What do you do with all your FREEBIES?

How long have you been couponing? I've been couponing for years! If you've been couponing for more than a few months you know that you can get more than you could ever use for free! Which is AWESOME right? What do you do with all that extra stuff? Do you donate to your local food pantry? Are you helping out a friend or family member who has fallen on hard times? There are many ways to help those around you. One of my favorite ways to give is through the Christmas shoebox project. The Christmas shoebox project is just one of many organizations that basically do the same thing. What Christmas shoebox does is simple,they help children who are living in poverty. We fill a shoebox with small toys,art supplies, small personal hygiene items,and other items. Things like toothbrushes,toothpaste,bar soaps,combs,brushes,floss and mouthwash. We all know that we can get these travel/trial sized items for FREE! Small toys like hot wheels,Littlest pet shop,or My little ponies will fit in the shoe box nicely as well. The possibilities with art or school supplies are endless. You can get markers,crayons,pencils,pens,erasers,memo books,coloring books, and even color wonder sets to fill your box. If you buy these items at back to school sales or on clearance, you can get them either FREE or for only pennies. Walgreens has hair clips and barrettes FREE several times a year.CVS marks down their summer clearance to 90% off. You can find many things to fill your box at that clearance event. A personal favorite of mine is flip flops. You'll pay around 25 cents a pair when they are 90% off. You can use all these things to fill a box or multiple boxes. When you're out keep this post on your mind. If you find an item at a super low price, buy a few for your shoe boxes. Throw them in a tote and keep them for donation time. You may be asking yourself, Why is she posting this? It's no where near Christmas! I'm talking about this now because if you buy items when the price is at its lowest(or FREE) you can fill more boxes. That's always my goal ,to do more with the least out of pocket expense! This can also be a priceless lesson for your children. Keep them involved in the process. Explain to them that not every child gets an XBOX, Wii, or ipod for Christmas. Some children don't get any presents at all for Christmas or their birthday. We are all very fortunate and we should help all those who are less fortunate. Imagine the smile on a young child's face when they receive your gift. Here is a link explaining the basics of the shoebox project. Here is a short video of children opening their shoe boxes.