What Couponing Can Do-

A friend of mine just recently had a house fire.  They lost pretty much everything- including some beloved family pets.

Thanks to the stockpile and my couponing, I was able to put together a box of toiletries, beyond what I could have afforded to send otherwise.  Soap, razors, shaving cream, lotion, perfumes, makeup- I don't fully recall everything that went in to the box.

My point in this post is not to pat myself on the back that I helped someone that needed it.  That's just what you do. 

My point is that through couponing and buying items when I could combine sales for the best deals allowed me to give more than my budget would have otherwise allowed. In some cases, the items I gave away I had managed to get for free or made money by purchasing them.

I am able to give items away to friends and family who need them without a thought- because I do have 10 tubes of toothpaste in the closet, or 8 shaving creams under the sink.   Friends have asked me to teach them couponing and stockpiling so they can help family members who are unemployed or donate to their local homeless shelters.

Don't make the mistake of thinking stockpiling is the same as hoarding.  Many of us are not just sitting on thousands of rolls of toilet paper, giggling to ourselves and waiting on the next sale so we can go do it again.   Donation isn't an excuse or a justification for buying 20 tubes of toothpaste.  For a lot of people, it really is a way to save our households money while helping others.

-Kristen