Paying it forward through couponing

We all love to save money.  It can be a lot of fun.  What makes saving money even better is when you can coupon to help others!  I live by the mantra that I have been blessed and so I want to help others who have not been so fortunate.  Of course, we aren’t all professional philanthropists with an unending pile of cash at our disposal, so we need to find a way to do so and keep our own budget in check.

1.  Pick up an item you don’t need.  When you find a good deal on something (especially if it ends up being free), pick it up!  Then, you can donate it to your local shelter or food bank.  After all, you didn’t pay very much for it (if anything at all) so this is an easy one to do.  One such site locally is called Giving the Basics.  They have an event coming up this month so you can buy the items to help others and just donate it to them – they take care of getting it out to local families.

2.  Donate your savings.  If you budget money for your own groceries each week and find that you were able to spend less than you planned, why not donate that to your favorite foodbank?  For example, if you budget $150 for the week and only end up spending $130, send $20 to your favorite charity.  You won’t miss it as you planned on spending it on food anyhow.

3.  Help a family in the store.  If you walk by someone with items in their cart, why not hand over an extra coupon to them? I’ve done this so many times.  One time, I handed someone a coupon to save $0.35 off of her laundry detergent.  She was almost in tears and told me that was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time.  The gesture of helping others save money is usually accepted with open arms.  You just don’t know what you can do for someone by doing such a simple thing.

You do not have to be financially rich to help others – you just need to be rich in spirit and heart.  That’s all it takes.  I find the more I give, the more I am blessed in return (and I don’t mean financially).  We all remember to give around the holidays, but there is need every single day of the year.   Open you heart to give and you just never know what you will receive in return.

Story by Penny Pinchin' Mom