy $1000 of groceries and paper products for $7, but I do save anywhere from $20 to $60 in an average shopping trip with very little time and energy expended. I know a mom who does this and sets aside the money she saves each week. She took her family to Disney World one year with her grocery savings!

2.  No one really needs all that stuff! There's a fine line between saving and hoarding, people. I can imagine food expiring, paper products eventually going bad, who wants to use four-year-old toothpaste? There is, however, a time and a place for "all that stuff." That time is now, and the place is your local food bank. Food banks can use all kinds of non-perishable foods. They often need peanut butter, pasta, cans of soup, canned meats and fruits, and boxed meals.  If you feel inclined to give to a local shelter or food pantry, couponing is a great way to do so. You can easily transform a small amount of money into a big donation!

3.  You don't eat packaged, canned, boxed foods?  Many food pantries are only able to accomodate those types of foods. If you really want to stretch your coupons and dollars a long way, and since your family doesn't eat those foods anyway, donate!

I was in the Dollar Tree a few days ago, when I noticed that they had the items pictured above. I also remembered seeing coupons for all of these items on coupons.com, including $1 off coupons for the Campbell's Go soups. That means they're FREE. You can't beat that price! The Uncle Ben's coupons were for $1 off 4, and the Helper meals were $.75 off 3.  The Hunt's pasta sauces were $.50 off 2. The total after using coupons was 6 boxes of Helper meals, 8 boxes of Uncle Bens rice, 2 cans of pasta sauce, and 2 soup meals for $12.00. Not pictured are the 8 cans of Progresso soup that I purchased for $6.00. It took about 10 minutes to clip those coupons, and about 15 minutes in the Dollar Tree. An extreme couponer could have done even better!

The Halifax County Food Pantry Coalition includes Main Street United Methodist Church, Serving Hope (The Worship Center), Good Samaritan (First Baptist Church, Main Street, South Boston), and White Oak Fork Baptist Church. The coalition is teaming up with the Dan River Baptist Association this coming week for their "Operation Inasmuch Week of Kindness" and will be holding a food pantry drive this Saturday, September 13. They are asking that people drop off food donations at the South Boston Fire Company Support Center that day. In high demand right now are peanut butter, tuna, dried beans, rice, and pasta.

In addition to the local organized food pantries, the Department of Social Services located in the Mary Bethune Buidling in Halifax often supplies food in emergency situations to families awaiting food benefit eligibility.  Look for food pantries in your own community, and feel free to share your information in the comments for others to see. Have any great ideas of your own? Feel free to share those, too! I urge you to transform your coupons and a few dollars into a food donation for families in need in our own community this Saturday. You might find that the real transformation happens not at the register, but in your heart.

Take good care, and enjoy the rest of this "Transformation Tuesday!" xoxo, Erin