Make a difference MONDAY

Welcome to the first Make a difference MONDAY post. Yes. I realize it is WEDNESDAY :)

I'm a little bit late getting this issue out ;). Only 2 days though!

God has recently laid a very important issue on my heart and this will be the main issue I discuss on Make a difference Monday but This isn't limited to that.

The issue on my heart is hunger. If you have never had to choose between being hungry or paying bills I am so thankful for you! It is not a good feeling and it is a really awful position to be in. In 2002 I was so poor I couldn't afford my electricity in November and it got shut off. That was a very cold night. Mom helped me pay to turn my electricity back on but from then until probably September 2003 I usually had to choose if I was going to eat more than ramen (if at all) or pay my bills.

I have lived without running water for a month because I chose to spend $5 to buy ramen to eat and then didn't have enough money to pay my water bill. Washing your hair and bathing in the rain may SOUND Like it is all fun and earthy...but it is SO not!

I have washed my clothes in a plastic tub rather than spend the quarters to use a washing machine.

I now see that I never really had to live that way! Of course there are so many more coupon resources in 2009 than there were 7 years ago.

A very important resource for people who are in this horrible position is church. Every church pantry is hurting right now. People have had to tighten their belt and are having a hard time finding extra to shuttle off to the church.

With coupons I have discovered I can live VERY well and have an overwhelming abundance of items to donate to church. (Not all is food. Last week I donated FIVE Blood glucose meters as well as some bandaids and shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant, this week's donation includes feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, school supplies, a pack of underjams, shampoo, soap, candy and a bunch of food.

Part of this weeks donation is a rotation of my stock that I have here at home. I am rotating items out to make room for new stuff I bought or will buy. I try not to donate only boring food. I try to donate both nutritious and "fun" food. Think about how gloriously happy you could make a small child by donating something as simple as a .10 cent pack of koolaid, or a Johnson & Johnson's "Buddies" soap for kids.

If you have been directed to my blog via Gladeville church and are here with the intent of helping stock the pantry, welcome and thank you for your generous heart!

Every Monday I will be making a post like this one "Make a difference Monday" where I will highlight the steals in our area. In each of the weekly ad posts I will highlight the products that are exceptionally cheap and therefore virtually painless to our pocketbook to donate!!

From Publix this week:

**Post Honey Bunches of Oats, Assorted Varieties, 13 to 18-oz box, or Just Bunches!, 17-oz box, (excluding Family Size) BOGO $3.99 *DONATION*
-$2/1 PRINT
-$1/1; $1/2 from 07-26-09 SS
-.75/1 UPOMISE eCoupon
Each box is FREE with the $2/1 IP –use your Upromise key card to deposit $.75 when you buy Pecan Bunches!

Most Printable coupons are able to be printed twice per computer. So if you print two of this coupon you have 1 FREE box to donate and 1 for your house to eat! and you only end up paying about 28 cents in tax!!!!

In the above example, the Purple part is the item description - you can see it has been marked with *Donation* meaning it is a part of MADM.
Red Text will always be coupon amounts. You see there is a 2.00 printable coupon with a link and there are coupons that came out on July 26th in the smart source coupon insert.
Orange text indicates a Upromise coupon is available. Upromise is an exceptional program that allows you to save money for your child's college while grocery shopping.
Green text is usually notes.

If you feel the desire to donate but simply don't have the time, patience or money for this but still want to help - you can donate coupons!!!

If you let me know you want to donate coupons I will be more than happy to clip the coupons and take the items to church to be donated.

I will also make a separate post each week listing each store & what you can get cheap there for donation so it's in one place.

Please bear with me as I work on finding the time to get this information to you.