Shoe box time!

"I had never received a gift before, but inside my shoebox I found a yo-yo, a toy car, and some pencils—pencils made in the United States! I felt so proud that someone in America loved me. I don’t have the yo-yo anymore. I don’t have the toy cars or the pencils either, but I have one thing that has not changed: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” The shoebox gave me all that I need and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ." Kojo's story of receiving a shoe box when he was a boy in Ghana

It's my favorite time of the year... time to pack Operational Christmas Child shoe boxes! If you haven't participated in this ministry before, you're missing out on a wonderful privilege to bless impoverished children around the world with a shoe box full of presents (plus the amazing gift of the Gospel). National Collection Week is November 14-21, so there's still time to pack a shoe box (or more)! Find out how at Samaritan's Purse.

My Fru-Gal Trips: Little girl shoes and Easter clearance at Walmart!

Somebody got new kicks! :)

 

This little, active girl is rough on her shoes. Thankfully, with some Christmas and Easter gift money from family that I've been saving for when there was something we needed, I was able to get her a pair of new shoes and church sandals. Our family of five has a fru-gal resolution to keep a zero dollar clothing budget for 2015 and so far have been able to meet our goal!

90% off Easter clearance at Walmart!

I also excitedly stumbled upon 90% clearance on Easter items at Walmart! Granted, the selection had been picked through pretty well, but I did find the above items for a grand total of 86 cents! The girl's Easter basket was 50 cents (it includes various candy, stickers, bracelet, and a purse), and the bunny and chick sippy cups/purses were 9 cents each. Perfect items for Operation Christmas Child!

My Fru-Gal Trips: 33 cent hats/gloves for Operation Christmas Child!

Hats/gloves for 33 cents and a doll for 69 cents (for OCC shoe boxes)!

Gluten-free cookies for 33 cents a box!

2 lb. bags of organic white rice flour for $2.29 each!

There is a Christian-owned discount grocery store in our area called, Esh's, that has a ton of gluten-free items for super cheap! I haven't been there in at least a couple months, as it is a little out of my way and, lately, I'm usually too tired/achy to make an extra stop after doing my normal grocery shopping (nine months pregnant and ready for baby to come)!

However, I decided to make a special trip to Esh's this afternoon to see if I could stock up on gluten-free snacky items, for when the baby is born and we are in survival mode with grab-and-go eating. Not only did I walk out of the store with bags and bags of great gluten-free grocery deals, I also found hats and gloves for only 33 cents each! They had a doll for 69 cents, too. I'm so excited as these are perfect for Operation Christmas Child boxes!

$5 Huggies diapers after Dollar General coupon and Snap app cash back!

I also stopped by the Dollar General on my way home and picked up a pack of Huggies Diapers. I used their new digital coupon for $2 off any purchase of $2.01 or more, and when I got home, I tried out the new Groupon Snap app to get an extra $3 cash back, paying $5 total after discounts for the pack of Huggies diapers. Not too shabby, and the Snap app worked really easily!

Dollar General: $2 off $2.01 purchase... I got 3 nail polishes for $1.06

Dollar General now offers digital coupons! Sign up and load a current sweet

offer, $2 off $2.01 or more purchase (available through 10/3). I tried it out and it worked perfectly... just type your phone number onto the keypass at checkout and the loaded coupons come off automatically.

I personally purchased three bright nail polishes for a part of a girly gift bag for Anna's fifth birthday (she loves painting her nails, but mommy's colors aren't always so exciting). Each nail polish was a dollar, but after the coupon and tax, I only paid $1.06 total for all 3! That's about 36 cents a bottle.

You could use this coupon to get a great deal on a grocery item, a cheap addition to an Operation Christmas Child shoe box, a stocking stuffer for your kids, or many other options since the Dollar General carries a variety of items. Let me know if you get the chance to use the coupon before Friday!

Stocking up on Target Dollar Spot

15 Preschool/Kindergarten/First Grade Workbooks for 50 cents each

There are several Targets across the country who have been marking their Dollar Spots down by 70%! This is an excellent opportunity to stock up on gifts for Operation Christmas Child!

I stopped in my local Target yesterday and it was still at 50% off for now, but knowing Target, it could go down in the next day or two to the 70%. I'd recommend calling your local Target before heading in to check what the clearance markdown currently is. I still was thrilled to find these preschool/kindergarten/first grade workbooks for only 50 cents each.

Anna LOVES these; it is all I can do to have her put them away.

I had been looking for something like this for my kindergartner this winter, while we take a couple months off of our normal kindergarten curriculum with a newborn in the house. These will be easy to have her complete a few pages here and there and not be completely off from school. I also got extra copies for my toddler, for when he is old enough to work on them. 

Such a fun, inexpensive supplement to our My Father's World kindergarten curriculum. They also had various flash cards for any interested homeschoolers out there.

And when I got home, Anna couldn't wait to start one. We did about 15 pages of the math concepts book and I had to convince her to put it away until tomorrow. Hopefully, these last until the new baby arrives in a couple months.

Some of the toys for OCC and Project Night Night.

I also found some books and toys for our Operation Christmas Child boxes, Project Night Night (a ministry that provides books, blankets, and stuffed animals to children in homeless shelters), and some stocking stuffers for the kids this Christmas.

Operation Christmas Child: Time to stock up on school supplies for pennies!

I really can't believe that it is already time for back-to-school deals, but apparently we are in the season! This is one of the best times of the year to stock up on items for your Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, for mere pennies out of pocket! Check out the weekly fliers for office stores, such as Office Max, Staples, and Office Depot each week to see what items they have marked down.

I have a local Office Max right next to one of the grocery stores I frequent,  so this works out perfect for me to stop in and pick up their sale items each week. Yesterday, I was able to find 24 count crayons for a quarter each and a four pack of glue sticks for a quarter also. I paid $1.06 after tax for the above items! The glue sticks are needed for our kindergarten home school, while the crayons will make wonderful additions to some shoe boxes come Fall.

My Fru-Gal Trips: Toys for Operation Christmas Child - 30 cents each at Target!

My family and I just so happened to enter Target this past Sunday evening to find that their Dollar Spot had 70% off on certain black star items (mostly Valentine's Day items). This was quite exciting to me! Yet, not so much to my hubby who stood there with the two kids in the cart while I rummaged through the bins. I told him I'd catch up with him and they were off to explore the kitchen gadgets.

After a five minute search, I ended up with four toys for Operation Christmas Child: construction tools,  a veterinarian kit, a Dora book, and a bracelet craft! Each item cost me 30 cents after the 70% off reduction. I have a special spot in my basement where I store OCC items all year long as I come across them and then in November, it's packing time! Yay!

Do you pack Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes? It's one of my favorite ministries and a fun way to give to children all across the globe. Find out more here.

It's Shoe Box Time!

It's that time of year again... SHOE BOX TIME! I just love Operation Christmas Child and the Gospel work that Samaritan's Purse is doing through this special Christmas ministry. They have given over the past two decades 100 million shoe boxes to children around the world, each possessing the Gospel message in the child's native language along with tangible gifts to show them God's love, given through people like you and me. And to God be the glory.

National collection week for your shoe boxes is November 18-25, 2013. Find out more information on how to pack a shoe box and track your box at Samaritan Purse's Website.

Today's Fru-Gal Trip: 79 cents School Supplies Round-up at Target, Two Bird's Eye Recipe Ready Frozen Veggies for 17 cents, and Cheerios for 50 cents a box!

I went grocery shopping today and here's what I picked up for this week's school supplies round-up for Operation Christmas Child, as well as some other really sweet grocery deals!

3 Up & Up 24 ct. Crayons @ 25 cents each

Used Buy 2 Get 1 Free Target Q

= 50 cents for all 3 (16 cents each)

6 pack of Up & Up glue sticks @ $1.79

Used $1.50 off Up & Up School Supply Q (this coupon was just released and I printed mine this morning, but it looks like Target took it down already)

= 29 cents (5 cents per glue stick)

2 Mead Five Star Folders @ 98 cents each

Combined $1/2 Target Q & $1/2 Manufacturer Q

= Free

Total: 79 cents for the above pictured items

 

I also picked up these two packages of Bird's Eye Recipe Ready frozen vegetables for 17 cents total after coupon at Walmart. The celery package was $1.17 and the peppers/onions package was a $1. I used two $1 off coupons.

And the most exciting deal for me was scoring four big, family size boxes of Cheerios for only $2 total, or 50 cents per box. They were $1.99 on sale at King Soopers when you bought five participating items (I also bought Hillshire Farm brats at $1.97). I just downloaded a Kroger coupon onto my card this morning for $6 off 4 boxes of General Mills Cereal (looks like they took it down already, too), bringing these down to $2 total.

This week's school supplies round-up!

I stopped by Target and Office Max this week to get some more great deals on school supplies!

The Up & Up crayons were buy 2 get 1 free after coupon at Target. They cost 25 cents each, so I paid 50 cents for all 3 packs (16 cents each). The Reach floss was free after coupon and will be a good addition to an Operation Christmas Child box.

At Office Max, I picked up the packs of pens and pencils for 10 cents each (although my store didn't have them marked as such, but the cashier was nice enough to mark them down, so double check your ad). I also got the protractor for 5 cents.

Altogether, I spent $1.15 on the above pictured items. So far, over the past few weeks, I've spent $5.78 out of my $10 budget to see how many school supplies I can round-up for Operation Christmas Child. This includes 100 pens (10 packs), 30 pencils, 72 crayons, 8 highlighters, 3 pencil sharpeners, 5 spiral notebooks, 2 packs of paper, and 1 protractor.

This week's school supplies round-up!

If you saw my post last week on Giving Generously by Shopping Back-to-School Sales, you know that my current personal goal is to see how many school supplies I can round-up for Operational Christmas Child and for some preschool supplies for my daughter for $10 out of pocket.

My maximum price point per item is 25 cents. I kept it simple this week, only stopping at Walmart during a regular grocery shopping trip to pick up 4 packs of multi-color "Cristal" Bic pens for 22 cents each after coupon. They were priced at 97 cents and I used two of the $1.50 off 2 Bic items coupon (print yours quickly as there should be a lot of good deals or freebies to be had) to get these for 22 cents each!

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Giving Generously by Shopping Back-to-School Sales!

It's that time of year again... Back-to-School sales have already begun! While this may make you antsy about the end of summer, it is also a great time of year to stock-up on supplies and also give supplies away since they are being sold for pennies.

One of my personal favorite ministries is Operation Christmas Child and school supplies work perfectly as shoe box filler items in these shoe boxes! My goal this year is to see how many school supplies I can get for $10 out of pocket expense, to use in two shoe boxes plus supplies for my daughter's preschool home school (they'll be stocking stuffers in her Christmas stocking). My maximum per item is 25 cents, so I should technically be able to buy at least 40 items for 10 dollars!

Today, I took the kids around to several stores and spent $3.75 on the above items, plus the Purell Hand Sanitizers were 10 cents each at Office Max (I can be a bit of a germaphobic), which I'm not counting toward my school supply total, but is a great deal anyways!

Here's what I got today...

Office Depot
3 Pencil Sharpeners @ 25 cents each
2 packs of College Ruled paper @ 25 cents each
Spent: $1.25

Office Max:
5 Wide Ruled Spiral notebooks @ 15 cents each
3 pack of pens (10 pens in each) @ 25 cents each
Spent: $1.50

Walgreens:
8 mini highlighters @ 8/$1
Spent: $1

Not bad for the first week of sales! For more info on back-to-school deals, check out MoneySavingMom.com daily or each store's weekly flier online. Great deals can be found at CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Target, and Walmart to name some of the main ones.

And on a side note, I also got a free birthday drink from Starbucks since tomorrow is my birthday! Any size, any drink... believe me, I got a VENTI. Register a Starbucks giftcard to get a free drink loaded onto it for your birthday, too. 

Giving Opportunities this Christmas: Honor a Loved One with an OCC Shoe Box!

There are many opportunities to give this Christmas season to people in need around the world. I wanted to highlight a few ministries and opportunities that I support and find to be very reputable organizations. Samaritan's Purse is a favorite ministry of mine, especially their Operation Christmas Child program that delivers millions of shoe boxes to children in need each year, each box being filled with toys, toiletries, clothing, and, most importantly, the Gospel message.

If you weren't able to pack an OCC shoe box for last month's collection week deadline or you just want to give another box to a child in need, you can still pack a shoe box online! Choose which items you would like to include in your box and even add a personal letter and photo. You can also donate the amount needed ($35 per box), and give the box in honor of a loved one on your Christmas list, allowing them to participate in packing the shoe box themselves online.

Looking for more giving opportunities? Check out my post on Gospel for Asia's Christmas Gift Catalog!

God Provides: 10 Adopted Shoe Boxes!

Today is the final day to drop off your 2011 OCC shoe boxes! 

God has provided for all 10 of our shoe boxes to be adopted! Thank you to those who adopted one of our boxes; it has been a great help to us financially, but also an exciting way to have the fruit of my couponing labor integrated with the love and support of family and friends.

Where might your shoe box go?

Where might your Operation Christmas Child shoe box go? :)

I hope mine travels by elephant!

Don't forget to use the EZ Give option online, so you can track your shoe box. 3 more days left for National Collection Week!

Hooray for Finished Shoe Boxes!

I have come to the end of my 2011 Operation Christmas Child shoe box season, reaching my goal of $10 shoe boxes for about $10 out of pocket. They are wrapped, packed, labeled, rubber-banded, and ready to go! :) 

May 2012 be even more fruitful for all of us who coupon for OCC!

Happy OCC National Collection Week!

It's here! Today begins National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child! If you're not sure where to take your shoe box, you can find a local drop off location here.

If you did not have time to pack a shoe box this year, but would like to adopt a box for $7, please contact me at kelly@fru-gal.org.

Why send a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child this year?

Collection Week begins November 14th!

25 More Free 4x6 Prints @ Walgreens!

Walgreens has been very generous lately with their free 4x6 prints! Through tomorrow, 11/5, get (25) free prints when you use code FREE4x6 at online checkout and choose in store pick-up!

Here's an idea from what I did last week with the free 40 prints: choose a fall border to put around a favorite picture and use these as free Thanksgiving cards! Or, use a Christmas border for your Christmas cards!

And don't forget to get a family picture to include in your OCC shoe boxes!

How to Give Generously Through Couponing (Featured on Money Saving Mom)!

Crystal at Money Saving Mom featured a guest post of mine yesterday on her blog and I thought you might like to check it out, especially as the holiday season approaches: How to Give Generously Through Couponing.