Couponing for Charity

Every year my hubby and I go on a little trip to the grocery store and fill up a grocery cart with lots of non-perishable food items. I know, we should do it more than once a year but when the holidays come, it’s like our yearly reminder to get on it!

Anyways, after this past year of learning the couponing ropes, I decided to put some work into couponing for charity. I wanted to be able to give more, yet only being able to afford about the same as we’ve given the past couple years… And what do we do when we can’t afford things we want? We coupon. Woot!

Our local grocery store had some good store coupons making canned goods about $0.48 each. With these, we were able to stock up on tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, corn, peas,and  green beans. For now. We also got a good deal on flour and sugar but of course coupons limited my quantities (this time around) and so this was our trip for the day. We’ve got a couple more trips to go, some more coupons to clip, and then we’ll be taking our visit to drop it off at the food shelf.

I guess my point of this post is to inspire you to give back as well. And even if you feel like you don’t have much to give, there’s still things you can do to get there. Such as couponing! Just because you get it for less, doesn’t mean that it tastes any different!

Now I did a little research about things that food shelves are really needing right now. Here’s a list in case you decide to go shopping 🙂 And in case you don’t have a clue where your nearest food shelf is, don’t worry – I’ve got you covered there too! Find a food shelf near you.

General Food Items:

• Cereal
• Pasta
• Whole grain rice
• Canned fruit (in its own juice)
• Raisins or dried fruit
• Canned vegetables
• Canned soups
• Tomato or spaghetti sauces
• Olive or canola oil
• Dried beans
• Peanut butter
• Powdered milk
• Canned tuna, salmon or chicken
• Bean soups
• Chili beef stew
• Baked beans

Nice Holiday Items:

• Turkeys/Hams (call ahead beforehand to make sure they take these)
• Boxed potatoes
• Green beans
• Cream of mushroom soup
• Pie filling
• Pie crusts
• Cranberries

Non-Food Needs:

• Shampoo
• Kleenex
• Feminine products
• Toothbrushes
• Baby wipes
• Diapers
• Toilet paper

Think about it, it’ll make somebody’s season much brighter.

Hearts,

Ruby