Extreme Couponing for Donations

On Sunday, June 5th, Family Harvest Church sponsored a Widow's Luncheon.  It was a lovely time.  The gym was decorated to look like an indoor garden, and the luncheon was lovely.  Carrot soup was served in adorable ceramic plant pots, and Linda Thompson's superb chicken salad was the lovely and light main course. The meal was concluded with strawberry ice cream and sugar cookies decorated like pastel spring flowers.

The Proverbial Shopper was allowed to share it's bounty of drug store products with the ladies at the conclusion of the meeting.  We were able to give away over $1000.00 worth of product!  Thanks to those of you who donated items or coupons!

Many of the dental products will be going to Guatemala for an upcoming missions trip, and many of the ladies were excited about sharing their coupons with us so that we can do even more.

If you are interested in sharing your coupons and you attend Family Harvest Church, you can drop off your coupon donations to the information booth.  If you're interested in helping with the shopping, please contact Kim Sullivan by commenting here or e-mailing @ morefreshstarts@aol.com.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Family Harvest Church and Linda Thompson for allowing us to contribute to True Religion, the widow's ministry at FHC.  Also I'd like to thank Colin at Hip2Save.com for all of her hard work making those shopping lists for all of us who follow her!

April Giving - Causing the Widow's Heart To Sing For Joy

Because of your generous coupon donations, we were able to donate over $270.00 worth of product to the widows and single moms pantry in the month of April!  Thank you so much for your giving.  A special shout out to Betty..thanks for all the paper goods!

Job 29:13 says, The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

True Religion will be hosting a widow's luncheon at Family Harvest Church on June 5, and we will be distributing the goods then.  There is still time to donate either coupons or items...(no food items please).  If you have any questions, contact Kim @ (708)639-5504.

Weekly Update!

This past week, I was able to purchase $71.70 worth of product for about $10 with the help your those coupon donations!  A large portion of this week's donations went to giving six Easter baskets and two board games to some needy children.  In addition, we were able to purchase 5 Similac formula for $.50 each! Thanks for your help!!

Thanks Coupon Donors!

Yipee!  Thanks to all of you who brought your coupons in.  We were able to purchase $91.10 worth of free items to fill our pantry!  If you're interested in helping me shop, leave a comment.  Or if you are from out of town, you can check out my facebook page to see the awesome deals we will be able to do this next week.  You can donate your goods to your favorite local pantry.  This is a particularly BIG week.  Yay!

God Gives Seed To The Sower

So, my church, Family Harvest Church had us read a book, 40 Days To Greater Generosity, during lent.  I really thought I'd heard everything there is to hear about giving and began out of pure obedience.  Hey, I'm just being honest here!  Boy was I wrong!  First of all, I never felt as though I was much of a giver because I am constantly looking at what don't have to give rather than what I do have.  I was delighted to find that I give much more than I thought I did, and yet made me hungry to give more.  To say the least, the book got me thinking.  In fact, God had already been dealing with me about many things in the book, because as you know I changed the focus on this blog toward finding ways to give to the widow and single mom.
Not only does the daily devotional remind the reader of scriptural principles in giving, but it combines this with practical ways to look outside the box for ways to be more generous....And not just with money.
Anyway, I thought I'd let you know that thanks to Linda Thompson and generous people at FHC giving their coupons, (and a few of you donated items as well) I was able to donate over $58.00 worth of product to the pantry this week alone!  The more coupons we bring in, the more we can do! This cost me absolutely nothing but time and effort!  At this rate, (and providing we receive more coupons, we could easily increase) together we could give over $2500 in a year!  Not bad for just bringing in the coupon section that you may already just throw away!
I said all of this to say, that I was looking for ways to be generous without having to spend a dime, because that's just where we're at financially.  But God truly does provide seed for the sower.  Ask God, He will give you creative ideas to give from what you do have.  Stop fretting over what you don't have.  God does give seed to the sower!
If you're interested in helping me, just bring your coupons or non perishable items to Family Harvest Church this Sunday.  (It's best if the coupons are still together in their jackets, it's very difficult to use loose already cut coupons because of our current filing system.)

**Plus a special shout out to Colin at Hip2Save.com for doing all the leg work with all those great deals!

Pure Religion

So...it's been since Christmas since I've talked to all of you.  I hope all is well with you and yours.

I'm writing to let you know that I've started a new charitable endeavor in my church.  It's seems that many of us "couponers"  end up with items we have no need of.  Maybe we got it for free, or even made money on it!  But alas, I have no need of 3 packages of incontinence products...at least not yet ;).   Donate your excess products.  It's a way to give in a tough economy, when you may not have as much cash to contribute as you have in the past.  If you come to Family Harvest Church in Tinley Park, you can bring your items to church and we will give them to the single moms and widows! 

If you don't coupon, there's still a way you can help.  You can bring your coupons from the Sunday papers to church.  This way we can purchase things in bulk.  If you're interested in helping me with the weekly shopping, please let me know.

It's important to find ways to give no matter what your circumstances.  People are hurting financially more than they have in quite some time, and perhaps a thoughtful bag of goodies is just what they need to brighten their day.  The only thing it will cost you is some time. 

If you have any questions, please comment below.

Why Are Coupon Shoppers Treated Better in Higher Income Neighborhoods?

In all of my shopping adventures, I’ve found an unusual anomaly.  It seems that when I coupon shop in my own lower middle class neighborhood, the clerks and managers have very little patience with me.  However, when I travel to say, Frankfort or Tinley Park, I find that the clerks are so coupon friendly that if I miss a deal they suggest one.   I also find there are more couponers in the higher income areas than in my neighborhood. 

This brings me to another strange occurrence.  Why does fruit cost more than chips, or candy.  Why is water more expensive than pop?  Doesn’t it seem like it should cost more to have several ingredients combined than to have a single ingredient bottled?  Why do groceries cost more in lower income areas? Could it be because of the cost of insurance?  Maybe, but wouldn’t the cost of property be lower in a lower income area?

I once asked a particularly nasty Walgreens clerk why it was that she hated me so much, (not in those exact words).  After all, I am a very conscientious shopper.  I have everything organized before I even get to the store so that I don’t annoy employees and customers in line.  She responded, “What’s wrong with you, do you want something for free?”  I answered, “Doesn’t everybody?”  She then went on to tell me how every Sunday a busload of senior citizens descend upon the store and buy up all the sale items and argue over coupons.  Okay, I can see how as a cashier that could be a little daunting, but it doesn’t explain the attitude I had from her on a Wednesday.  Across the board, I find that the drug stores near me have a bad taste in their mouths regarding deal seekers.  Maybe we deserve it, especially when we’re unprepared.

In contrast, I will describe a recent experience in a Frankfort Walgreens.  In this Walgreens, the cashier gave me tips on how to use my coupons (which I already knew, but still…).  She wasn’t stressed out that there was someone in line behind me, and she even smiled at me!!! 

The moral of this story?  The purpose of this entry?  I don’t know.  I just wondered if I’m alone in my observations….