As you read last week, I have joined All You, Champions for Kids and #Cbias to Coupon for Good.
I started really using coupons and being a strategic shopper about 4 years ago. Before that I was just a random coupon user. Four years ago I was pregnant with my youngest child and knew without a doubt I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I also knew something was going to have to change for that to happen. I started following a local lady that called herself the 918 Coupon Queen. After a while of couponing and continuing to follow the Queen I started to volunteer on her site and teach others about couponing as a Coupon Coach. 918 Coupon Queen has since changed her name to Money Saving Queen and the rest they say, is history. I still volunteer for Sarah and help work her events, I am also still a Coupon Coach through her site. Why am I telling you all of this? Well, so you will know where I am coming from as we continue.
One of Sarah's biggest things is giving back to the community. She is not some crazy extreme couponer. She encourages her readers to give back in any way we can. I NEVER thought using some silly piece of paper (a coupon) could change lives.
I have had my ups and downs as far as money goes and I have actually relied on the help of others to get us through until we get paid again. This is why giving back is SO very important to me. I know what it is like to worry about how you are going to feed your family, how you are going to keep your lights on, if the water department is going to shut you off today or be nice and wait until next week. I have been there, I know!
Because of couponing I have been able to feed my family on very little some weeks. I have also been able to bless friends and neighbors with food when they are going through a difficult time. I may not be able to help them with money but I can sure give them a bag or two of groceries.
A few days ago we took the items we purchased last week over to The Blue House. The ladies there were SO excited to receive the items. I talked to 3 ladies while we were there, one was really excited about the juice boxes, another was super excited about the cereal and the other answered some of my questions as to what they need on a regular basis. Her #1 thing....toilet paper! I would have never thought of toilet paper! She said nobody thinks of toilet paper but always thinks of food items. So next time, I will be adding some TP to the list of things to pick up.
As we were walking in to talk to the volunteers a family with 3 little girls were coming out. One of the little girls had a new pair of shoes in her hands and another had a new dress in hers. The smiles on their faces was priceless.
I loved being part of the #AllYouCFK campaign and look forward to continue to Coupon for Good.
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own.