Free & Inexpensive Ways to Give This Week

If you're looking for ways to give without breaking the bank, here are a few deals that I've come across this week.

• Free Shampoo/Conditioner at CVS
  If you have any of the $1 off CVS haircare coupons from previous receipts or from the coupon printing machine in the store, use them to buy the shampoo/conditioner shown in my post over HERE. I smelled the kiwi scented one, and it smells great. I got four of these, and I'm planning to drop them off in our church's food pantry donation bin this Sunday. Did you know that the food pantry will take personal care items too?


• Free Glucose Meter at CVS
  CVS has Bayer glucose meters on sale for $14.99 this week. Use the coupon for up to $30 off from the 10/25 RedPlum insert, and you'll get them free. You'll also get $5 ECBs back (limit 1).
  
  I always snatch these up when they're free. In fact, I've posted about free glucose meters (and the fact that I'm not diabetic) so many times that I've gotten multiple emails asking me what in the world I do with these meters. I give them to a lady at our church who works with low-income people with health care needs. If they're diabetic, their insurance pays for one glucose meter. If that meter gets lost, stolen, broken, etc., they must replace it themselves. Some people aren't able to afford a new one, but the lady from my church is able to provide a new one from her stash of freebies I've given her.


• Inexpensive Games at Target
  Target has a printable coupon good for $3.00 off several games, Battleship, Connect 4x4, or Bop It. Pair this with the manufacturers' coupons from last Sunday's newspaper or the printable Play Saver coupons. These games would make great donations for your local women's shelter, or you could save them for angel tree gift-giving next Christmas. Your youth pastor might even be interested in having a few board games around.
  
  Connect 4 Board Game - $7.00
  Use $3.00 off Target coupon (I don't know if this is included in the Target coupon or not. Be sure to ask first.) AND
  Use $4.00 of Play Saver printable coupon
  Final Price: possibly free or $3.00
  
  Battleship - $9.00
  Use $3.00 off Target coupon AND
  Use $4.00 of Play Saver printable coupon
  Final Price: $2.00
  
  Monopoly - $7.00
  Use $$5.00 of Play Saver printable coupon
  Final Price: $2.00

I'm guessing that board games and glucose meters don't top your usual list of possible items to donate, but these would be greatly appreciated when dontated to a person or an organization in need of these items.

Have you found any other great free or inexpensive ways to give this week? Please share your ideas here so that we can all be more generous.

Photo Credit

Write Reviews to Help Haiti

If you're looking for another way to help the people of Haiti, head over to Viewpoints and write some reviews. Viewpoints is a site where you can write reviews about products that you use. From now until February 19, Viewpoints will donate $1 to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development program for every review written on the site. head over HERE to write your review.

A Time to Give - Valentine's Day

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

I just guest posted for Amy at The Finer Things in Life, sharing some frugal Valentine's Day ideas. One of them could truly turn into a great opportunity to give.

Valentine's Day can really be fun, especially when you have a family or other loved one to share it with. But it can also be quite lonely for some people. The idea that I offered on Amy's site was to teach kids about love by having them make Valentine's Day cards for people who may not otherwise receive any.

Do you have a single friend? Does one of your neighbors live alone? Why not send a card or just call them on Valentine's Day? A quick note or some homemade heart cookies may be just the thing to let a lonely person know that they are loved.

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

A Giveaway For a Cause

Meagan from Frugal Fun and Fortune emailed me to tell me about a project she's working on to help the people of Tanzania. A family friend has created a 2010 calendar from photos of the Maasai people of Tanzania. The calendars are selling for $20, and all of the profits go directly to helping local missionaries provide tangible love and help to the people of Tanzania. The calendar is a poignant reminder to pray for impoverished people around the world, specifically those in Tanzania.

If you're able to purchase a $20 calendar and support this mission, head over to Meagan's site to read all the details. Anyone who purchases a calendar can come back to Frugal Fun and Fortune, leave a comment, and be entered to win a $25 Walmart gift card. The gift card will be given away on February 28. Remember, you must purchase a calendar in order to be entered in the gift card giveaway drawing. It sounds like this is a great cause worth supporting.

Help for Haiti

I'm sure that you've all heard about the tremendous devastation sustained by Haiti after the recent earthquake. The pictures and stories truly make me feel helpless. You too? While it's not possible for us to personally care for the hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering, we can certainly take some small steps that, when put together, can make a big difference.

My organization of choice is always Compassion International. We've sponsored a child with them since early in our marriage, and I know that they are a legitimate, God-honoring organization. I've chosen them for our donation. You can donate directly to Compassion via their site.

While monetary donations are important to aid the relief and rebuilding efforts, our prayer support is invaluable. You can visit Compassion's community site (you'll need to register) and partner in prayer with people who sponsor children in Haiti. I'm sure that they are anxiously awaiting word of their sponsored children's safety. I've also heard reports from families who are waiting to hear from missionaries stationed in Haiti. If you want to pray specifically, you can follow ongoing updates from The Baker Family, missionaries who are stationed in Haiti.

I'm sure that not everyone reading this site is able to offer financial help to the people of Haiti. Let me be the first to say... That's okay. Even if you can't send money, you can help. Some of my fellow bloggers have found creative ways to help you give. Check out some of the sites below, and join in our group effort to help!

Crystal from Money Saving Mom is donating $10 to Compassion International for each blogger who does a Help for Haiti post and links it up on her site.

Kristin from We Are THAT Family is hosting a raffle. For every dollar you donate to Compassion International, you are entered in a drawing to win three months of free advertising on her blog site.

Jenny at Southern Savers is compiling a list of locations where personal care items can be donated. This is a great option for those who are short on cash but who have stockpiles of personal care items. She'll be updating it as she receives more information from readers.

If have another creative way to give, feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.

A Time to Give: The Penny Experiment

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

Most of us don't think much of a penny on the ground. We might pick it up... We may walk on by. On November 24, 2009, Jeffrey Strain found a 1968 penny on the sidewalk and began to wonder how much good one person could do with one penny. He began a journey to turn one penny into $1,000,000 of food for local food banks. The Penny Experiment was born.

Jeffrey has since sold the 1968 penny for $10, which he exchanged for 1000 pennies. 100 of those pennies were given to artists who created works of art with their pennies. Those works of art were sold, and Jeffrey has raised $1,000 of his $1,000,000.

Now he is asking for our help. Jeffrey is looking for frugal bloggers to help stretch his $1,000 as far as possible. If you're a blogger, you can sign up to help HERE. Then you will be added to the blogger shoppers list on the Penny Experiment website. You buy food for free or almost-free, post your findings on your blog site, and get reimbursed for the out-of-pocket expense. Then you get to donate the food you purchased to your local food bank. This is a very new project, and so far bloggers have purchased $102.41-worth of food for $3.89.

This is an incredibly creative way to help food banks across the country! I hope that you'll consider getting involved!

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

A Time to Give: Your Christmas Stories

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

It's been really fun to share with you some ways that I like to give and to hear your giving stories each week. I appreciate those of you who participate! With Christmas getting closer, I'd love to just open up this week's post for you to share your favorite Christmas giving stories. Maybe you were the giver. Maybe you were on the receiving end. Either way, feel free to share!

Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

A Time to Give: I Can't Do It All

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

Sometimes I have to go looking for ways to give. Other times I find more ways to give than I could possibly be part of in a lifetime. That seems to be the case this Christmas season. Last year, we had to search high and low for a family to help for Christmas. (We like to find someone who is known by someone we know. That way we can find out more about the family and personalize our gift-giving a bit more.) We did a lot of last-minute shopping because it took so long to find someone who needed a little help!

This year, it seems like there is another need every time you turn around. And these are valid needs, some of them HUGE needs. I started to get discouraged when I realized that we would have to choose who to help while letting some of the other needs go unmet. I want to help them ALL! But I have to be realistic.

I. can't. do. it. all.

There... I said it. I seriously have to remind myself that I'm not the only person on Earth who is able to help the people I'm hearing about. I have made up my mind to focus on what I CAN do instead.

While I can't help all of the needy families I hear about, I CAN help the one family that my office is supporting this Christmas. I may not be able to pack boxes for a whole unit of soldiers in Iraq, but I CAN send one great care package to our friend Robert who is stationed there this Christmas.

So I have to remember that I can't help everyone. I have to remember that each and every person represented by the needs I've heard about is precious to the One who can meet every one of their needs. He alone is able to prompt others to share with those who need a helping hand. And He has specific people chosen to help each and every one of them. It may not be me, but it will be someone who will be blessed by the simple act of giving.

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

Cleaning for a Reason

Are you fighting cancer? Or do you know a woman who is fighting cancer? If so, then there's one less thing for you to worry about. The Cleaning for a Reason Foundation offers free professional housecleaning and maid services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer of any type. If you would like to know more, visit their site HERE. What an amazing way to walk alongside women who are in the midst of an overwhelming journey. To date, Cleaning for a Reason has cleaned 2,000 homes!

If you own a cleaning service and would like to be a part of this mission of encouragement, you can contact Cleaning for a Reason through their website. Even if you don't own a cleaning service, you can donate to help fund this service.

Thanks to Katie for passing this along to me!

It's Not Too Late to Support Our Troops this Christmas

Emma and I will be headed out tomorrow to gather a few goodies to send to our friend Robert who is spending Christmas in Iraq. While there are still many shopping days until Christmas for our local friends and family, we need to get our box out to Robert ASAP. Shipping usually takes about 10 days, but I'm guessing it will be a little bit longer this time of year.

If you're interested in sending a box to a soldier, it's not too late. If you know someone who is deployed, you can send a package to him or her. If you don't personally know someone who is serving, you might check with Any Soldier. You can use the Any Soldier service to request the mailing address for someone who is currently serving. You'll get a feel for who they are, what they do, and what they need. Then you can box it up and send it out.

You will need to move pretty quickly if you'd like to do this. But it's definitely not too late! I'm planning on getting everything tomorrow and shipping either tomorrow or Wednesday. Feel free to join me!

And if you're not able to send a package to a soldier, you might want to encourage a soldier's family back here in the US. My friend Julie (Robert's wife) and her daughter Natalie and son Jacob will be celebrating Christmas without Robert this year. That's a first for them since Julie and Robert have been married. (He's been deployed before, but not at Christmastime.) So please keep them in your prayers. Maybe you can honor the service of our soldiers by hugging their families while they're gone. A plate of cookies or a sincere note of thanks would mean a lot.

I just came across this video called Camouflage and Christmas Lights. We truly do owe a huge debt of gratitude to these men and women.

Way to Give: Robeez

From now through December 23, Robeez is offering a generous promo deal. If you purchase one pair of their Holiday Collection shoes, Robeez will donate a pair to K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations). They'll also give you FREE shipping on the pair that you purchased. The shoes are adorable! Check them out HERE. Just click the Season of Giving banner at the bottom of the page.

A Time to Give: Our Neighbors

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

I'd like to say that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, but that's not quite the case. In fact, we're in for more mild weather for the rest of this week. But we did set up our tree tonight, and we'll be decorating it tomorrow. That certainly makes it feel more like Christmas!

One of the things we like to do at Christmas is let our neighbors know how much we appreciate them. We don't get extravagant gifts for them. Instead, we bake each family a loaf of homemade bread. We wrap it up, attach a Christmas card, and deliver it -- usually while it's still warm. It's just a small - but tasty! - way to let them know that we care.

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

Frugal Friday: Remembering Others While We Shop

Black Friday is almost upon us, and I'm sure that many of you are ready to hit the stores! I would be joining you if we weren't away from home. But you can bet that I'll be out trying to snag a few bargains on Saturday! I just have to be on guard. Not only is it easy to overspend when you're bargain-hunting, I've also found that it's easy to lose the focus of giving. I can get wrapped up in the stuff ! I'm even willing to bet that there are others besides me who are tempted to pick up a few goodies for themselves while shopping.

To keep myself from getting stuff-itis, I like to try to do a few things to keep giving at the center of my shopping.

• Intentionally take along coins or small bills for the Salvation Army kettles. I love to use these kettles as a tangible way to teach our daughter the importance of being generous.
• Watch for free or almost-free items that can be given to Toys for Tots, a needy family, the food pantry, or other charitable organizations at Christmastime.
• Be kind to sales clerks. These fine folks take the brunt of people's grumpiness. It's not their fault that I didn't get enough sleep or that I'm tired of bumping into other people. A kind word and a smile must surely make their jobs more enjoyable during crazy shopping days.
• Tip... and tip well. Okay... This one may not fall into the frugal category, but it's important enough for me to add it. Like sales clerks, waiters and waitresses have some interesting customers to wait on during the Christmas shopping season. Hopefully as we're trying to save money, shorting servers on tips isn't one of the corners we cut.

What do you do to keep giving at the forefront of your Christmas shopping? Do you have any tips to pass along?

For more frugal living ideas, stop by Frugal Friday hosted by Life As MOM.

A Time to Give: Giving a Smaller Gift

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

My family has always given generously at Christmastime. My parents modeled this for us as we were growing up (Thanks, Mom and Dad!), and now it's just part of the way we celebrate. As we celebrate God's gift of Jesus to us, we also celebrate by sharing what He has given us. Some years that giving involved taking names from the Angel Tree at the mall. Other years we would hear about a local family in need. No matter what form it took, the spirit of giving was always prevalent.

Now that we're a little bit older, the tradition continues. And we're giving together. One of the ways we've found the extra funds to give as an extended family over the past few years is to cut down on what we spend on each other. This was my brother's idea, and it's allowed us to increase our giving without increasing our out-of-pocket spending.

Each year we take half of what we would have spent on each other and spend it on someone else who's in need. We still get a little something for each other, but it's just a smaller little something than we would normally have bought. The thought is still there, and we add the joy of giving to others into the mix. It's frugal (doesn't cost any more than we would've already spent) and generous (blesses someone who needs it).... the perfect combination of saving and giving!


Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

Another FREE Way to Give!

Brandy emailed me to let me know that Welch's Juice is donating 1 million servings of juice to Feeding America. You can go HERE and click the "donate now" button. Each time you do this, Welch's will donate eight 8 oz. servings of 100% juice, up to 1 million servings. They're already up to about 800,000 glasses, so maybe we can help push them to the 1 million mark!

Thanks, Brandy!

Remember to use the power of your click to give to these causes daily too:
Feed the Poor
Shelter the Homeless
Stop Child Abuse
Fight Cancer
End Animal Cruelty

Just click each link to donate -- free of charge!

Click to Give: Choose Your Charity

Click to Give is a campaign to help fight cancer, stop child abuse, end animal cruelty, feed the poor, and shelter the homeless. And YOU cand help without spending a dime! Simply click your cause above. (If you are reading this via email or blog reader software, please click the title of this post to view the buttons.) You can choose more than one, or even all of them. As you click on them, you can learn more about the groups that are being helped by your simple mouse click.

I'll be putting these links in my sidebar so that you can click daily. What a great way to give!

FREE Way to Help Donate Meals to Feeding America

If you're a Kraft FirstTaste member, you can be among the first to help Kraft donate 1 million meals to the hungry this holiday season. All you have to do is send FREE e-cards from American Greetings to your friends and family (or strangers, or your favorite blogger *ahem*). For each card you send, Kraft Foods will donate 10 meals to Feeding America.

This program will be open to the public at a later date, but FirstTaste members get early access! Head over HERE to send your FREE e-card (one per day) now through December 31. What a great way to give... without spending a dime!

If you'd like to learn more about the organization Feeding America, you can read about them HERE.

The fine print: Meals are used for illustrative purposes only. Kraft Foods has set a goal of donating the monetary equivalent of 10 meals for each e-card sent, up to a cap of one million meals. Feeding America's meal conversion is effective until 6/30/10.

A Time to Give: Planning Ahead for Christmas Giving

Welcome back to A Time to Give, my weekly feature where we share ways to give, ways to share, ways to be generous. If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! You can read the original A Time to Give post HERE. In a nutshell, I started this feature as a way for us to inspire each other to be even more generous. I tend to get wrapped up in finding great deals, and I don't want to lose sight of one of the reasons we live frugally... to be able to give more. Each week I'll share a giving idea of mine, and you share a giving idea of yours.

Christmas will be here before we know it! I'm already starting to inventory the gifts I've bought, figure out what we'll be baking this year, and plan for some special events that will help us focus more on Jesus and less on material things.

One of our family traditions is to find some special ways to give at Christmastime. But I've found that it's easier to give when you plan ahead. Sure, that might sound like it takes the joy and spontaneity out of giving, but we've found the opposite to be true.

If we plan to give, then we're ready when the opportunities arise. If we fail to be intentional and set aside the agreed-upon amount of money for giving, then that money may end up being used for other things. If we want to be sure that the money is there, then NOW is the time to start planning for it!

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous. Note: If you are reading this post via an email subscription or a blog reader, you'll need to click the title of the post in order to see the links left by others.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

Works for Me Wednesday: Grab Your Quarters

I had my first sighting! There was no bell ringing quite yet, but the Salvation Army kettle was being manned outside our Kroger store yesterday. While that's a bit earlier than I'm used to seeing them, I welcome the sight of these red kettles as a real-life teaching tool.

Starting now, I'll keep a stash of quarters in my purse or in the van. I like to use the ringing of the Salvation Army bells to explain to Emma that not everyone is as fortunate as we are. I like to tell her that there are kids who don't have enough clothes or very many toys. Then I encourage her to put the quarters into the bucket to help kids who need them. Last year it seemed to sink it, as she started to explain it back to us when she heard the ringing of the bells. She let us know that the kids' mommies and daddies would use those quarters to buy clothes and toys for the kids who didn't have them.

That's my girl!

For more ideas that work, stop by Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Clean 'Em Out!

With a new month comes another opportunity to clean out those coupon binders and boxes! I just cleaned mine out, and I'm getting ready to send them to an overseas military family.

The Happy Housewife connects couponers like you and me with military families who are stationed overseas. These families can use coupons up to 6 months after their expiration dates. Now that I'm connected with Jessica (who's overseas military), I send her my expired coupons at the end of each month. This is a GREAT way for me to recycle my coupons! The key for me is getting them sent out as soon as the month is over. They take a while to arrive, and I want her to have a chance to use them before they reach the six month mark.

If you want to join me in supporting our military families with our expired coupons, head over to the Happy Housewife's site and contact her. She can connect you with a military family too!