Couponing for Charity: Donation #3

My apologies for the delay in this post. I have been focusing on family and holiday memories the past few weeks. I will get back to the weekly suggestions for charity ASAP. But first, I want to share my experience with our third set of donations to Knoxville's Ronald McDonald House.

This from their website: The Ronald McDonald House of Knoxville provides a "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. The House provides a comfortable, supportive, temporary residence near the medical facility where family members can sleep, eat, relax and find support from other families in similar situations.

In early December, Devin and Brooke joined me in delivering two huge boxes of goods to this gorgeous home located near the East TN Children's Hospital. Trying to educate my four-year-old about giving to others, I told him we were going to "play Santa" for less fortunate kids. He was a bit puzzled about where Santa and the kids were, but hopefully the concept that it feels good to give is being planted early.

You may recall that I tried to donate goods to them for our second round of donations. At the time, I was told they didn't need what I had. When I called this time, they said they could use our items and were very appreciative. Looking at their wish list, I added a few items from my personal stock pile that I didn't get for free but they were bargains. At the last minute, fellow Northwest Knoxville MOMS Club member Kelley Neal dropped off her box of goods (not pictured). They were thrilled to get items they could use to stuff stockings for all the residents.

Here are the items we donated:

• 1 big box Cheerios
• 4 boxes pasta
• 5 boxes granola bars
• 1 box instant oatmeal
• 4 cans soup
• 3 jars peanut butter
• 1 box hot chocolate
• 2 packs tuna
• 2 air fresheners
• 1 all natural multi-purpose cleaner
• 3 first aid kits
• 9 tubes toothpaste
• 1 toothbrush
• 1 dental floss
• 20 pens
• 4 lip balm
• 1 body wash
• 2 razors
• 2 shaving creams
• 1 lotion
• 3 deodorants
• 5 Clinique samples
• 1 bottle hand soap
• home baked cookies from our club cookie swap

I can't really give an accurate account for the value of the items and the money spent since half of it wasn't mine, I set aside some items for the next charity, and I had previously donated some items from this batch to Iva's Place. At last count, my totals since September were:

TOTAL VALUE OF PRODUCTS: $175.14

TOTAL SPENT: -$7.79 (that's negative nearly 8 bucks)

It's been nine months since I began Couponing for Charity, and I am looking forward to lots more giving in 2011!

Couponing for Charity: 4/18 - 4/24 & Update #5

Time for the weekly deals for charity. Honestly, if you'd like to take a week off, this would be a good one. I just got back from Walgreens and CVS with some deals but nothing spectacular. I suppose if you want to pick one, go to CVS.

For all the CVS match-ups go here; for Coupon Katie's CVS picks, go here. If you do not already have a green tag, get one this week. They are $.99 but you get $.99ECB; limit one. I already have one and you can't use more than one per visit (like on separate bags). Too bad. I did pick up two Thermacare products ($2.49 each, get $2.49ECB); limit 2. Tip: You can buy both in one transaction and it will print one ECB for $4.98. I was also able to use 2 $1/1 coupons from the paper, making this a $2 moneymaker. I'll keep one for us and donate the other.

Deals at CVS I couldn't get: I tried to do the Rimmel deal where you get two products for free but the CVS I visited doesn't carry Rimmel. I also tried to get the free Colgate deal with a coupon, but the coupon they describe is not for the specific type of toothpaste on sale. It may have worked but I try to follow the rules.

For all the Walgreen's match-ups go here; for Coupon Katie's Walgreen's picks go here. Again I tried the Colgate deal but the same thing. They were already cleaned out of the Nature's Bounty vitamins, and I'm not sure who really needs that much Vitamin D. I did pick up 2 boxes of children's Zyrtek for my son (on sale for $10, buy 2 get $5RR). Since I had 2 $3/1 coupons from the pediatrician, I saved a total of $17. I also bought a pack of pull-ups for $5 ($2 Walgeens coupon, $2 manufacturers coupon) and some Raison Bran that worked out to $1.50 a box--not great deals but ok.

One more deal I just saw in the Kroger circular. Speed Stick deodorants are $1 each. I got a $.50 coupon from a mailer. So I'll be getting that for free.

All told I spent $24.44 today, saved $49.10 and left with $4.98ECB for another trip. Before I do the charity totals, I have one adjustment to make. When my son started showing signs of allergies, I pulled one item I had set aside for charity: the Simply Saline. So the following numbers account for that.

Total products to donate this week: 1 heat wrap

Total value of products to donate: $2.50

Total spent: -$1.00

Total products to donate to date: 3 tubes toothpaste, 1 deodorant, 2 bars of soap, 1 body wash, 2 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 heat wrap

Total value of products to date: $36.70

Total spent to date: -$9.50

How did you do? Have you noticed any freebies at Kroger or Target?

Couponing for Charity: 4/11 - 4/17 & Update #4

This week I have 3 products that you can get for free or make money. And since they're all hygiene products, they're perfect for our Couponing for Charity project. Deals are good through 4/17.

If you have to pick one store, head to CVS. A variety of Dove hair care products are $4.49, get $4.49 ECB (limit 1). Since the $2/1 printables seem to be gone, I used a $1.50/1 coupon from the paper two weeks ago. Tip: the coupon did work even though I couldn't find exactly the variety noted on the coupon. So this for me was a $1.50 moneymaker.

In my second transaction, I got a full-size bottle of Dial Nutriskin body wash: $5.49, get $4.50 ECB (limit 1). Since I used my $4.49 ECB from Dove and a $1/1 printable found here, I only paid tax: $.51 and got another $4.50 ECB. For accounting purposes, this one was free. Tip: there is a $1/2 coupon from the paper, but you have to buy 2; so make sure you print this one.

Since I had $11 in register rewards expiring today, I also headed to Walgreen's. The only freebie there I noted this week is Schick Hydro Shave Gel ($2.99, get $3RR). I didn't have a coupon to make it a money maker, but it did help me in my coupon to product ratio. I'm keeping this product because my husband needs it; so it won't go toward my totals. I suppose I could have gotten another one in a separate transaction, but I try not to abuse the freebie system.

My savings today at Walgreen's was $27.97, I paid $2.06 and left with $4 in RR. Here were my deals:

3 Kashi cereals (on sale for $2.50 each, I had 3 $1/1 coupons; find at least one $1/1 printable here.)

2 Snuggle dryer sheets (on sale for $3.99, I used 2 $3/1 coupons)

1 Schick Shave Gel ($2.99)

1 newspaper ($2)

Since I didn't have coupons for the shaving gel or newspaper, I used 1 $7RR and 1 $4RR from a previous trip. At check-out I received the $3RR for the shave gel and a surprise $1RR from Kellogg's; I suppose for buying 3 Kashi cereals.

If you're looking for more match-ups, Southern Savers has them for CVS here and Walgreen's here. She noted a B2G1 coupon for Kashi on Target's website, but either they're out or not available for our zipcode. I had also wanted to get the free Tylenol deal, but the $5/2 coupon that was supposed to be in today's paper wasn't there--maybe that's for other regions. Lastly I had wanted to get a deal on Cheezits, but the printable available now is for the Duoz only and they don't sell Duoz at Walgreens--bummer because those are the boys' favorites right now. Also, when you look at the size of the box, it's not that great a deal.

I don't see any exceptional deals that will draw me to Target this week, but if you want to use any of the Hasbro coupons, they expire 4/15. I didn't see any good deals on games though; let me know if you did. And I'm also not seeing any spectacular deals at Kroger; so I'll keep the list as slim as possible to stay on budget in this 5 week month.

Total products to donate this week: 1 shampoo, 1 body wash

Total value of products to donate: $10 ($4.50 for Dove, $5.50 for Dial)

Total spent: -$1.50

Total products to donate to date: 3 tubes toothpaste, 1 deodorant, 2 bars of soap, 1 body wash, 2 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 nasal spray

Total value of products to date: $41.20

Total spent to date: -$9.50

How did you do?