Give A Little Bit...

The great thing about couponing is taking things home for very little money or even free...some people will go to the extreme and take home things they don't need or want just because they are free...couponing can make you extremely glutinous or it can open many doors.  Not just for yourself, but for others as well.  I like to use my "powers" for good for both my family and others.  Sometimes we can lose site of the world beyond our front door, and I am no exception.

One thing couponing has done is to make me more conscientious of what others may need.  So many times, I come across things that are such a good buy...but I cannot use them, and I just hate for a good deal to go to waste when someone can benefit from it.  So what to do with those items?  Give them to those in need...a friend, a neighbor, your local food pantry or homeless shelter...or an area that is facing devastation.

That is what the boys and I have been focusing our couponing powers on recently.  We have been pulling together a good size care package for those affected by the extremely damaging storms to the south.  Here is what the box looks like right now:

We still have some room in there, so we are going to try and pick up some of the free body wash that is floating around at Wags.  My BFF and the boys' Aunt, Tracy, is helping us with our donation by gifting us some shipping and breathing masks.  We are going to have the boys help us finish securing the boxes up and get them addressed and labeled to be shipped.  It is not only a great feeling to know that you are helping to help others, but to teach your children to do the same.

Here are some more freebies I picked up for the box today.  Our first stop was my local Wags:

I was talking with one of the ladies at Wags, whom I have friended, about my coupon exploits and was telling her about my blog (go figure) and that the boys and I were putting together a care package for the victims of these devastating storms.  She (and Wags) were kind enough to donate over two dozen trial size shampoo and conditioner to send down to Alabama.  Not only do coupons make it possible to help others, they also open the door for other avenues as well.  I have met some of the nicest people as I have gotten deeper into my addiction....I mean, couponing.  My favorite stop is always my local Jewel.  I just love my Jewel ladies...I always look forward to seeing them and chatting it up....but I digress....

Anywho...back to the coupons. I did have to buy the Carefree pantyliners for a whopping $0.65.  They were on sale for $0.99/package and Sunday's insert had a q for a free package up to $1.00...so all I had to do was pay the tax, the q's took care of the rest (a savings of $7.92).

Next stop was Target...I mostly picked up stuff for us, but I snagged two little things for my donation box and some nice overage to pay for it all.  Here is what I took home for a whole $1.23 (just the cost of tax):

• 3 Nivea Body Wash $7.29.  Used 3 $3/1 = $1.71 MONEYMAKER
• 5 Degree Men's Deodorant $11.70.  Used 5 Target q's for $1/1 and 5 Manufacturer q's $1/1 = $1.70
• 2 Revlon Nail Clippers $3.18.  Used a Manufacturer Cat q that I got from previous Revlon purchases for $5/2.  Got  a maximum of $3.17 off as that was all I owed besides tax (you cannot use overage from a coupon towards tax).

I saved a total of $24.05 in q's and I got $0.05 off for using a reusable bag.  Plus, the Catalina machine spit out three more Revlon q's...$5/2, $2/1 and $1/1.  I can pick up more items to donate and a little more overage to put towards some other items too.

A great day for couponing all around.  Before we send off our care package, I will make sure to capture some pics of the boys putting it all together.