It’s no secret; I’m a crazy couponer. Last year was the first year that I was able to donate to a food drive in a long time though. This year I (single mom of THREE boys) was able to donate EIGHT grocery bags full of food and toiletries. And it wasn’t just eight bags full of the cheap stuff either.
Most of what is listed below was free. ALL of the toiletries were free, the pasta and cereal were $.50 and the canned goods were somewere between $.25 and $.50 each.
How to: Shop sales and use coupons. If you shop sales and use coupons all at the same time you get free and really cheap stuff.
Every Friday I post a “Friday Coupon File” which includes the number of newspaper inserts to expect – so that you can stock up on papers or pass - and a list of printable coupons (just a few).
This year we dontated all of the goods I was able to stock up on to Jonesie’s school drive and THIS is what we donated:
- 22 miscellaneous cans (Campbell’s soup, chicken broth, Progresso soup…)
- 5 boxes of Barilla pasta (3 of them were whole grain)
- 2 boxes of Cheerios cereal
- 2 boxes of Cap N Crunch cereal
- 2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal
- 1 box of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
- 2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing
- 1 box of Swiss Miss hot chocolate
- 1 bottle of French’s mustard
- 2 boxes of Kraft Mac N Cheese
- 6 tubes of toothpaste
- 3 packages of dental floss
- 2 sticks of deoderant
- 5 boxes of Kotex
- 2 packages of Carefree
- 1 bottle of contact solution
- 4 bottles of salad dressing
Do you donate to food drives?
Jill
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
this blows my mind! we do donate, tho we don’t get the food for free!
Wow, I really need to get on board with this whole couponing business. We spend an obscene amount on groceries and toiletries monthly. I would love to get into the habit of doing this but I don’t know where to start. Perhaps you can do a beginners couponing post for us couponing novices…Oh, and by the way, thanks for participating in Monday Mingle. You are welcome back anytime!
I do the same as you…if I can get something free or almost free, even if it’s something my family doesn’t care for (but is still healthy), I’ll grab it and I have a special spot on the downstairs pantry shelf where I keep these items. Then, when a food drive comes along (or if the shelf gets full), we donate.
Makes me feel like I’m helping even though I can’t write a check.
Omg, donating free food! This is amazing advice, you are awesome. I do donate food usually through my church because they serve the homeless twice a week, and sometimes through my daughter’s preschool.