Support Two Causes for One Super Low Price

One of the departments at my office is collecting books to give to an after-school program run by a shelter in Washington, DC. Many of the the children don't speak English at home, so they try to promote literacy during the after school program. They need new and gently used books for children ages 3 to 10.

I love a book drive for "gently used" books because I know just where to get them: the book sale at the public library.

My county's public library system has a nonprofit organization that supports it in a variety of ways...supplementing what they can do with the public funding they receive. I think most/many library systems have similar organizations. In my area, they are called the Friends of the Library.

The Friends of my library have used book sales set up in all of its branches. They sell gently used books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, etc. for super cheap prices. These are items that have either been taken out of circulation or that have been donated to the library but aren't needed for their shelves. They sell children's books for just 50 cents!

With this deal, I can make a donation – to two causes – and stay well within my budget.

It's December and a big time for collections and donations to charities. If you know of a place that needs books, now you know a great place to buy them!

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Give & You Might Receive

During the past week, I've been working on our "married" spending plan. On paper it seems like it will work. (But that's a whole other story.)

One thing that I put into the plan and that Michael approved was for giving to charity (including church). We have no intentions of giving with the expectation that we will personally gain something directly from our gifts. We just believe it's the right thing to do.

However, I recently received something because of a gift I gave...

In June 2006, I went to a Girl Scout Silver Award ceremony at the Pentagon and afterwards got to go with them on a tour. It was my first time to the Pentagon. I love tours, and I've always been curious about that mammoth building. So, this was great!

We got to go to the memorial room and chapel that were built where a conference room had been prior to September 11, 2001. For a variety of reasons (including the fact I live 2 miles from the Pentagon and felt my house shake the morning of the terrorist attacks), I've always felt a strong connection to that event despite not personally knowing anyone who was affected. So, while I was touring the Pentagon, I picked a brochure about the Pentagon Memorial Fund and decided I would give a little money to that cause.

Finally, in May 2007, I got around to actually giving a gift to the Fund. It was a mere $100 -- probably a quarter of a drop in the $22 million bucket. However, even if it was just a little, I wanted to give something. I wouldn't have my name printed or engraved anywhere. But I would just always know that I helped (even in a small way) to build that beautiful place.

Then, a few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail from the president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, thanking me again for my donation and offering me a ticket to the dedication. Wow! I felt so special. I like being a part of those kinds of things. And again, this one held a little extra meaning. So, I asked them to send me the ticket.

I took Thursday off from work and went to the dedication with about 16,000 other invited guests. I felt pretty honored to be there. After all, on 9/11/01, I was just the 25-year-old down the road who had the day off from my job as a hotel manager...who was literally shaking at the time of impact, not because I knew what had happened but because I knew whatever it was, was big. But there I was with all of these military people, first-responders (even search & rescue dogs!), victims families, people who had been in the Pentagon that day, the President and Vice President of the United States and members of the Cabinet...watching the dedication of this lovely place that will help with healing and help us to never forget.

I gave, and then as a surprise, I was included.

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Coming Soon: Baskin Robbins' 31 Cent Scoop Night

It looks like Michael and I will be having ice cream date night two times in a row next week!

While it may not be as good as Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day, Baskin Robbins' 31 Cent Scoop Night is a great deal and for a good cause! They are offering small scoops of ice cream for just $0.31, from 5 PM - 10 PM on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. On their website, you can find a participating store near you and sign up to get an email reminder of the event. They are doing this event as a way of honoring America's firefighters. At some locations, you may have an opportunity to make a donation to your local fire charities.

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Giving New Life to Old Shoes

I spent some time today doing some spring cleaning. Actually, with the wedding coming up and moving and combining households, it's a good time to purge! In the next month or so, my sister/roommate and I are planning to have a yard sale as a way of getting rid of unwanted stuff and make some extra cash.

There are certain things that we know won't sell at yard sale. Shoes are among the things that people mostly likely won't buy even if they are marked at a low price and are in decent condition. However, we know just the place to take them: Art for Humanity (AFH)!

AFH is an all-volunteer non-profit based in Arlington, VA that helps the poor of Honduras help themselves. Children can't go to school, and adults can't get jobs without shoes. Shoes also help keep feet warm in the winter and help prevent soil-borne parasites and infections from cuts. So, we take our unwanted shoes to AFH to be shipped to Honduras for distribution to the needy.

My friend Glen who is the founder and president of AFH is down in Honduras now. He just sent me these photos of children from a family he's been helping. He noted, "Although the temperature is cold enough that they are wearing sweaters, you will notice they have no shoes."

If you are working on your spring cleaning too, think about donating your unwanted shoes to AFH. On their website, you can read about what types of shoes they can use and how to get them to AFH (whether you are local or are across the country or world). Hundreds of individuals and groups have gathered shoes from their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family to help the people of Honduras, but there's always a need for more. Here's a tip if you aren't local and want to organize a group donation: ask for shoe donors to give $1.00 per pair to help cover shipping charges and/or to donate shipping supplies. If you end up with extra cash, you could donate that to AFH's efforts too.

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Buy from a Wedding Gift Registry & Save for Charity

When buying a wedding gift, you may be able to help support the wedding couple's favorite charity. WeddingChannel.com is partners with a number of major stores and their gift registries. If you buy a wedding gift at one of these stores after linking to its website through WeddingChannel.com, up to 3% of the purchase price is given to the charity that the couple has designated.

Here's how it works:

The couple registers for gifts at one of the following places (in the store or online):
Macy's
Bloomingdales
JC Penney
Crate & Barrell
Williams-Sonoma
Pottery Barn
REI
Restoration Hardware
Amazon.com
Gump's
Tiffany & Co.
Neiman Marcus
Fortunoff
Barneys New York
Starwood Honeymoon Collection
Sandals Resorts
Charity Registry
Honeymoon Registry
Borsheims
Cloud 9 Living

Then, they go to WeddingChannel.com to select their favorite national charity to link to their registry at one or more of these places. There are about 100 different charities to choose from in the categories of children, youth, & families, community development, education, environment, health, and social justice.

After that is set up, each time someone uses WeddingChannel.com to buy you a gift from one of the registries linked with their site, WeddingChannel.com will make a donation to the couple's selected charity. There is no cost to the couple or to the gift-buyer.

If you know someone who has a gift registry at one of these stores but you don't see the name of a charity listed at the top of their registry online (accessed through WeddingChannel.com), let them know about this feature. Your gift purchased this way will generate a donation to a great charity!

You can read more about this program at WeddingChannel.com.

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Are Rebates Worth It?

I really like rebates! Coupons are great, but rebates are where you save the most money. Rebates can be a little more challenging than coupons. You have to be organized and be able to follow very specific directions or else you won't get the check in the mail. However, with a little thought and a little effort, you can reap great rewards.

Let's see how I did in 2007, and see if rebates really are worth it!

I cashed in on 105 rebates on a whole variety of products, ranging from computer software and cough & cold medicines to dental care products and hair care products to light bulbs and snack food. The grand total that I got back from manufacturers and stores in 2007: $383.24! (Yes, I really did get those checks in the mail...because I followed the directions, bought the correct products in the correct quantities at the right time and met the rebate deadlines.) Wow! To me, nearly $400 is definitely more than worth it.

However, combining sale prices and coupons with rebates is where you save even more. In fact, in 2007, on the 105 products for which I used rebates and was able to also use sale prices and/or store and/or manufacturer coupons, I spent $49.47. The total retail value? $705.84! That's a 93% savings. Awesome!

Many of these products I was able to use for myself or give them to friends or family. There were still more things that I got for free or nearly free that we weren't able or didn't need to use ourselves. So, I gave those things to charity.

What's great about combining coupons and rebates is that you can often make a small profit. For example, last year I bought a tube of Colgate toothpaste at Rite Aid.

Regular price: $2.99
Sale price: $2.49
Coupon: $1.50
Rebate: $2.49
Price paid at store (including tax): $1.11
Total price spent (after rebate check came): -$1.38 (Yes, that's a negative number!)
Savings: 144%

I actually don't like Colgate, so I gave it to charity. Someone who needed it got free toothpaste. I earned $1.38.

If you are wondering about how the cost of stamps factors in to my rebate savings, I actually don't consider it. Most of the rebates I claim can be submitted online, so I don't even pay for postage to request the rebate money.

So, yes, rebates are worth it! Give them a try this year.

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It's Not All About Me

I'm working towards all kinds of savings goals, and as I've mentioned, I'm hoping to still have some fun while I'm doing it. As I celebrate finding good bargains and ways to save, I am reminded each Sunday at church that it's not all about me, as we sing in the doxology: "Praise God, the source of all our gifts!"

Charitable giving (mostly to my church) is a respectable part of my spending plan. Part of the reason I do work on saving when I'm spending is so that I can afford to keep these gifts in my budget and even grow them over the years. As a Christian, I believe that I am a steward of the money and things I have, but they really belong to God. It is hard to always keep in check with stewardship, but making sure I do give to my church and other charities does help.

I once heard in a sermon that giving helps you feel more secure with what you have, regardless of the amount. I believe that's true. Knowing that I'm able to give away money and other gifts, yet still have plenty to live on, does make me feel more comfortable about my financial situation. I think it's why I can work for a nonprofit when many candidates for jobs with us praise our mission but say it's impossible for anyone to live on the wages we offer -- though admittedly, I'd love to have a higher salary!

Like I mentioned, the bulk of my charitable gifts does go to my church. However, I find a little bit of money to give to other good causes too. I also follow the Cut Out Hunger program and give food, personal care items, and over-the-counter medications to organizations that help people in need for very little money out of my own pocket. (Read my post from 11/7/07 about how I've recently been using Cut Out Hunger.) Some of my favorite charities that you might want to consider too are: Really Awesome Times (an organization that runs a camp for kids in the DC area who are affected and infected with AIDS/HIV -- my sister is the camp director), Girl Scouts, and Art for Humanity.

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10 Ways to Spend Less in Stores (for the Holidays)

Stephanie Nelson (aka Coupon Mom) has an article in the December issue of Good Housekeeping. Check it out here and see if you recognize anyone mentioned (hint: in tip #6)! I'm online and in print now! The article is on page 121 of the magazine -- look me up this month when you are in line at the grocery store. ;-)

Like I said in my tip, you can get some really good deals for Christmas by using rebates. Last year, my sister had a flash drive on her wish list. I got one (1 GB) at Office Depot which had a regular price of about $60 for $12 because it was on sale and had $32 in rebates.

Each year, my sister and I get some gifts for the Salvation Army Angel Tree kids in Lynchburg. I got Twister and Connect Four for part of the gifts last year. I saw them for regular price at Toys R Us for $14 and $13, respectively. However, I got them the day after Thanksgiving at Target for $7 each, and I had a $2 rebate from the manufacturer for each game. That made them just $5 each!

As part of our gift to our brother last year, my sister and I got him an Ethernet adapter. The brand he wanted runs about $60-$70 regular price. I found it on Buy.com for $44 (after a $20 rebate), and they were offering free shipping...and there's no sales tax charged for shipping to Virginia!

Actually, Buy.com was a really great discovery. Last January, I got a $45 1-GB disk for my digital camera for free after rebate. They didn't charge shipping or tax. Okay, if you want to get technical, I may have had to actually mail in the rebate versus submitting it online (which some places offer), but then it was only the price of a first-class stamp.

I've added the link to Buy.com's Deal of the Day to my blog (left column). You can find some really great deals (like my free camera disk) that way. You can find other great deals on everything from toys and baby products to sporting equipment and books to appliances and computers to cameras and electronics through Buy.com too. Free shipping is available on many items. Tax is only charged for items being shipped to CA, MA, and TN.

Here's to having an enjoyable, but less expensive, holiday season!

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Triple the Fun!

Great news for those of us who have a Harris Teeter nearby -- it's triple coupon time! The deal is that they'll triple the value of coupons with a face value of up to 99 cents (limit 20 coupons per visit). This offer is running from Thursday, November 8th through Saturday, November 10th.

Harris Teeter had triple coupons in September, and I saved a bunch. I actually made trips to two different nearby HTs to find items in stock. The first time was one of those transactions that made the cashier say "Wow!" to the amount I saved. I bought $43.87 worth of food, OTC meds, and health & beauty products for $12.62 (a 71.2% savings). On the second trip, I spent $1.04 on $8.05 worth of stuff (an 87.1% savings). These purchases included 7 cans of Campbell's tomato soup, 8 cans of Campbell's chicken noodle soup, and 4 cans of Spaghetti-Os for $4.79 (regular $19.61). I'm giving all of those to charity. Saving like this with coupons and donating the items to charity is what Coupon Mom calls the Cut Out Hunger program. It's a great way to help the needy for just a little bit of money -- all right, and give me a deal fix! ;-)

An easy way to maximize with triple coupons is to use the Grocery Coupon Database on Coupon Mom's website. (You have to register to access it, but registration is free. You can also read the easy instructions on how to use the Coupon Mom system at the Grocery Coupon Database page of her website if you aren't already familiar with it.) Unfortunately, you can't sort by value of the coupons. However, I just scroll down the list looking for coupons less than 99 cents. If it's for a product that I could use or donate to charity (or that a friend would use), I clip the coupon. I then make a shopping list of the items for which I have a coupon (which is easier for me than flipping through a whole stack of coupons at the store). While I'm shopping, I'll look to see if it really is a good deal (comparing the triple coupon item with other brands, including generic). If it's a deal and I need it or could give it to someone who would need it, I get it. If not, I pass...yep, don't use the coupon if it's not a deal!

Coupons are great -- so far this year, I've saved $246.60 in coupons at grocery and drug stores. To me (and my budget on a non-profit salary), that's a decent chunk of change.

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