I just had to share this beautiful email I received from Mandi with you:
I’ve been reading Money Saving Mom® for about 3 months
now, and it has made a huge difference in our lives. I used to dread buying
laundry detergent, toilet paper and other toiletries, but now I find that those
that used to be the biggest expenses are all close to free. I’m nowhere
as good at it or “the grocery game” as you are, but I’m
getting there!Recently, as I looked at an admittedly large stack of
Johnson’s Buddies soaps and wondered what I was going to do with them, I
realized that they would make a great addition to an Operation Christmas Child
shoe box. We’re living on a very tight budget right now because my husband’s
business is not providing any income due to rising gas prices and the downturn
in the economy, but giving at Christmas is very, very important to me.I’ve found that the shoe boxes can be pretty expensive
to pack, especially by the time you include the processing fee, which has
always kept me from participating in the past, but with all of these amazing
freebies and deals (now is a great time to stock up on crafts and school
supplies too, as you know), I’ve set my goal at putting together 12 shoe
boxes this year. While we might feel like we’re struggling,
we still live in abundance, you know?
Thank you for sharing, Mandi! Your email encouraged me so very much. I praise the Lord if anything you find here is helpful and beneficial. God has blessed me in innumerable ways and I want very much desire to be a conduit of that blessing to others. We all have been given much more than we deserve, let’s pass on that blessing to others and light candles in this dark world!
Note: If any of you are interested in participating in Operation Christmas Child, Mandi has a link here with more details on how to utilize recent deals and freebies to help out needy children.
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{ 31 comments }
I too have only been a reader for the last couple months or so. I TOO appricate all of the wisdom and sharing you do for all of us. I have to say, last week when I went to Walgreens last week and was able to purchase BUNDLES of toiletires and things for my family, that I saved a shade over $49.00 and spent $10.00…..all I could think think of was thanking The Lord for sending me your blog. It has helped me in so many ways that I could not EVEN BEGIN to describe what it has done for me.
Thank you so much for all you do.
Thanks for sharing and I too am feeling the same as this lady. I had the opportunity to help my best friend’s cousin two weeks ago who is going through a tough time. I told my friend to come “shop” in my cabinets and was able to give over $20 worth of items. It brought joy to my heart knowing that God is blessing me through this process of clipping, planning and saving and I in return can bless others. God bless! Keep up the blogging because I check daily, sometimes more than once a day.
Just wanted to add that flip-flops are a much needed item for these boxes and now is about the only time they are available all year. I know Target has them in the dollar bins and other places will be clearancing them as summer wraps up. I plan to buy several in a variety of sizes and save them for my shoe boxes.
Blessings,
Courtney
That is a great idea Mandi. I already have 4 boxes complete as of last week when I hit some of the back to school sales and I included the Johnson Buddies soap too.
That’s a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing!
The freebies from Walmart would be perfect here too! Shampoos and samples of cereal are the most obvious that come to mind
These are some great ideas. Just today I was able to share some money saving information with a cashier. She admitted that she did not know how to budget. She told me she knew Jesus was taking care of her but she wants to do better for Him.
Many people are hurting for a lack of basic Biblical knowledge in our land also.
I am looking forward to donating my overflow of items to a local shelter. God is good!
My closet was overflowing from all the shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, etc. that I have gotten free this last year. I called our local Pregnancy Resource Center and asked them if they could use the items, and they said yes. So, I dropped off over $300 worth of free things this week. It was such fun to be able to know they were going to a good cause.
Yeah!!! I love Operation Christma Child. I am a year round Church Relations Coordinator for OCC, and I use the free buddies on our boxes too!!! Way to go Mandi!!!!
Just a reminder that you cannot send shampoo or other “liquids” in the Operation Christmas child shoe boxes, but there are plenty of creative ways to bless others wiith our abundances.
Thanks for sharing this! What a blessing it is to give and it is so neat that Mandi can give even in hard times and has committed to such a high number of boxes! I’ve always done 1-4 boxes a year since I was a young teen and I have found that stocking up on crayons and glue and stuff like that during back-to-school sales is the way to go! Thanks to whoever suggested flip-flops. I’ve never bought those for the boxes but they would be a great item and are on sale right now!
That is a great idea!!
We participate in Operation Shoebox and many times we end up scrambling at the last minute to buy things. It is great to think ahead of time and have things ready. :0)
I also wanted to mention a couple things:
* If someone only wants to fill a box, but cannot pay the actual handling fee it is okay. There are people who don’t want to fill the boxes and solely donate money for the handling fees. One year our family filled 6 boxes, but we could not pay the fee. They told us to send it any way, as there are funds there for those who cannot do both.
* I don’t think you can send food items, aside from hard candy.
It’s good to know I am not as crazy as I thought I was when I picked up soap and school/craft supplies this week with the great deals. I was getting them for the boxes myself, but was nearly afraid to mention it :0) Hadn’t thought of the flip-flops…will do next time. Also, right now T-shirts can be found inexpensively as Crystal noted the JC Penney sale. They are always welcome in the boxes too.
Twice a year, my agency has a collection for domestic violence shelters in the surrounding rural counties. I have given bags of pads, tampons, new cosmetics, lotions, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soaps, shampoos, and shaving items and will continue to do so with my bounty of CVS goodies!
With this week’s sale on baby care items that can be gotten for free after the skincare coupon, donation to a pregnancy resource center would be a wonderful idea. You could do 8 transactions, donate 8 items and keep the $5 ECB for future use!
I have recently been inspired to give back also. As I was looking over my “stash” of freebies I decided I had enough free items to make a diabetes kit to give to my local blessing cup. I had one glucose monitor, glucerna cereal, diabetic vitamins, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc. All items I had either gotten free or almost. I thought this would be a good way to give back for all the blessing I am given.
Tag, you’re it! Check out my website for details!
This is a great idea! I will have to see what I can gather up for it, I agree that I always want to but the cost is there and I hate to send ‘cheap’ stuff to them, if I do it I want it to be quality, kwim?
Also, I was at target today and a lady had her hands full of diaper gift items (gift because of the baby gift bag she had and the bundle of j&j basket she had) I asked if she had coupons, she was so disapointed and said she didnt even know there where any out for these… I had some in my purse, dont know if I will miss them or not, but I was pretty suer I had more in my larger coupon org in the car… she was SOOO happy and blessed. She told me that a co-worker just had a baby and the dad left her and so now she has a newborn alone and no money coming in as she was part time. This woman was getting a gift for her. She kept saying that God was amazing, she was out to bless this woman and I blessed her. Feels good to help others eh? Especially when it was FREE to start with!
I’ve totally been stocking up with Operation Christmas Child in mind too (I’ve gotten a couple bars of free soap with the CVS skincare coupon too)! How fun to have gotten all of the school supplies and tolitries for very little. I love taking my son to pick out the toys, and like Mandi said, maybe this year we can afford to do a few more boxes!
I too save up some of the samples, freebies, etc for Operation Christmas Child. I hadn’t thought about the little soap bars, but i will be using them too now! I have been going to all the back-to-school sales and getting extras of things like colored pencils (crayons will melt) and pencil boxes too.
Thank you for both of your websites, Crystal. I read them both, either for money saving ideas or for thought provoking columns.
~Debbie
Thank you for sharing such a touching letter. It reminds us how important it feels to share, even in the tough times.
I have been able to bless others as well.
One that comes to mind is this past fall when a family my dad knows had their house burn down. They had a son about my sons age (9 – 10 yrs) and dad asked if I had anything I could give to them. I raided my sons closet and came up with pans, shirts, a jacket and pj’s. Then I got to thinking about my “stash”. I included kids soap, a “cool” toothbrush and
toothpaste , and a few other little things.
Then this past school year the 5th grade took up donations for the Salvation Army. I was able to give 2 bags full of soap. shampoo, deodorant, shave gel,toothbrushes and toothpaste to those who really need it.
In years past, I would have felt bad because I knew I just didn’t have the funds to give. Now, I am taking better care of my own family AND I can be a blessing to others.
Thanks for all you do, Money Saving Mom!
BTW…the little boy called my dad to say that you and he also told him that he REALLY like the Transformer PJ’s! LOL!
I too am purchasing for Operation Christmas Child boxes! I don’t have any kids yet so all of the coupons for baby items I use for the boxes and I bought 22 cent crayons to pack in their too! God has been so faithful in meeting all of my needs and it is wonderful to know that I am able to bless others too!
Great suggestion! We too do the boxes and I never would have thought of using those items. I will now start looking for the bargain deals–flip flops are cool idea too! never would have thought of that! Thanks for all you do Crystal, may God continue to bless you!
I also pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The Johnson’s Buddies soap is already in my stash for the boxes.
As others have said, I am also collecting lots of Back to School items for CHEAP!
My son and daughter really enjoy putting together the boxes and it has taught them to give.
Great idea! I just bought two pairs of flip flops today. For those who don’t know there may be a pick up for Operation Christmas Child in your area. That way you won’t have to spend the extra money to ship it to Samaritan’s Purse. Check their website they do pick ups in many areas in November.
So glad so many of you are using your frugal skills to do shoeboxes for OCC.
Last year my mom, myself and a couple of bros and sis volunteered at the OCC packing center in Denver. Just a couple of reminders (as I think one or two mentioned above):
1. Please do check the list of allowed/not allowed items. PLEASE NO LIQUIDS!! They WILL be pulled out at the packing center. We pack 13 or so shoeboxes to a packing box and one box with a liquid will ruin several more shoeboxes.
2. NO food items. Hard candy only. NO tootsie rolls. These can melt and ruin boxes. (I’m sure I must have pulled out thousands of tootsie rolls in just a couple of days–so, had to mention this one)
3. Volunteer at an OCC packing ctr near you! They are all over the country, and a great way of helping children all over the world!
Phebe
I LOVE SHOE BOXES!!!
I LOVE SHOE BOXES!!!
Yes, I’ve read in a couple places online that the most removed item from the shoeboxes is Tootsie Rolls — somehow people generally don’t understand what HARD CANDY is, hey?
Another very interesting thing I’ve read about the OCC Shoeboxes is how desparately they need shoe box gifts for the 10-14 year old boys.
It’s very easy to assemble a box for a young girl.
Indeed, it turns out that they receive TWICE as many boxes for the 5-9 yr.old Girls as for ALL the other groups combined.
Yes!
So I guess that almost all the 10-14 year old girls must receive shoeboxes which were packed with a little girl in mind, and frankly, I’m unsure what they do for the boys.
Here’s a quote I read online from a cached church newsletter:
“…let’s focus on making boxes for the category that gets the least: 2-4 year old boys and 10-14 year old boys! OCC gets at least twice as many boxes in the age 5-9 girl group then in the other groups combined. They especially are asking for boys 10-14. Let’s see if we can meet that need in 2008!”
Since you enjoy Operation Christmas Child so very much, maybe you’d like to do an entry about shoeboxes for boys, in general, and especially for the eldest 10-14 year old group.
I just recently started couponing. Approximately 85% of the items I purchased, I donate. I have stockpiled baby items and most recently, the glucose monitoring and they will be going to charity. The Lord has blessed my family and me and in return, I would like to bless others. Thank you to this wonderful site and the women out there that showed me how to play the CVS games.