Just a reminder to please make sure you drop something in the WZZM 13 Food For Families shopping cart by this Monday, June 13, 2011.

I spent just $23.62 after using coupons on a $50.13 order at D&W Fresh Market this week, so there are great deals to be had — share them with others in need. Just pick up extras (or choose non-perishable and canned goods from your stockpile) and drop off at any Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, or other participating location.  The collected food will be distributed to local families by ACCESS of West Michigan.

For more details on the most needed foods, participating drop off locations, and the Ice Cream Social on 6/13/11 from 5:00pm – 6:30pm in the WZZM parking lot, please check the link.

Go give, West Michigan.

Not only do you have an opportunity to leave non-perishable items with your letter carrier for Stamp Out Hunger this Saturday, May 14, but you can also clean out your closet and lighten your load in honor of Give Your Stuff Away Day.

I’ve been enjoying The Local Cook’s Simple Living Challenge and exploring the principals of minimalism (more on that very soon!), so this is a great way to get started.

My brother and his friends have been participating in Special Olympics for as long as I can remember. It’s such a fun and supportive community. In fact, I’m co-chairing a brand new event – a TOGA party – to raise money for the local Kent/Barry county athletes. It’s been taking up a bit of my blogging time lately.  I hope you don’t mind! :)

Just leave non-perishable food items at your mailbox on Saturday, May 14, 2011 for your letter carrier to pick up. You can also drop off items at your local post office.

Let’s show those Extreme Couponing folks that West Michigan actually knows how to SHARE their food stockpiles to help fight hunger in our community! ;) In case you missed it last week, you can also participate in the ConAgra Child Hunger Ends Here campaign.

1.  Purchase specially-marked packages of the following ConAgra products

• Peter Pan Peanut Butter
• Banquet Frozen Meals
• Kid Cuisine
• Healthy Choice Soup
• Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
• Healthy Choice Steamers
• Chef Boyardee Ravioli
• Marie Callendars Frozen Meals

2.  Enter the 8-digit code on the product at www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com

3.  1 code you enter = 1 meal donated to Feeding America by ConAgra AND you get printable coupons!

Easy!  I went to WalMart to purchase the participating products.  See my trip here.  I definitely encourage you to get involved. It’s so easy to upload your codes. Through the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign, ConAgra gave 6 meals to Feeding America when I entered my codes online… plus, did I mention there are printable coupons involved?! ;) Win-win!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions and experiences are my own.

LOVED the reminder from Mel Trotter to grab the extra shampoos & soaps from your hotel room if you’re traveling for spring break and donate them for the Hope Totes!

Mel Trotter Ministries has partnered with Biggby Coffee for the 2011 Hope Tote. They will provide your donated items to the homeless and needy in our community.

Action Steps:

1.  Collect the following new items from your stockpiles:

Suggested hygiene items:
Shampoo, including ethnic hair products
Deodorant
Soap
Toothbrush & Toothpaste
Razors & Shaving Cream
Lotion
Tissues

2.  Take the donation items (and this $1 off Biggby Coffee coupon) to your nearest Grand Rapids Biggby location.

3. There’s not even a #3. See how easy that was?

You have through April 22, 2011 to participate. Safe travels and staycations, West Michigan!

Remember when I toured FAWM last month to see how far $25 can go towards fighting hunger in our community? My involvement in the conversation about food insecurity in West Michigan has just begun. This is an easy way for you to get involved AND enjoy $1 hotdogs and $1 beers at a great hockey game!

Tickets are discounted and include a $2 donation to Feeding America West Michigan:
Lower Bowl Tickets for just $15
Upper Bowl Tickets for just $11

Getting tickets and supporting FAWM is simple and easy. Just follow these 3 steps:

1. Visit: http://griffinshockey.com/promocode
2. Enter Promocode: SAVVY
3. Print your tickets (or pick up at will call) and enjoy the game!

We’ll be there. Hope to see you!

I mentioned that all the “stuff” in my space is overwhelming me. It’s time to think about spring cleaning and lightening the load. Not only can you donate gently-used items from your closets to local charities, please think about sharing the stockpile of personal care items you’ve accumulated using coupons!

Mel Trotter Ministries has partnered with Biggby Coffee for the 2011 Hope Tote. They will provide your donated items to the homeless and needy in our community.

Action Steps:

1.  Collect the following new items from your stockpiles:

Suggested hygiene items:
Shampoo, including ethnic hair products
Deodorant
Soap
Toothbrush & Toothpaste
Razors & Shaving Cream
Lotion
Tissues

2.  Take the donation items (and this $1 off Biggby Coffee coupon) to your nearest Grand Rapids Biggby location.

3. There’s not even a #3. See how easy that was?

You have through April 22, 2011 to participate. Go give, West Michigan!

For a $5 suggested donation, get: chili or soup, a roll, a beverage, and pie.  Watch some basketball while you eat.

Calvary Church: 707 East Beltline NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525

I’ll be there. See you then?

As you know, my brother participates in the local Special Olympics program, so I’m excited to see a way to save combined with a donation to my most favorite non-profit!

This past Saturday, I toured the Feeding America West Michigan (FAWM) food bank on West River Dr. near the Fifth Third Ball Park. I know it’s a challenge for me to purchase groceries on a budget of only $25 per week, so I wanted to see exactly what would happen at a food bank with that same $25. They are amazingly efficient! While they appreciate food drives, what they really appreciate are monetary donations. I saw pallets of food stacked from floor to ceiling waiting for pickup or delivery via mobile food pantry to 501(c)(3) non-profits and religious organizations.

So here’s what an agency can purchase from FAWM with $25:
Produce – cost per pound $0.06 — pounds per $25 = 416.67
Milk, Bread — cost per pound $0.08 — pounds per $25 = 312.50
USDA — cost per pound $0.12 — pounds per $25 = 208.33
Other — cost per pound $0.16 — pounds per $25 = 156.25

150 to 400+ POUNDS of food for $25! Amazing buying power! Here’s a slideshow of what I saw (direct link) :

I learned so much about FAWM and what they offer our community, and I’m not done with this investigation yet! Next, I’ll show you how all that food gets to the end users in West Michigan. Oh, and I have something else up my sleeve, too. Just you wait… ;)

If you want another perspective, see what The Big Binder had to say about FAWM.

Get discounted tickets for the Friday, February 4, 2011 game. You know another reason I love Friday night games at the Grand Rapids Griffins? $1 hot dogs and $1 beers from 6 – 8 pm.

Discounted tickets include a $2 donation to the Special Olympics Polar Plunge:
Lower Bowl Tickets for just $15
Upper Bowl Tickets for just $11

Getting tickets and supporting SOMI is simple. Just follow these 3 steps:

1. Visit: http://griffinshockey.com/promocode
2. Enter Promocode: SAVVY
3. Print your tickets and enjoy the game

We’ll be there. Hope to see you!

As you know, I LOVE Grand Rapids Griffins hockey discounted tickets! I also love Special Olympics (we have a huge event coming up this Saturday in Grand Rapids, MI… come join us!).  I’m really excited for 2 of my favorite things to come together! :)

Get discounted tickets for the Saturday, December 4, 2010 game.  It’s Special Olympics night at the Grand Rapids Griffins benefiting Special Olympics Michigan (SOMI). Special Olympic speed skating competition during intermission and a Griffins drawstring backpack giveaway (to the first 5,000 fans).

Tickets are discounted $3 each and include a $2 donation to SOMI:
Lower Bowl Tickets for just $14
Upper Bowl Tickets for just $12

Getting tickets and supporting SOMI is simple and easy.  Just follow these 3 steps:

1. Visit: http://griffinshockey.com/promocode
2. Enter Promocode:  SAVVY
3. Print your tickets and enjoy the game

We’ll be there.  Hope to see you!

I’m feeling the Spring Fever/Cabin Fever/Spring Cleaning craze.  This time I completely COMPLETELY emptied my to-donate stash!

I can easily tell you these items cost me no more than $5 (and that’s purely accounting for the expense of the coupons and sales tax.)  I sound like a broken record might have mentioned before that using coupons is a great way to get FREE toiletry items to donate to your favorite charity.

UPDATE:  Just realized I didn’t finish the story on how I got these items FREE!  Oops! So, my OOP was about $5 due to coupon expense and sales tax, BUT I got $15 in Rite Aid Single Check Rebates back for the Biore/John Frieda… so technically… I made money for donating :-)

• This batch of girlie products is going to the Alpha Women’s Center in Newaygo (it’s close to work.)
• All the men’s products will go to Guiding Light Mission in Grand Rapids.

What charities do you support and how?  Do you give items or is it just “easier” to give a  monetary donation?

Next week 2/21 – 2/27, Rite Aid will have Johnson’s Baby Products BOGO for 1 cent.

1.  Print this $1 Johnson’s Baby coupon (print 2 per computer), $1 Baby Shampoo (IE link),  or various Johnson’s coupons HERE

2.  Order more of the insert coupons NOW if you need them.

3.  The deal will look like this:

$4.49 Baby Shampoos & Lotions
Savvy Scenario:
Buy 2 Johnson’s Baby Products $4.50
Use (2) $1 Johnson’s Baby coupons
Also use (2) $1 RAVV Johnson coupons
Final Price $0.25 ea wyb 2

$4.29 Baby Powder & Baby Oil
Savvy Scenario:
Buy 2 Johnson’s Baby Products $4.30
Use (2) $1 Johnson’s Baby coupons
Also use (2) $1 RAVV Johnson coupons
Final Price $0.15 ea wyb 2